Recently retired and want to start fishing for crappies

[gdengr]

Hello everyone ! My first post here. Just retired this month and would like to start fishing for crappies. My wife and I live in DuBois Pa. Any advice on how and where to get started would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[S10CHEVY]

Welcome to Crappie.com and the Pa board. Some info, do you bank fish or from a boat. What surrounding lakes are you fishing? That will help to help you. As you can see I'm the Pa moderator. Keith

[gdengr]

Thank you Keith.
We have a 16 foot aluminum fishing boat with a 20 HP outboard. We fish from shore also. We have not specifically fished for crappies. If we caught them it was by accident. We moved to DuBois in December of 2020 so the area is new to us. We are originally from the Erie area. Most of our fishing was for walleye, perch and trout. Because we are getting older we would like to start fishing smaller lakes that don't have the potential to get as rough as Lake Erie. We would also consider going on a guided fishing trip for crappies.

[Greenlawnracing]

Congratulations on your retirement! Look forward to hearing about you living your best years


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

[mchech]

Thank you Keith.
We have a 16 foot aluminum fishing boat with a 20 HP outboard. We fish from shore also. We have not specifically fished for crappies. If we caught them it was by accident. We moved to DuBois in December of 2020 so the area is new to us. We are originally from the Erie area. Most of our fishing was for walleye, perch and trout. Because we are getting older we would like to start fishing smaller lakes that don't have the potential to get as rough as Lake Erie. We would also consider going on a guided fishing trip for crappies.

Welcome & Congrats on your retirement. Wife and I went the same route as far as Lake Erie fishing. Same boat different motor. This is the place to learn and everyone is not afraid to share.

[gdengr]

Thank you for the welcomes.
We are looking for recommendations of lakes to try fishing. We were thinking about Pymatuning and Shenango for sure. Also looking at trying Kahle lake.

[addictedangler]

Unfortunately you probably have left better crappie fishing area then you moved to. I am not real familiar with your area for crappie but have fished the area with in a hour of you for trout. I could help you with some streams for that species. However my wife and I spent a few days at Bald Eagle State park last year. It is a beautiful lake and your boat could be a good fit. It is located North of State college near Howard. I have read of some decent crappie fishing but can not attest to that. This would be about a hour drive from your area. There is not a lot there in the way of restaurants and other amenities but adequate for most fishermen.

[gdengr]

We will check out the Bald Eagle State park near Howard. Also looking at Glendale Lake. Probably do some scouting trips before spring.
We will be looking at the main crappie fishing forum for techniques and tackle suggestions also. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[addictedangler]

We will check out the Bald Eagle State park near Howard. Also looking at Glendale Lake. Probably do some scouting trips before spring.
We will be looking at the main crappie fishing forum for techniques and tackle suggestions also. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

I fished Howard a couple of times if I remember correctly and only small crappie were caught. A friend lives near and stated not many keepers in the lake. Double check as I may have this lake mixed up with another one.

[mikey16335]

Kyle lake appears to be near you. Here is PFBC survey results from 2014 + 2015 (latest). Lots of black crappie. 84% under 9".




Mike