pinchot lake

A

AdamM

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Joined
Sep 14, 2006
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Has anyone ever fished pinchot lake from the shore with any success?
 
I have fished it in a few places and it was hit or miss. From about now until maybe the end of June you will do well. Later on I had a difficult time catching much.
 
Pinchot is a shallow lake with a lot of shoreline cover and is loaded with bass and crappies (as well as some hybrid stripers, muskies, and catties). I have done well fishing from shore however much of the lake is socked in with tree cover and vegetation making FFing from the shore quite difficult. The middle section of the lake around the picnic areas is a bit more open. By summer, much of the lake is weedy so you need weedless flies, esp for fishing from shore.
If you give the lake a try, post a report. We could use some more reports on warmwater destinations.
 
Tom,
Yes. There's a horsepower limit I believe. I fish it all the time from my kayak.
 
Thanks for the advice, if i make it up there ill post a report how i did.
 
Tom - they allow boats at pinchot but there is an electric motor only regulation. My fiance, future step son and I went last year and rented a row boat. Probably wasn't the best idea on a windy day because for every 10 feet I rowed us I was pushed back 5 feet :). You can rent canoes or a rowboat with a trolling motor there for pretty cheap. Good luck!
 
I'd use a tube or a yak..thanks for the info...I have an anchor for both...
 
I have fished, camped, kayaked, canoed, hiked, rowed, swam, mountain biked, frisbee golfed, and some other things at Pinchot. It is a nice little State Park for only being 15-20 minutes from my home. Last September I rented a cabin there for a week and told my boss I was in upstate New York cause I didn't want to be bothered on vacation being so close to home.

There are some big boys in the lake but chances of catching them there increase at night. The lake gets a lot of pressure. Try fishing in the coves and openings in the weeds. The other year I rented a rustic cottage, went out at night, last night there, and caught a huge largemouth on a frog body and Gamagatsu hook on spin gear. I lost something really big on a spinnerbait. It bolted to my right and I all I heard was my drag go zzzzzzzzzzz and then snap went the 10 pound line, and my only spinnerbait.

I heard so many splashes that night all around me you wouldn't believe it but they all sounded like whoppers and I was hearing them within 1-3 seconds of each other, and sometimes simultaneously, at all different distances from way off to right next to the boat. So when I finally landed the big one I was like geez it's about time. There was nobody else on the lake because a huge storm chased them all off the lake just after sunset. It was an advantage camping there and being able to just shove off at the right time.

I will say good luck, because Pinchot can be tough during the day sometimes, not to mention very windy and you might spend some time removing weeds from your paddles or trolling motor.
 
JLW,
I'll bet what you heard was a school of hybrid striped bass crashing bait and that one of them grabbed your spinnerbait. It may have been largemouths with a musky mixed in. There are a lot of fish in Pinchot despite the fishing pressure.
 
Does anyone know how much renting a canoe with a trolling motor is per day?
 
I second the stripers being the primary instigators in the late night minnow massacre. No doubt the beastly largemouth and musky were involved as well though. Ahh.. what a motley crew to tangle with :pint:
 
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