With 2025 off to an icy start, and the start of the new year seems appropriate to look back on last year’s activities, which for me included fishing to a large extent, having been blessed with around 160 days on the water.

Most of them took place on Western Pennsylvania lakes and rivers. Here are some general observations:

Keystone seemed to have an abundant number of largemouth bass but relatively few quality-sized fish. Smallmouth also appeared to be numerous, but again I didn’t seen the big smallmouths that typically show up come fall. I suspect there’s been a change in the forage base, likely tied to the drastic drawdowns the lake has experienced in recent years.

Early to mid fall provided some exceptional fishing for crappies, many of them over 10 inches in length.

All my outings for bass on Yellow Creek took place over the summer. Whereas Keystone produced numbers, Yellow Creek provided quality-sized largemouths up to 4-plus-pounds. The lake also supported a good northern pike population with enough 24-plus-inch specimens to keep things interesting. Pike of this size put on some shoulders. Smallmouth bass were also present in decent numbers, particularly along the steeper, northern shoreline.

It was the best year I’ve seen in many for smallmouth bass. Lots of fish, all the way from juvenile size up to 20-plus inchers. I believe that section of the river has seen good levels of reproduction in recent years, now reflected in several-year classes now present. Stable river conditions from spring through fall also helped things.

Walleyes were beginning to show up in good numbers during mid-fall trips. Typically, the walleye action picks up around mid- to late-November. Unfortunately, the river experienced high flows during this time frame, the result of snow melt and reservoir discharges in the upper part of the Allegheny River drainage.

The lower Allegheny — the impounded section from East Brady down to Pittsburgh — functions quite differently than the free-flowing river from Warren to Brady. This is reflected in the fishery.

Some pools of the lower Allegheny can provide outstanding smallmouth bass fishing, and this was reflected several times last year. But you’ve got to hit things right and be willing to search for fish. The lower river lacks riffle-run-pool characteristics found upstream, which allows bass much more freedom of movement. Also, due to habitat degradation, largely from past dredging practices, there are simply far fewer bass in my estimation.

The deeper, slower pools found in the lower river often support good numbers of walleyes — albeit undersized ones — and I found this to be the case again during 2024. But each pool — the river section between dams — often exhibited a level of individuality. Some have a better history for quality sized ’eyes than others.

Crappie populations in the lower river tended to be marginal at best, but the ones caught are nearly always nice ones, black crappies over 12 inches in length. The best pools seemed to be ones that connect to extensive backwaters.

I experienced good action — at times, great — for walleyes from spring through late fall. These are well-fed fish, not always easy to catch, but fat as a Thanksgiving turkey due to the extensive food sources.

Over the past few years, I’ve stumbled on a pattern for the lake’s big smallmouth bass, something I hope to expand on during the coming year.

Arthur, like Yellow Creek, provided some nice action for quality-sized largemouths up to 4 pounds. Those were summer trips. I’d hoped to spend more time there during the fall for bass, but time and weather conditions didn’t line up.

Late fall has become a favorite of mine for Arthur crappies, and this year did not disappoint. Late fall/early winter opportunities for open water fishing saw good numbers of crappies coming to the boat, mostly white crappies, some of which measured 16 inches.

I try to make it a point to expand my knowledge and experience, each season setting down some goals. If 2025 goes as planned this will again be the case, creating challenges, attempting to fulfill them.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle