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Pike County Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs Bass Fishing in Pike County |
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| PAGE INDEX 1. Introduction 2. Lake Wallenpaupack 3. Shohola Lake 4. Greeley Lake 5. Delaware River 6. Community Lakes and Ponds 7. Promised Land State Park 8. What is a Striped Bass?
LINKS Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area Federation Pickerel and Muskie Page Federation Wild Game and Fish Recipe Page
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Smallmouth Bass Introduction Pike County offers a unique bass fishing experience. Home to largemouth, smallmouth, stripped bass, and striped bass/white bass hybrids (wipers), Pike County even allows bass anglers the choice of lake or stream fishing. This page will discuss some of the better bass waters that are open to public fishing. Lake Wallenpaupack With 52 miles of shoreline, Lake Wallenpaupack holds largemouth, smallmouth, striped bass, and striped bass/white bass hybrids. Shore fishing is possible as the entire shoreline is open to the public (except a small area around the dam) however, Lake Wallenpaupack's bass are best pursued from boats. Unlimited horsepower motor boats may be launched from any of 3 free public boat launches and numerous private launches that are accessible for a small fee. Look for largemouths in the coves and muddy bottom areas. Smallmouths frequent rocky bottom areas and bouldery points. Stripers and wipers are usually caught at night. Especially good is the area of the lake by the dike and dam. Fishing on Lake Wallenpaupack is good all day between September 15th and June 15th. The remainder of the year, especially weekends, bass anglers will find fishing best at night and in the early morning when the large number of recreational boaters are not using the lake. With a large forage base of alewives, many of Lake Wallenpaupack's bass grow quite large. Twenty pound stripers are quite common and electro-fishing has brought up fish over forty pounds. How to get there ...
Shohola Lake This 1000+ acre impoundment is shallow, stumpy, and weedy. The result is superb largemouth fishing with many fish in the 5 pound range caught each year. Dense brush with very shallow water near shore compounded with a mucky bottom that prevents wading, limits shore fishing to the three boat launch areas and the picnic grove. Boat fishing is the way to go, but be warned --- Shohola Lake is limited to electric motors only. How to get there ...
Special warning ...
Greeley Lake Greeley Lake is also shallow and weedy with a large patch of water lilies and a stump field. Access is limited to a small boat launch area along Greeley Lake Road (SR-1002). The access is so small that shore anglers must yield to arriving and departing boats. However, for those who choose Greeley Lake, the fishing is well worth it. Electric motors only. How to get there ...
Delaware River In Pike County, the Delaware River is generally a smallmouth bass fishery with small pockets of largemouth bass. However, lately the Delaware is becoming known for its striped bass. The Pike County portion of the Delaware River can be divided into three sections. From Narrowsburg NY to Matamoras, Matamoras to Milford, and Milford through Bushkill Narrowsburg to Matamoras This northernmost section is, for the most part, in the Upper Delaware Wild and Scenic River corridor. The large stretches of riffles and pools hold good numbers of smallmouth bass. Boats may be launched at the Zane Grey Access Area in Lackawaxen, the Matamoras Access Area just north of Matamoras, and at various private access points in between. The land in this area is mostly under private control so permission must be obtained before crossing these private lands to the river. Once river access has been obtained, anglers may freely travel up and down the river and the littoral zone as permitted under the Navigable Rivers Act. Matamoras to Milford Most all of the land along this section is in private ownership. Access may be had at the small boat launch at Airport Park in Matamoras or at the NPS boat launch at Milford Beach. Again, once access to the river is legally gained, shore anglers may walk up or down the river or the littoral zone as permitted under the Navigable Rivers Act. Milford to Bushkill With minor exceptions, the land surrounding this section of the river is in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area so access for shore anglers is not a problem. Boat anglers may obtain access from the well maintained boat ramps in Milford, Dingmans Ferry, Eshback, and Bushkill. Canoes and rowboats may also be launched from a number of "car top" boat access areas. (Ask for a map at the Park office.) The large pool and riffle system allows for plenty of smallmouth action. But also keep an eye out for stripers ... especially south of the Dingmans Ferry boat launch. Stripers in the Delaware Striped bass are becoming more and more common in Pike County's Delaware River. Landlocked striped bass have escaped from New York reservoirs. Sea run stripers are coming up from the south. Hot spots may be found between Dingmans Ferry and Eshback and around Pond Eddy. Community Lakes Just about every large private community has at least one lake. Most of these lakes are home to largemouth bass that often grow very large due to lack of fishing pressure. These waters are usually restricted to residents and guests of the community. However, it usually isn't too hard to get an invitation. Particularly good community lakes may be found in Gold Key Lakes, Sunrise Lakes, Wild Acres Lakes, Hemlock farms, Twin Lakes, Walker Lake, Traces of Lattimore, Conashaugh Lakes, Tink Wig, Pocono Mountain Water Forest, just to name a few. Conashaugh Lakes has even introduced stripers into one of its lakes. Promised Land State Park Both the Upper Lake and the Lower Lake have good bass fisheries. Access may be had from any one of several public launches. Visit the Park office for a map and to learn where the hotspots are. How to get there ...
What is a Striped Bass? In the not so distant past, there was two types of bass fishing, fresh water and salt water. While Pennsylvania anglers pursued members of the black bass family (largemouth and smallmouth), anglers in New Jersey and other coastal states went a sea for striped bass. The striped bass, Roccus saxatilis, is anadromous. That is, like the salmon, it lives in the ocean only to enter fresh water to spawn. With the advent of heavy industry around Philadelphia and Trenton, a pollution block was formed in the Delaware and fish such as shad and striped bass could not pass upstream. For years, Pennsylvania was without striped bass. In 1941, South Carolina built the Santee - Cooper lake system. The flood gates were closed and the valleys were flooded just after the striped bass had entered the rivers to spawn. Unexpectedly, the stripers found an acceptable home in the giant lakes and reproduced in the tributaries. A landlocked version of the striper was born. The new landlocked striper soon became a hit. Other states obtained offspring and stocked them their own lakes. The benefits of the landlocked stripers is two fold. First, they are a very sport worthy fish that grows to great size. (The Pennsylvania record is over 50 pounds. 20 pound fish are quite common.) The second is that they are quite voracious and especially love alewives. It is that second attribute that first brought stripers to Pike County. As bass fishing developed from a leisurely pastime to a serious and professional sport, magazines and television shows sang the praises of the large bass found in southern reservoirs. The large size was often attributed to an abundance of alewives as a forage fish. Soon after, some good intentioned but unknowledgeable angler decided to improve Lake Wallenpaupack by introducing alewives. Unfortunately, alewives can easily overpopulate a lake, out compete other fish, and, through periodic die offs pollute the shoreline with millions of dead fish. To control the alewife invasion, the Pennsylvania Fish Commission introduced striped bass and a striped bass / white bass hybrid (wipers). While the wiper is sterile and can not reproduce, is does grow very quickly and reaches trophy size in a hurry. Wipers usually stop growing at a smaller size than stripers and wiper fingerlings must constantly be stocked to replace older fish. Pike County also has obtained striped bass from other sources. Landlocked stripers were stocked in several New York reservoirs. Some of these fish escaped and made their way down the Delaware where they have found conditions to their liking. And, happily, with the environmental awareness of the 1960's and 70's, Pennsylvania and New Jersey have cleaned up the pollution block. Sea running stripers can now safely travel up the Delaware and reproduce as they did back when William Penn first landed in the state. Return to Federation Fishing Page Return to Federation Home Page
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