Central PA lakes

[Tube4Slabs]

Anyone fish any lakes for crappie in central PA. I'm new to the area and looking to get into some slabs.

[Zimmy]

Anyone fish any lakes for crappie in central PA. I'm new to the area and looking to get into some slabs.

If you are in the State College area, try Bald Eagle(Sayers Dam) It is excellent for perch and crappie , I fish around the bridge at Howard or the fishing pier, or Try the Marina or Hunter's Bay. Do you have a boat? There are a lot of place to hit with by boat. Good fishing Zimmy

[(/\)ishingFishing]

Tubes...

I've fished for panfish and bass in the past, but am changing to include crappie more often. Check out the post under "Introduction and report from Auburn Dam." It's a hike from Carlisle, but worth it under the right conditions if you go prepared and spend an entire day there.

I also enjoyed fishing at Project 70 / Codorus State Park, west of York. You can shoot up 11/15 to route 30 pretty quickly that way. It's a huge, unlimited, lake- so there could be some sailboats and the like...but there's a great range of depths, cover, shoreline, and bottom structure there. You'd probably have a good day there, prepared to fish for anything conditions make easy.

There are a few electric-only lakes that are good, including Lake Marquette and Memorial Lake. (Grantville near Indiantown Gap.) I *think,* despite what the Fish Commission site states, that Lake Marquette accepts only rental boats. Either have good shore fishing at times.

Speedwell Forge Lake in Lititz, PA has a nice set of ramps, is large, and has extremely varied habitat and species. I've done very well shore fishing here, and even better under electric on the boat.

I hear Pinchot State Park is good, though it's been years since I was there. I mention it because of your location.

I also want to try Blue Marsh, (Reading,) Wallenpaupak (sp? ...way up north,) and Raystown just for kicks. Let me know if you succeed somewhere else!

Good luck!
-Shawn

[Big Zig]

Tubes...

I've fished for panfish and bass in the past, but am changing to include crappie more often. Check out the post under "Introduction and report from Auburn Dam." It's a hike from Carlisle, but worth it under the right conditions if you go prepared and spend an entire day there.

I also enjoyed fishing at Project 70 / Codorus State Park, west of York. You can shoot up 11/15 to route 30 pretty quickly that way. It's a huge, unlimited, lake- so there could be some sailboats and the like...but there's a great range of depths, cover, shoreline, and bottom structure there. You'd probably have a good day there, prepared to fish for anything conditions make easy.

There are a few electric-only lakes that are good, including Lake Marquette and Memorial Lake. (Grantville near Indiantown Gap.) I *think,* despite what the Fish Commission site states, that Lake Marquette accepts only rental boats. Either have good shore fishing at times.

Speedwell Forge Lake in Lititz, PA has a nice set of ramps, is large, and has extremely varied habitat and species. I've done very well shore fishing here, and even better under electric on the boat.

I hear Pinchot State Park is good, though it's been years since I was there. I mention it because of your location.

I also want to try Blue Marsh, (Reading,) Wallenpaupak (sp? ...way up north,) and Raystown just for kicks. Let me know if you succeed somewhere else!

Good luck!
-Shawn

Project 70 has a 15hp maximum. This was just increased in '02 from a 10hp max. Don't know why they did this - everyone with 9.9's had the restrictor out of the carb making them 15hp anyway. Now it will take a carb swap and an exhaust change to hop up the 15hp's.

[Shellback]

Anyone wanting to fish the "pack" as it's refered to, should consider mid week or night fishing during the tourist season, as it's overrun on weekends! About 30 miles from it is Prompton Lake, an Army Corps lake with a 10HP restriction. It's probably close to 2 miles long, but only 2 or 3 hundred yards wide. I fished there yesterday for 9 hours without another boat on the water. Picked up 2 walleye, a perch and a rock bass. The unstable weather has been terrible for fishing.

[(/\)ishingFishing]

Project 70 has a 15hp maximum. This was just increased in '02 from a 10hp max. Don't know why they did this - everyone with 9.9's had the restrictor out of the carb making them 15hp anyway. Now it will take a carb swap and an exhaust change to hop up the 15hp's.

I actually saw posted at the dock this past weekend, "MAXIMUM 20 H.P."

It makes sense to limit it to 10 or 15. Why, though, can't "they" differentiate between Pontoon and smaller craft? There is an aweful lot of pontoon traffic there. (I waited 20 minutes while one "skipper" proceeded to block the dock, leave the motor running, unboarded with the passengers, walked up the hill to say goodbye to "guests" at his picnic, returned, and took 5 minutes to un-pry his pontoons from the dock itself, overrevving the outboard, and damaging the rubber bumper on the dock.) I would imagine 15/20 for a pontoon and 10 for smaller craft would suffice. And, dang do those things look like fun...I'm just amazed at what behavior frequently accompanies them.

You're right, though; BigZ, it isn't "unlimited" like I thought it was before.

-Shawn

[Big Zig]

Shawn - lost a pretty detailed post to a busy server, so I'll keep it short this time. Sounds like you may be launching at the marina - if so, try the ramp on th other side of the lake across from the marina, you can see the bath house up on the hill. That access has two docks and enough ramp for three trailers abreast. We tend to lauch without that use of docks; one guy in the boat, and the other in the tow vehicle. Back down the ramp, drive the boat off the trailer, wait in the cove while the driver parks the vehicle, then motor in to pick him/her up and out you go. That keeps the ramp and docks open for others (the guys that like to say goodbye :D ).

Yeah, 20 HP - but who makes a 20 HP outboard? That's why everyone ran 9.9's with the 10 HP limit - no manufacture made a 10 HP. I still don't quite understand that restriction on the Project. I think unlimited with certain no-wake areas would work just fine there.

[(/\)ishingFishing]

I launched off of that ramp the last time I was there, and was trying again this day; but the lot was packed, and I didn't have a driver to move the rig elsewhere if I ended up launching there...so I went to the marina. THIS lot was empty, but like you said- there's a lot of water traffic there.

I didn't get a chance to run the cove that runs in front of the marina. How far does that leg go? Is it a cove, or is there a feeder stream up there?

-Shawn

[Big Zig]

yeah, small cove. slowing sloping shoreline on one side, fast slope on the other. There is a minor channel that comes out toward the main lake, but I never did enough to talk about back there. Remember the island that was out from where you put in? Drift fish the section between the island and the side the pool is on. There is a channel that runs between the two that tends to hold large concentrations af yellow perch. If you have access to electronics, watch the bottom about 40 yards off the main shore in that channel - there area few man-made structures that hold crappie in the summer months. depending on lake levels they are in about 10-12 feet of water.The island stays pretty shallow on the marina side for the better part of 60 yards, so don't cut it short. If you're ever there in the evening, run down to the dam and watch for fish breaking the surface. There are schools of white bass that start pushing small shiners together in the evening.

Ok, that's enough secret information for now. After all, this is only our first date. :D

[Tube4Slabs]

Finally back on the crappie forums. Anything happening at blue marsh, redman, Pinchot etc?