Minsi Lake, Pa - What's Going On Here?

[akg414]

Hello all - first post on this great forum.

 

I'm from the Lehigh Valley (Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown, Poconos) area of PA. 

 

Ok, so I've been fishing with top-water frogs - a Booyah "Pad Crasher". I landed two(2) the first night I bought it. No trouble, no fuss.

 

That was in early June. I haven't hooked one since. Each night I fish at a place called Minsi Lake and get about 3-5 huge bites and can't set the hook to save my life. I even wait "1 Mississippi-2 Mississippi" then set it. It SEEMS to be solid, then poof! nothing....

 

Now, to add insult to injury, the fishing seemed to slow WAY down. Some nights, not even a single hit.

 

I'm fishing the same spots, same time, same lures. Zilch!!

 

Each night, I promise that I'm quitting fishing forever and taking up knitting. But each night, I decide to go back and try again, LOL.

 

Does fishing slow down in August, or is it the fact that the lake is 3' (under, due to draining for spillway repairs?)

 

SO much hydrilla, it isn't even funny.

 

What's going on? 

 

*frustrated*

 

[tomustang]

Welcome to the forums

Minsi is slowly draining away, there's been plenty of complaints lodged about the lack of maintenance, we have been given a 2-3 week finish time but I still doubt it.

From this debacle the water level is so low the spillway is 2-3 feet below to be used and all the fish are displaced. Hopefully they will do something good since there is no funding for the lake and not other places close around to use. If they don't take care of it it'll turn into east banger lake just down the road.

Oh and the lillys/hydrilla aren't the problem, the milfoil is.

[tomustang]

Far as the hook sets, are you using braid and at least a medium heavy rod?

[akg414]

Far as the hook sets, are you using braid and at least a medium heavy rod?

 

I'm using 12lbs. Flurocarbon and a 6' medium baitcaster.

 

Man, that's some really sad news about Minsi. No funding? Who's paying for the repairs? I too recieved an email response from the people who issued the statement about the work, earlier this spring. They said work "should" wrap in "a few weeks".

 

What's the difference between milfoil and hydrila?

[tomustang]

Using hollow body frogs work much better with braid, should use at least 40lb, it'll also help you pull through the slop better, most people tend to have their own rod/reel setup for frogging. Tight drag and a fast reel in after the hook set and you shouldn't have a problem.

 

If you don't want to use braid you can throw super flukes with a 5/0ewg. I would at least step up to a 7ft medium or medium heavy rod to get more distance though since you're stuck on the shore

 

 

 

Here's a good explanation here about the two:

 

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/79338-difference-between-milfoil-and-hydrilla/

[akg414]

Using hollow body frogs work much better with braid, should use at least 40lb, it'll also help you pull through the slop better, most people tend to have their own rod/reel setup for frogging. Tight drag and a fast reel in after the hook set and you shouldn't have a problem.

 

If you don't want to use braid you can throw super flukes with a 5/0ewg. I would at least step up to a 7ft medium or medium heavy rod to get more distance though since you're stuck on the shore

 

 

 

Here's a good explanation here about the two:

 

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/79338-difference-between-milfoil-and-hydrilla/

 

Thanks for the info Tom

 

I'm thinking that it might also be the amount of weeds that prevents a hookup. All that thick sludge seems to get in the way, I dunno...

 

But you bring up a good point - and I may just put together a froggin' pole. 7' and medium-heavy, (instead of just plain medium). The braid? Ahhh, that scares me a little - even though I'm well-experienced in bait casting, there is always that sudden weight-shift or wind-gust that causes a botched cast - and ultimately, a backlash.

 

I switched to Fluro because the bird-nests are way easier to undo. But I'll experiment with both though.

[jhoffman]

Im not sure whats going on up here in the north east this year but a lot of good fisherman are having a tough year.

[Sun Fish]

Probably catfish or big pan fish hitting your frogs, not many bass in that lake.     Braid is key with frogs though.

[Ufutsnuget]

Hello all - first post on this great forum.

 

I'm from the Lehigh Valley (Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown, Poconos) area of PA. 

 

Ok, so I've been fishing with top-water frogs - a Booyah "Pad Crasher". I landed two(2) the first night I bought it. No trouble, no fuss.

 

That was in early June. I haven't hooked one since. Each night I fish at a place called Minsi Lake and get about 3-5 huge bites and can't set the hook to save my life. I even wait "1 Mississippi-2 Mississippi" then set it. It SEEMS to be solid, then poof! nothing....

 

Now, to add insult to injury, the fishing seemed to slow WAY down. Some nights, not even a single hit.

 

I'm fishing the same spots, same time, same lures. Zilch!!

 

Each night, I promise that I'm quitting fishing forever and taking up knitting. But each night, I decide to go back and try again, LOL.

 

Does fishing slow down in August, or is it the fact that the lake is 3' (under, due to draining for spillway repairs?)

 

SO much hydrilla, it isn't even funny.

 

What's going on? 

 

*frustrated*

Hello all - first post on this great forum.

 

I'm from the Lehigh Valley (Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown, Poconos) area of PA. 

 

Ok, so I've been fishing with top-water frogs - a Booyah "Pad Crasher". I landed two(2) the first night I bought it. No trouble, no fuss.

 

That was in early June. I haven't hooked one since. Each night I fish at a place called Minsi Lake and get about 3-5 huge bites and can't set the hook to save my life. I even wait "1 Mississippi-2 Mississippi" then set it. It SEEMS to be solid, then poof! nothing....

 

Now, to add insult to injury, the fishing seemed to slow WAY down. Some nights, not even a single hit.

 

I'm fishing the same spots, same time, same lures. Zilch!!

 

Each night, I promise that I'm quitting fishing forever and taking up knitting. But each night, I decide to go back and try again, LOL.

 

Does fishing slow down in August, or is it the fact that the lake is 3' (under, due to draining for spillway repairs?)

 

SO much hydrilla, it isn't even funny.

 

What's going on? 

 

*frustrated*. Hey Akg 414, get a kayak and I'll show you where those bass are. I am pretty sure I talked to you today about the water lever, but now it is back to normal. You were fishing on the shore and my son and I were going in the yaks,

[Zach Dunham]

It is truly sad what is happening here. Minsi is such a great lake. It is FULL of big largemouth (big for PA). The lake is supposedly as low as it is going to get right now until it is fixed. As long as it doesn't go any lower, I think the fish population should be OK. They just need to fix the thing ASAP.

[akg414]

It is truly sad what is happening here. Minsi is such a great lake. It is FULL of big largemouth (big for PA). The lake is supposedly as low as it is going to get right now until it is fixed. As long as it doesn't go any lower, I think the fish population should be OK. They just need to fix the thing ASAP.

Agreed.

I went there this weekend and was surprised at how deep it was. Rain? Did they fix it and now are filling?

[akg414]

Probably catfish or big pan fish hitting your frogs, not many bass in that lake.     Braid is key with frogs though.

No. Catfish are not hitting top water frogs. And,these are certainly not panfish. They're bass for sure and there's plenty of bass - big bass. I've caught good at the lake.

[Zach Dunham]

Probably catfish or big pan fish hitting your frogs, not many bass in that lake.     Braid is key with frogs though.

 

That lake is chock full of big largemouth. My friend caught a 7 pounder out of there 2 years ago. It even has some smallmouth in it, but they are rare.