Sep 7, 2013 3 min read

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission completes a lot of surveys on Pittsburgh’s three rivers for obvious reasons.

First and foremost among those reasons, with so much area covered by moving water, the three rivers are constantly in a state of change.

This year, it was the tailrace of Lock and Dam No. 4 – also known as Charleroi Lock and Dam – that was surveyed for the first time in the past decade.

The results of electrofishing operations were impressive, particularly when it comes to freshwater drum.

A total of 60 freshwater drum were collected, with sizes ranging from 7 to 19 inches. Also in abundance were rock bass, with 53 collected, though they were small in range – 3 to 8 inches.

It’s no coincidence the state record for freshwater drum, a 19-pound, 14-ounce fish caught by Tim Rogers of Finleyville in 1994, came out of this stretch of water.

There were also plenty of smallmouth bass, with 53 caught. Of that, just over half (27) were of legal length, as the fish ranged from 5 to 17 inches.

Walleye and sauger were also present, though the walleye numbers weren’t great.

Just 12 walleye were collected, with three of those being of legal length. They ranged from 9 to 20 inches.

Sauger were more plentiful, with 36 collected, ranging in length from 7 to 18 inches. Twenty of the sauger collected were of legal length.

• If you’re a fan of pond fishing – something I grew up on – rather than fishing in a river and are looking for someplace a little different, try Filbert Pond, which is located next to Dunlap Creek, and is approximately six miles west on New Salem Road from Route 40.

A 15.7-acre pond, fairly large by pond standards, is privately owned but is open to the public. There is ample space for easy shoreline fishing and the ability to launch a small nonmotorized boat is possible.

The Fish and Boat Commission has assumed management of the pond and recently completed a fish survey there, turning up 10 different species.

Black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, largemouth bass and white crappie were found in decent numbers, while carp, freshwater drum, gizzard shad, golden shiner and white suckers were also present.

Of course, as is the case with most ponds, the largemouth population is what most anglers are interested in. And Filbert Pond has solid numbers in that category.

In a shoreline survey of this shallow pond using electrofishing, 18 largemouth bass were sampled, ranging in size from 7 inches to 21, with the population skewed heavily more toward the larger fish.

There are also good numbers of carp available, though biologists didn’t record those numbers.

Outdoors editor F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com