Northeast PA Hot spots

[Bassin_PA]

Anyone in Northeast PA know of any lakes with a decent bite going right now?  I live near Chapman Lake the there is NOTHING biting on that lake. It overfished and dead. There is small pan fish but im looking for bass.  Whats out there everyone.  Thanks in Advance.

[Neil McCauley]

There are lakes in Northeast PA?

Worth the drive up here to Lake George, or Great Sacandaga. They're hitting anything that gets near the water. ~3 hrs from Scranton.

[Bassin_PA]

Yes I live on a Lake.  We have Waullenpaupack. But unfortunately again on weekends Waullenpaupack is full of douches and their huge racing boats. And the local lakes are heavily overfished.  I will have to look into coming up to NY.  Whats the cost of an out of state license up there?  About $100?

[JPascavage52]

I used to live up that way, in Luzerne County, for my first job out of college. Back then, being a broke, "just starting out," college student who couldn't afford a boat, I fished out of a kayak I had gotten for my birthday a few years prior, and I was always interested in some of the smaller lakes that fished well, didn't have a ton of traffic, and I didn't need to make a 10 mile run to get to a good spot. There are actually a few treasures up that way that aren't as well known about, as, say Wallenpaupack. 

One of the better, little known ones I found, was Sylvan Lake. It is surrounded by mostly private land, but theres a PA Fish and Boat Commission launch there. It's a great little numbers lake, with plenty of 2-3 pounders and some bigger ones, and never was a ton of boat traffic. There is a lot of shoreline cover, and docks to fish, I liked to skip Senkos under these, or work them with a squarebill. Down at the far end of the lake, there are a bunch of lily pads and weeds. I did well with frogs here, or by casting Senkos to the lily pads, and letting them just fall off the edges. In addition, at the other end of the lake, there is a deep offshore bank that drops off, this can be good for the heat of summer. 

Another one I liked was Harvey's Lake, it is actually the largest lake by volume in Pennsylvania. Like Sylvan, it's surrounded by mostly private residences, but there is a PA Fish and Boat Commission launch. There can be more boat traffic here, but I never saw it get too bad. The shoreline cover is mostly docks and boat houses, there are some absolute giants in there, especially during this time of year in the spawn/ post spawn. Night fishing here during the summer can be on fire. Also, right near the boat launch is a weedbed. There are a good number of tournaments on this lake, and the fish they release often sit right here. 

If you really want to go out of the way, and into thick stuff, check out Harris Pond. This is an electric motor only lake, that never seems to get hit that hard. It is very weedy, with a lot of lily pads, weedless plastics and frogs are the ticket here. This lake is known for some giant panfish, but I have taken some nice bass here as well. 

Hope this helps. Also, there are multiple bass clubs up in that area. If you are looking to learn more about the waters in the area, or bass fishing in general, I would definitely look into joining one. 

 

[Bassin_PA]

3 minutes ago, JPascavage52 said:

I used to live up that way, in Luzerne County, for my first job out of college. Back then, being a broke, "just starting out," college student who couldn't afford a boat, I fished out of a kayak I had gotten for my birthday a few years prior, and I was always interested in some of the smaller lakes that fished well, didn't have a ton of traffic, and I didn't need to make a 10 mile run to get to a good spot. There are actually a few treasures up that way that aren't as well known about, as, say Wallenpaupack. 

One of the better, little known ones I found, was Sylvan Lake. It is surrounded by mostly private land, but theres a PA Fish and Boat Commission launch there. It's a great little numbers lake, with plenty of 2-3 pounders and some bigger ones, and never was a ton of boat traffic. There is a lot of shoreline cover, and docks to fish, I liked to skip Senkos under these, or work them with a squarebill. Down at the far end of the lake, there are a bunch of lily pads and weeds. I did well with frogs here, or by casting Senkos to the lily pads, and letting them just fall off the edges. In addition, at the other end of the lake, there is a deep offshore bank that drops off, this can be good for the heat of summer. 

Another one I liked was Harvey's Lake, it is actually the largest lake by volume in Pennsylvania. Like Sylvan, it's surrounded by mostly private residences, but there is a PA Fish and Boat Commission launch. There can be more boat traffic here, but I never saw it get too bad. The shoreline cover is mostly docks and boat houses, there are some absolute giants in there, especially during this time of year in the spawn/ post spawn. Night fishing here during the summer can be on fire. Also, right near the boat launch is a weedbed. There are a good number of tournaments on this lake, and the fish they release often sit right here. 

If you really want to go out of the way, and into thick stuff, check out Harris Pond. This is an electric motor only lake, that never seems to get hit that hard. It is very weedy, with a lot of lily pads, weedless plastics and frogs are the ticket here. This lake is known for some giant panfish, but I have taken some nice bass here as well. 

Hope this helps. Also, there are multiple bass clubs up in that area. If you are looking to learn more about the waters in the area, or bass fishing in general, I would definitely look into joining one. 

 

Thank you for that info.  I will have to check some of these out.  The DCNR officer I called yesterday is going to bring a boat up to our lake and do a quick survey for numbers even though its a private lake they still feel that if the fish numbers are dying they need to do an intervention to help boost its numbers.  But again thank you for that info.  I do like wallenpaupack because there are some big fish in there .  But still need to get ON the lake which can be hampered by weekend idiots that loves to get drunk and destroy the lake with their racing boats.

[Big-Bass]

There are a lot of options in NEPA.  I happen to have access to a few private lakes that are loaded with bass and they are pretty well "policed" by the locals so if they don't know you or who gave you permission, you are quickly called out.  Very rarely do I fish outside of these three or four lakes since they fish so well, but public lakes/rivers to check out would be:

 

Prompton

Promised Land

Fairview

White Deer

Lackawanna State Park

Belmont

Lake Henry

Kizer's

Gouldsboro

Tobyhanna

Susquehanna River

Delaware River

 

If you want bass numbers, the river(s) are your best options.  I fish the Susky often and there are days were 50+ fish are common.  Check out the river up near Tunkhannock and Meshoppen.

 

[Bassin_PA]

So I hit the lake today.  It was a little windy so I decided to use the lipless crank bait and sure enough nailed it good today.  6 small mouth and 2 decent large mouth.  And for good measure threw on a bubble gum colored senko, So I could see it, and rigged it weightless texas style and was destroying pickerels.  Caught 2 20"+ pickerel. Was a very fun day on the lake.  Even had a very decently sized Rainbow trout chase my perch colored crank bait.  I think the fishing is on now that its warm.