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?

[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

[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