Live bait like nightcrawlers and minnows work well for a variety of warm water fish," he said. But if you focus on crayfish, you are focusing on their favorite thing of all time. He feels the bass feed on crayfish throughout the night and during the day they are looking for minnows and will hit top water lures, too. Whatever they make, works,” he said.īass focus on crayfish, minnows, worms and frogs. It seems like you can’t go wrong with the any of the PowerBait worms, like Berkley Power Worms or crayfish. Everybody likes to throw a top-water bait. Melega recommends Yamato Senko baits: “Everybody in the world has them,” he said. During the day, he works for a contractor for the U.S. He has been sponsored by Black Diamond Equipment Rental, which helps cover some of his travel expenses. Enough to buy a new truck every couple years and a new boat every couple of years," he said. “I enjoy the tournaments, and I’ve won a ton of money over the years but not enough to live on. He’s not in the major leagues, but the next division down. He compares his level in the sport to Triple A baseball. That was my chance to go to the Bass-masters Classic and I just missed it.”įishing is not his full-time profession, but he fishes often. “I made all the rounds down there until the final day. He’s competed in a national competition in 2019 on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina. He’s also competed in New York and Maine. Nation Angler of the Year three times over his career, and he plans to fish about 30 tournaments each year including in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and Ohio. 1 anglers are able to keep four bass that are least 15 inches long. There are lakes across the state that are marked as being in the Big Bass Program where anglers are limited to harvesting four bass a day that are at least 15 inches long. Anglers are able to keep six bass a day that are least 12 inches long. The summer bass season in Pennsylvania runs June 10 through Sept. “I grew up fishing on the Mon (Monongahela) river and I know it,” he said about knowing every inch of the waterway that travels north and south across the state. I’m a river guy,” he said preferring them to lakes. Melega is looking forward to spending time on the rivers in Pennsylvania this summer. It wasn’t too long ago they were on a low spell,” he said.Īt Raystown and the Youghioghney Dam/Reservoir in the Confluence/Addison areas, he said there’s a large population of smallmouth right now. South of Erie, the Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio rivers, the three rivers of Pittsburgh are “on a high right now. We could catch 100 to 200 fish a day, 4-pounders, a day,” Melega said. Lake Erie, for example, is known for its quality fishing, but the bass fishing isn’t as good as it was 30 years ago. While some lakes are having their best years, he said other waters aren’t as good as he remembers. "The best fishing in my life is taking place right now," he said. He's involved with his fishing partner and cousin Leno Courazzi. Melega had his first major win in 1989 when he won the Iron City Classic, he said. Nation tournaments through Bassmasters as part of the Mariner Bassmaster Club. “Everywhere gets better, and they are all bigger,” he said. He believes placing fish back in the lakes at the end of the tournaments creates better fishing conditions because mature fish are moved where smaller fish don’t grow as well. After they are judged, the fish are usually released in a different part of the lake. During the competitions, anglers keep their fish in their boats’ live wells. The tournaments he participates in are all catch-and-release events, where the fish are restocked in the lakes later in the day.
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