zdunham

AHA! I did not see that note before. I looked on the guy's Facebook page and there are no giant bass pictures. Someone always has to ruin the honor system. Whoever put those up without even questioning it is a moron.

It can be a great lake but you are so right about how hard it is. I fish a lot of the Tuesday night, 3-hour tournaments there. When you get a really hot and sunny day and a lot of people have been out on the lake, it is nearly impossible to catch anything. When that lake is turned off, it is REALLY off. When my friend and I do go on a day when it is empty and the weather is bad, or if we go during spawn, its potential really shows. We've caught one 4 lb 13 oz smallmouth, and several that were 3 lb 13 oz. We've had two largemouth over 6 lbs there as well. Came in second in one of the Tuesday tournaments last year when we caught two 4-pounders (largemouth) in the first 10 minutes. During spawn last year we saw multiple 6+ pound largemouth within 20 yards of each other. I know big ones exist in there, they just disappear most of the time. If someone caught a 10 pounder out of Beltzville, I wouldn't be surprised because I'm sure it is possible there. When I first saw that 10 pounder on the list for 2012 I wasn't even suspecting anything. I only got suspicious when I saw the same guy with that many big ones.

Wallenpaupack can be a great lake and a difficult lake at the same time. Most days in the summer the lake is so packed you don't want to be anywhere out there. A lot of the tournaments on the weekend are at night for that reason, or they end before noon. I'm a terrible drop shot fisherman so I am not the person to ask about that. There are plenty of big largemouth in there to be caught shallow and smallmouth can be caught shallow most nights. As the poster above me said, crawfish imitating baits are the best thing for most of the lake, except maybe up the creek by Ledgedale. In tournaments the lunker is usually over 5 lbs, last year it was over 6 lbs more than a few times.

Lackawanna has posted their 2013 schedule. I will be there for most of the weekend opens as usual. Any chance anyone else fishes those? If so, we probably have met!

I sense sarcasm, lol. I found the guy on Facebook. I considered adding him or messaging him asking for pictures, but I don't want to be a stalker.

I recently checked out the biggest bass in PA for 2012. It seems the same guy, Joseph Zajko, caught 3 of 5 biggest largemouth, 2 of the 5 biggest smallmouth, 1 of the flathead catfish, and 2 of the 5 biggest pickerel. All of these catches are listed in a month long period, with most of them coming in a two week period. It says that he caught a largemouth over 8lbs, a smallmouth over 7 lbs, and a pickerel over 5 lbs, all on the same day at Francis E Walter Reservoir. I find this all incredibly difficult to believe given that 7+ lb smallmouth are extremely rare, 8+ lb largemouth are extremely rare, and a 10 lb largemouth is EXTREMELY rare in PA. The 10 pounder was supposedly caught at Beltzville State Park, which I have always maintained can hold a 10 pounder. There are freakish fish in that lake. I have caught a 5 lb smallmouth there and a buddy of mine has caught a few largies over 6 there. We've seen big cats, walleyes, and stripers come out of there too. If this guy was only on this list for a 10 pounder largie out of Beltzville I would believe it. The rest of the list makes me think this whole thing is fishy though (no pun in intended). I did a quick google search of him and found a TimesLeader.com article from 10 days ago, which has since been removed. I emailed the webmaster to find out why. His Facebook page also shows him holding various large tuna / salmon / trout. Anyone know anything about this?

We're ALMOST THERE!! This is going to be so awesome.

Can you keep catching them like this all the way up until the lakes freeze? Or until I can't handle the cold...lol Yes, pretty much. Toss in some Buddies for the really cold days. The real trick is finding the fish, it gets REAL specific. Any hints on that? Recommended depths or types of structure? I'm assuming if it gets really really specific if means they will be in piles though?

Can you keep catching them like this all the way up until the lakes freeze? Or until I can't handle the cold...lol

It's called a drop-shot. lol Just use a bigger weight and hook. Thanks. I don't know all the terms....lol

Do you think it is possible to use certain soft plastic swim baits as a vertical jig?

Thanks for the reply. I'll see if I can find anything of the sort.

Hi all. Just wondering what jigs anyone would recommend for vertical jigging in the Fall or now. I know there are tons of different kinds of jigs for this and I have experimented with various jigging spoons but not much else. I'm looking for exact baits if possible as I might just order some recommendations now. Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the reply! I'll try some of this.

Hi all. Two weekends ago got to Lake Wallenpaupack just before dawn and was able to catch quite a few decent bass in shallow water on almost anything. Once it got bright and boats were everywhere, it was nearly impossible to find a bass. Now the last time I was there last weekend, it was hard to get anything shallow even early. To anyone who knows Wallenpaupack well, what is the best thing to do this time of year once it gets light? Are the largemouth suspended after the early morning? I'm mainly looking to catch largemouth but smallmouth will due too.

Any size estimates on that last picture would be helpful. Since we didn't have the scale we can't call it my friend's personal best but an approximation would make us feel better hahaha

Just a nice photo string of BIG bass caught in a few lakes in northeast PA. All of these pics are of my friend or I. All of these bass were caught between last August (2009) and now and are in order by date. 6 lb 8 oz largemouth from Fairview Lake, August 2009: 4 lb 13 oz smallmouth from Beltzville, October 2009: 3 lb 13 oz and 3 lb 2 oz smallmouth from Beltzville, November 2009: 6 lb 10 oz largemouth from Lake Wallenpaupack, April 2010: 4 lb 0 oz largemouth from Beltzville, April 2010: 4 lb 13 oz largemouth from Lake Minsi, May 2010: 3 lb 13 oz smallmouth from Beltzville, May 2010: 3 lb 2 oz largemouth from Beltzville, May 2010: Forgot scale in truck but when compared to the 6 lb 10 oz bass above, it is definitely close to the same, give or take a few ounces, June 2010. Let me know what you think about the size of this one as we are trying to figure it out if it was bigger than my 6 lb 10 oz from earlier this year. We're competitive.

Yeah if you are just doing a one time trip while up here I would not suggest Beltzville. I fish at Beltzville probably 30-40 times a year and it takes a LONG time to do well on that lake. It is the most pressured lake I know of. If you do go to Beltzville, during the day it is so pressured and the water is normally very clear, the only way I ever catch fish there during the day is somewhat deep cover. It is a very deep lake in general but finding weeds in 15+ feet of water is key midday. In the evening there are some shallow areas to go to but these places are well known and not very big for the most part. You can't go to Beltzville expecting to pile up numbers but it does throw some abnormally large fish at you and sometimes species you don't expect. In the evening we've caught big trout and relatively small stripers in less than 5 feet of water on slug-gos.

OK, call me stupid, but what kind of fish is that in the picture?

He came in pretty peacefully he kinda just laid his weight on the line for awhile. Once he saw the light he tried to take off but it was too late; he was in the net.

haha yeah, it sometimes makes us northern people jealous when our PB fish is only 6 lb 10 oz but I'll take it.

Just caught this bad boy today at Lake Wallenpaupack, PA on a silver jerk bait! 6 lb 10 oz on the digital scale, that is my best. I only started using jerk baits thanks to people on this forum so thanks guys.

Thanks for all the posts guys.

Based on that, I'm not sure you should be working on these....but, yes, if the screw is behind the spool, then you must remove the spool. To do that, you'll have to remove the palm side plate. I figured this I'm just overly cautious even though its only a 50 dollar reel anyways. Gotta learn it all sometime.

So if there is one on the inside that means I have to take off the left side plate first?