Hopewell Lake, French Creek SP (Berks/Chester County), 05.Sep

[wgmiller]

I had a morning to fish, so I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and hit another local state park lake from my kayak. I'm starting to like the lakes because I can start and end at the same point without having to shuttle or deal with other logistical issues.

I arrived not long after daybreak and fished from roughly 07:30-11:30. Air temp was a balmy 47 and it felt great! I ended up landing a small LM bass (8-9") and a bluegill, that's it. As usual, lots of line cast and lots of searching with not much to show. I didn't see guys in boats doing any better, so perhaps the front that came through had the fish on lockjaw mode. I tossed a half dozen different flies from a Clouser to olive bugger and ended up going topwater with a frog-type pattern.

Either way, I need to pick up a sinking line for my 8wt. I'm fishing with a "sink tip" line, but feel as though I need to get down deeper to the where the fish are. I'm noticing that a lot of the man-made lakes in PA have similar depth and lack of structure as well. In many ways this lake reminded me of Speedwell or Stevenson Dam. I'm sure it's probably the same as Pinchot, Margburg, or any other number of lakes.

Regardless, it was a nice day to be on the water and I was able to wrap up before the recreational masses showed up to take over the lake!

 

[Fredrick]

Very nice but were are the fish pics

 

[wgmiller]

I didn't take a picture of either fish - I was almost embarrassed Someday I'll land something worth taking a picture of. Until then, the casting practice continues!

 

[jdaddy]

Man, I am so sorry that I missed you that day. Wicked sinus infection kept me up all night. That's a shame that they were not cooperating. Fronts certainly put the bass down, but fish there are usually very cooperative in the evenings. I have not fished mornings on that particular lake.

 

[jayL]

Brings back a ton of childhood memories. I need to head back that way.

 

[PSUFishMenace]

Sweet pics! I love the area up there, really beautiful place.

 

[wgmiller]

With conditions like they were, catching a fish truly was a "bonus". I enjoy the time I get on the water and while it would be nice to have a "numbers day", just the opportunity to get away from it all is worth the price of admission!

Jdaddy - plenty of static water sources nearby, so we'll have to meet up another day.

 

[mystillwater]

i've only ever fished topwater there. too weedy and shallow to fool around underwater. i like throwing a popper near the lillipads. i've never been disappointed. i've seen some very large fish there as well.

fun little lake in a kayak.

 

[wgmiller]

Those lily pads were nice. I could see mounting an "all out" topwater attack in that area...