I pretty much grew-up on one of the best, if not THE BEST, smallmouth fishing lakes in Pennsylvania (excluding Lake Erie). That Lake would be "Lake Wallenpaupack" in the Pocono Mtns. of PA. Lake Wallenpaupack, or "The Pack" for short, is a 13 mile man-made Lake in Northeast PA. My parents had a house on the Lake for 27 yrs. where I used to fun-fish and tournament fish. (I had a Ranger Tournament Bass Boat.) Although the Lake has an abundance of species of fish, it is renowned for its Smallmouth Bass Fishing. For those of you that fish a lot, you know that (pound-for-pound) there is nothing like hauling in a 3 lb. smallie. I think that's why I target smallies- because of their spirited fight. Don't get me wrong, fishing for Largemouths is fun too...but I'd rather catch a 3 lb. smallie than a 6 lb. largemouth...any day of the week. If you've never caught a big Smallmouth, you need to hire a guide to show you how to do it. For smallie fishing at the Pack, there is no better guide than my friend, and former B.A.S.S. touring professional- Bill Albright. You can visit Bill's website at: www.billsguideservice.com
In addition to the Pack, I regularly fish for smallies on the (non-tidal) Delaware River (aka the Big-D) from Trenton, NJ up to Easton, PA. That's because the "Big D" is no more than 5 miles from my primary residence in Doylestown, PA. (I fish the Big D out of my Hobie Outback Fisherman Kayak.) Although, I don't catch Smallies as big as at the Pack, I catch them more frequently. That's because the River is not affected as much by the Weather as the Pack is...especially during the Summer months on bluebird days. I'm not sure who is a "good guide" on the Big D but when I find one..I'll post you the information.
In addition to fishing the Pack and the Delaware River, I also fish the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, PA for Smallies. I kid you not, you can catch upwards of 100 smallies a day on the Suskie. Again, you're not going to catch 3+ lb. smallies but you'll catch a boatload in the 1-2 lb. range. And, the best part of the Suskie is that you don't need a boat..you can wade fish. It's really fun. For me, the Susquehanna River, where the Juniata River dumps into it, is about a 2 hr. ride from my home. I don't visit it often but when I do..it's always productive. I don't have any personal friends that guide on the Susquehanna River, but when I do find one I'll be sure to post the information here.
Other than the waters I just mentioned, the only other Lake in PA that is "Smallmouth noteworthy" would be Lake Erie..where you can catch big-ass Smallies. It's hard for me to call Lake Erie a lake because it's really like the Ocean since it is so big. I haven't fished Lake Erie yet because it's an 8 hr. drive from my home. But, one of these days..I'm going to have to bite the bullet and drive up there. When I do, I'll be sure to post info on this blog.
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