Lake Hopatcong

[RyanMac14]

Havent caught anything down by me my past 6 trips so thought maybe I would head on a good trip to lake hopatcong. Just wanted some general tips regarding what to use lure wise and general ideas where I can park and search for spots. Any advice appreciated. Thanks guys

[RyanMac14]

This whole place is lined with houses and marinas. There seems to be like 2 places to fish from shore

[jimmythegreek]

LH is one of the toughest lakes to fish in NJ. It gets heavy pressure and tons of boat traffic, fishing from shore is even harder. Theres few access spots and the fish are picky. U have to put time in to learn the patterns and how to fish it. There are much better places to fish from shore, the rivers of NJ are a better choice, everyone else is in the same boat sort of speak

[Skunk City]

LH is tough, but summer is even tougher. Like Jimmy said, stupid amounts of boat traffic. If you are intent on pulling something out of there, I would get out there early (like 5am) and be done by 9am. If you are only fishing from shore, there are better, more accessible bodies of water to put the time in than LH.

[RyanMac14]

Yeah I have a boat but I just happened to be up north and thought what the hell lets check out LH. Knew it was way better via boat but did not expect the horrid shore access. There was also tons of boat traffic so I doubt ill be bringing my boat up but if I do it will definitely be very early morning to get out before the lake gets swamped. For a lake so big though I just couldnt fathom how I could find literally only to 2 shore access points. Didnt help that it also stretched my streak to 7 straight fishless trips

[bulletbob]

I would think you will have better luck in a few weeks after the hordes of humanity thin out.. Late sept/oct...Fish early mornings, or late afternoons/evenings.. You need a boat , good fishfinder, and some time.
As with any heavily used lake, the fish aren't everywhere, and you need to find them, and give them what they want.. IN LH, herrring is usually what they want. Just need to find where the fish are.. You are at a great disadvantage in LH if you try to fish it without a boat.. bob