Ben Tawney explains bass fishing
Tournament angler Ben Tawney talks about bass fishing in Pennsylvania.
Brian Whipkey, Erie Times-News
Pennsylvania summers and bass fishing go hand in hand.
Three angling experts talked about their passion for the sport and hobby and hopefully, their reflections will inspire you to make a few extra casts with your fishing gear this summer. The season officially opens June 11 but many waterways are catch and release now.
Lefebre loves Lake Erie
Dave Lefebre, 51, of Erie travels about 40,000 miles a year bass fishing in tournaments. He became a professional angler in 2003 and has participated in more than 160 tournaments across the United States.
After experiencing what the country has to offer, he still chooses to live in northwestern Pennsylvania because of its quality fisheries.
“In Pennsylvania, especially in my region, Erie County, the diversity of the waters are what gave me the opportunity to learn how to fish different types of places and catch different types of fish and use different techniques. That’s the beauty of Pennsylvania. There’s so much. We have a little bit of everything.”
He said bass fishing is like a puzzle in trying to figure out how to catch them. “I always like being out there and not be able to see your opponent (the bass) and the mystery of it all,” he said about the rivers, little creeks, swamps lakes, reservoirs and Great Lakes. “You name it. We got it all.”
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When it comes to finding a place to fish in the state, he feels fortunate to live in northwestern Pennsylvania.
“My front yard is Lake Erie,” Lefebre said. “I’m partial to this area. It’s the best fishing in the world.” He said his fellow pro anglers have agreed with him about the quality of the fish that are found in the Erie area. “It’s just as good as it gets.”
But he’s always enjoyed hone his skills as new places he’s unfamiliar with to fish, such as Keystone Lake, Raystown and Lake Wallenpaupac, and Susquehanna River.
“Pennsylvania is super diverse,” he said about flatlands, hilly places and lowland reservoirs.
When it comes to filling your tackle box, he said summer bass fishermen should have a variety of lures. “Everything works on a given day, waterway,” Lefebre said.
Yamamoto Senko soft plastics work on most waterways. “It’s bailed me out of many tournaments,” he said about Senkos being able to fish in different rig set ups and retrieval speeds. “It’s just something that works,” he said about it coming in many colors and sizes. Some look like leeches and others like crayfish.
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For those starting out bass fishing, Lefebre said, don’t make it too complicated. Get a few colors, few hooks and rigging options and split shots and you’ll be ready for the water. “I think the mistake I feel people make is getting overwhelmed,” he said about all the options and patterns that are available and being marketed on YouTube.
What works in one place should work in other waters, too. He explained that things he learned from Lake Edinboro are also successful techniques for places he fishes in Louisiana. A lake in Texas reminds him of his youth days fishing at Conneaut Lake in Crawford County.
When he’s not bass fishing, his winter hobby is ice fishing for crappie and perch. “I can’t get enough ice fishing,” he said about making long trips home between tournaments to spend time on the ice.
His spirituality has led him to also “fish for men.” He’s involved in a Christian ministry called 814 Worship that includes a band. He’s connecting his faith with the people he meets while fishing and at speaking engagements.
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“I thank God every day that I have the opportunity to do what I do for a living,” Lefebre said about being a professional angler. He said it wasn’t easy getting started in the business that involves a lot of startup expenses, but his faith has carried him through.
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Tawney loves to compete
Ben Tawney, 30, of Jenner Township, Somerset County, has been fishing as long as he can remember. He started being competitive about age 9. He grew up in North Carolina near a lake and participated in Casting Kids tournaments. He has won many tournaments, including regional and national events in 2010.
“When I got the taste of winning something big, I wanted to bass fish all the time,” he said.
The prize included a $5,000 scholarship that he applied toward his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business through Slippery Rock University.
In college he was the president of the bass team and traveled to many states, including Alabama and Arkansas.
Today he doesn’t get to go to as many tournaments as he would like but goes when his schedule allows.
“I’m pretty much all bass fishing once the water thaws,” he said about also enjoying ice fishing for panfish.
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Once it’s with you and in your blood, you can’t get rid of it,” he said about fishing in tournaments. “In the competitions you get to compete against people doing something that you love. It’s hard to lose that feeling,” Tawney said.
Every time he’s out he’s looking for ways to do things better and improve.
As far as destinations for bass fishing, Tawney said it’s difficult to beat Presque Isle Bay in Erie.
“They have very big smallmouth and lots of them. … But don’t count out the largemouth; there’s some big largemouth as well.”
“There are a lot of places that come in second,” he said, naming Lake Wilhelm and Pymatuning in northwestern Pennsylvania. “Me personally though, if I’m going to fish in Pennsylvania, being that I’m from here I do like going to Youghiogheny Lake.
“I enjoy fishing the Yough, but then you get on the other side of the state, you have guys who love fishing the Susquehanna River.”
In addition, the Allegheny River has good bass waters. He said the fish aren’t as big as some places, but there are plenty of fish.
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In general, he said, “Pennsylvania has lots of options for bass fishing.”
Some of the hidden gems are lakes that are low horsepower or electric motor only boating lakes like Highpoint Lake in Somerset County and Yellow Creek in Indiana County.
As far as what to cast, he said you need to be well rounded, but everyone has their own preferences with spinning and bait casting rods. His bait of choice is soft plastic baits like Shakey Heads where he can fish in deeper waters and find structures to fish around.
If the water is more clear, he uses baits that are more natural in color and when it gets cloudy or dirty, he uses brighter colors like chartreuse. White is versatile for many water conditions. “I like to keep it as simple as I can.”
Overall about bass fishing, he said, “Every chance I can just to get out here and enjoy God’s creation no matter what the body of water is, is awesome.”
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Chuck Furimsky, 79, formerly of Rockwood in Somerset County, and an Ocean City, New Jersey resident, enjoys fly fishing for bass across Pennsylvania.
Furimsky has fly-fishing fancy
While most anglers use a spinning or bait-casting rod for bass, he prefers a fly rod. “The fly rod is long and flexible. You feel every movement of the bass with a fly rod,” he said.
Spinning and bait-casting rods are stiffer and help anglers pull their fish out of weeds and structures.
Furimsky, who has been fishing since he was a child, also likes how a fly rod is faster in getting your lure or fly back on the water over the fish. With a spinning rod, you may have to reel in 60 feet of line before you cast again.
The smallmouth have been coming back in rivers like the Susquehanna and Juniata. For largemouth, he said they are common in everything from small farm ponds to large lakes like Raystown, Pyamatuning, Erie and the Quemahoning Reservoir.
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“Bass fishing is June, July and August,” he said. As a youth, he remembers catching fish in Keystone State Park in Westmoreland and Presque Isle State Park in Erie.
Something unique to his fly designs is that he uses New Zealand lamb skin leather tails. The material is subtle, but strong enough that it doesn’t get torn as easily by aggressive fish.
The key to being a good bass fisherman is being an accurate caster. You need to be able to place your fly near branches or under a dock. You have to be able to flip your line into tight places.
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One advancement for fly fisherman is having line that sinks to allow anglers to reach fish in deeper waters.
He believes the Clouser Deep Minnow fly is the best option for fly fishing for bass as it is weighted and can be bounced off the bottom of the lake or river. “It’s the No. 1 fly in the world,” he said for bass and saltwater. “You can fish in 10 feet of water for bass.”
Furimsky enjoys the allure of bass fishing and feeling the fish take the bait. “Bass fishing, you have to have a good feel with your rod and everything. The bass suck it in real slow. They don’t come in from a great distance and smash it like a pike or musky.”
The options to bass fish in Pennsylvania are endless. It’s time to check your tackle box and start targeting the farm ponds, lakes and rivers. The bass are waiting.
Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on your website’s homepage under your login name. Follow him on social media @whipkeyoutdoors.
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