Lake Hopatcong fishing - Lake noob.

[Jenger]

Hey guys

So basically I grew up in hopatcong my whole life, always loved fishing, but was always raised to fish the streams.

Lately I have been becoming more and more interested in fishing the lake for walleye or stripers, but I have no boat. I do however have a buddy who lives right on the lake at pickerel point.

We have been fishing there the last few days, nothing besides a few decent sized bass. I feel so limited fishing the lake shore line.

I have always figured the "main lake" right there by pickerel point was pretty deep so I assumed there was a nice drop off maybe < 20' out, but who knows.

Anyway, we used fat heads the other day (got jipped.. they were way too small) we might try herring tomorrow. We have been also using rapala's with little to no luck wit them. I wanted to try the thunderstick, but I havn't seen one in the stores yet.

Is it worth going for these types of fish from the shore line there? I know brady's bridge is a hot spot, what about form the shore line there?

Everybody says the walleye are close to shore this time of year.

I do fairly well in the streams with trout, but the lake is a whole other ball game.

Any tips? :D

[birddog]

The best time for me has been after 10pm, The rapalas that work best are the f-18 worked slowly

[AndyS]

WELCOME to the site. Any chance of getting your hands on a small 14ft boat ? The kayak guys seem to be doing well also.
I know this doesn't answer your question but I think the shore line drops off slowly at LH.

[Skunk City]

I've also found that live herring will catch almost every species in that lake. You can't go wrong there, and nice to have a bait setup out there while you are casting lures. During the day you'll get bass, trout (now), all sorts of panfish and pickerel. If you want to catch Walleye and Hybrids, night time is where its at. BIG floating lures or stickbait style lures.

[Jenger]

Sorry I should of specified..

90% of my fishing is late afternoon / night. Last night we fished in between the rain from 6:30p ~ 8:00p then again at 9:30 ~ 10:30.

I know the majority of the action occurs around midnight, I think we are planning on casting out late tomorrow.

We have access to a little fisher boat, its a friend of a friends. Her husband passed, she has no use for the boat, but I don't know the first thing about marine engine work. Not sure if it was winterized or what. Plus neither me or my fishing buddy have our boating license.

Id like to get a kayak but I have too many expensive hobbies going on right now lol I cant afford to shell out ~$500 on a kayak, everybody seems to want top dollar for their used ones on CL.

I agree having a live bait rig + lures is the way to go. When using live bait as in fatheads, shiners, herring, should a bobber be used or no? I figured with a bobber on, the bait can only hang down 2.5' or so max?

Lure wise, will any old rapala work? They had all these code names, I thought I was looking at a fighter jet catalog with all these F-7's, etc :rolleyes:

[bunker dunker]

That Point Is A Great Point To Fish.fatheads Are Not Native To The Lake,they Work But Not Great.once You Put The Herring Down You Will See A Huge Differnce.i Suggest Using Strike Guards And Letting The Herring Swim Freely.you Will Have To Check Then Every 10-15 Minutes But I Know You Will Catch.

[birddog]

f-18 is the model # of the rapala they work the best for me, I have also done well on the knucklehead poppers that they sell at Dow's

[Skunk City]

For night time fishing, you always want something that gives off a larger profile. Smaller fish have no problem wacking the bigger stuff anyway. F18 Rapalas are the largest size they make in the "Original Floater".

With the bobber, I use wooden Slip Bobbers. They are a little more "complex" than a snap on bobber, but they are infinitely adjustable for the depth you want your bait presented at. Google "slip bobber rig" and you'll find a million diagrams of the pieces you'd need.

[jimmythegreek]

pickeral point is a great spot, one of my best on the lake. There is a deep drop off from 15-18 ft down to 25+ about 50 feet off the shoreline. The trick to LH is to learn the lake and its timing for fish. I used to hate the lake never caught anything when I was younger, now I have a 2nd boat to leave in the water lol. Right now there is no action over 10-15 FOW especially the day time. I saw my first baitball and fish on it the other day in 22 FOW 19 ft down. Everything is shallow and on shallow flats, and most fish hide during the day unless your gonna fish under docks and structure for bass/pickeral. Dont bother fishing this time of year in the daytime, start at 10 earliest and fish til 1 or 2. Get yourself a F18 in any color, firetiger and sliver are my best and fish it painfully slow w a fan casting pattern. Soon topwater poppers/plugs will work too. There are spots to fish from that are public, and if you guys r on the lake make friends w neighbors or other people u know and fish from their docks/marinas too. My boat is in the water and I havent bothered to fish daytime or early AMs

[Jenger]

Hm.. so I went out to a few stores just now looking for the F18 and/or the Storm Thunderstick with no luck?

Can I find these anywhere except online? Are the must haves?

I have a rapala F-9, I am assuming its similar to the F18?

Also have a husky jerk and a CD-5. Any good?? Thanks

[Jenger]

Hey what would a good size hook be to use fishing late night using herring? I have been using #6, would like to know if those are sufficient?

[jimmythegreek]

dicks sporting goods has them, laurie at dows has them, ramsey has them, and yes its a must have, the ones u listed dont do the same thing or act the same, they have their place but not here at all. I like a gamakatsu octopus in 4 or a needlepoint in 4, size 2 when the herring are bigger later in the season, and always hook thru the nostrils. If your after eyeballs the bait is hit or miss, the lures kill it

[Jenger]

Well we just got back in after getting completely skunked..

We went out on the row boat, up and down the shore lines of pickerel point. At about 11:30 we heard our first rise. I was hoping it would be followed by a bunch more, but nothing. Then we heard another, then another but no bites :(

Not consistent rises, but definitely something chomping away. One of the rises was right near my bait (herring) and nothing.

We were also using some lures. I got some thunderstick Jr's from dow's (no normal thundersticks) and no f18's at dow's, ramseys, walmart, sports aurthority, etc. I also picked up a f11 rainbow at dows along with the thunder stick jr's.

We were out about 70' max from shore, again going up and down the shore line. Nothing.

I really want to catch a nice walleye, hybrid, musky, something large. I guess patience is key..

There is no way we can row over by brady's bridge from pickerel point. Are there any other decent spots NEAR pickerel point? If someone could PM me if they dont want to share publicly.

[bunker dunker]

Go Back Up Alittle Futher Into River Stix.fish Just Outside The Lights
Of The Boat Houses.throw Your Herring Into The Lighted Area.just Make Sure You Keep The Boat Out Of The Light As The Shadow Will Spoke Them.

[Jenger]

Welp, we rowed out almost to johnny's marina, fished that back to pickerel pt, nothing but a small mouth. We used lures today, and some nightcrawlers. Im using these thunderstick jrs with absolutely no luck...

My one buddy is pissed, he hasn't caught a fish yet. Doesn't wanna go out on the boat anymore. I know the lake is a tough one to fish, but sureley we should catch something eventually.

Trolling motor worth it or not?

[jimmythegreek]

depends on whether u plan to fish alot and make it worth it, cause u need a battery too. If you can find a cheap one on craigslist or sumthing and have a battery its worth it. LH is a tuff nut to crack, once u figure it out its an amazing fishery but they dont come easy at all, not even for me. The nite bit has jsut started, next week or two the stripers will turn on and it gets easier u just need to find the bait then u find the fish and catch them. But being mobile is the key, u have great fishing rly close to pickeral pt. All the walleyes Ive caught have been withing rowing distance of your location

[Jenger]

About to go back out and try our luck again. We fished from 6 ~ 830 with nothing. Saw a rise close by (we were fishing from his boathouse). I know the fish are out there, just no action for us. I've been using rapala f9s & f11s (rainbow) along with thunderstick jr perch + others.

Wish us some luck pls.

[GetANet]

Keep at it my man. if you know the fish are there gotta keep trying different things,retrieves,etc. Sooner or later you'll hook up and be happy as hell!!! This year has seemed to be a little later starting, it's never exactly the same every year usually similar and some what predicable so gotta put the time in and learn your area as much as you can. Don't try to fish the entire lake better off picking a few areas and continually work and learn them. Trust me it will pay off. Many of the guys here know what we're talking about and give great advice so you'll learn a tremendous amount of info from reading the threads and then it's up to you!!!! Good Luck tonight!
Break a rod!!!! LOL................................

[Jenger]

Alright guys, just got back.. happy to report, walleye were caught!! :D

We rowed down shore a bit and fished for awhile with no luck. After a couple hrs of nothing, we wrapped up and docked. We immpediately started fishing from the boathouse and after about 15, 20 mins my buddy caught the first walleye. We underestimated them, they are monsters! Didn't even fit in our net.

He caught the first one followed by me getting the 2nd, him getting the 3rd. I also had one that I was bringing in take off with my thunderstick in its mouth (weak knot)

They started hitting 12:45 - 1am , much closer to shore than I thought!! Thanks for all your tips guys, we had a blast!

[GetANet]

need some pics , since we are all coaching you wanna see the results!!!!LOL

[Jenger]

I got one picture of my buddy with his first walleye, but its not a goood one.

[jimmythegreek]

Ill give u sum credit, it was nasty last nite. I was gonna go out and go to my baot dock and turned around, was calm by my house and whipping winds 25+ on the water. Good job on finally getting sum fish, wind was blowing from ur side of the lake I woulda thought the east side would have been better. keep at it and u will get many more, the stripers will begin soon on topwater all over the lake. shallow and slow is the key

[Jenger]

Really? Didn't seem to notice the wind that much last night.

We left his boathouse light on, once we got back to the boathouse and began fishing, we noticed bait fish in the water where the light was shining. We started casting along the shore line and saw the walleye following the lures back. That's when we really got excited because we knew our chances were good. They were hitting literally right next to the dock.. Every time we were fishing from the boat, we were much further out.

Im just thankful we got some action to remind us that there are big fish in the lake.