Hopatcong Tomorrow

[justin1982]

I'm heading up to the cong tomorrow. Gonna rent a boat from dows. This place always kicks my butt. Any tips or suggestions? Not going to target any particular species, just looking to catch something! I have a portable fish finder so I can figure out depths and whatnot. I've read all the past stuff on the board about the cong a million times and I still have no luck lol. Anybody have any ideas on the present conditions and lures/ bait I should be using? If anyone is gonna be there tomorrow, I can stop by and say what's up, I never had the pleasure of meeting any of you maniacs!

[Chrisper4694]

i sent you a message, i'll be out there this afternoon to see what's going on.

[AndrewT]

Was bass fishing there Monday. Very slow. 5 keepers between the 2 of us and some smaller stuff mixed in. Just about everything came off of docks and a slow presentation.

[NJSquatch]

obviously ask the guys at Dow's. They will be a little more forth coming with information to someone renting a boat. I was out on Saturday in the weeds and it was pretty slow.

[jimmythegreek]

dows will tell you to fish herring off the main lake points. thats very true, but which one is the ??

there are TONS of schools of white perch and crappie everywhere, and they are in the same 25-30ft range as the stripers and walleye. I would suggest downlining and 3 way rigging herring to the bottom, and jig some binsky or a small jig rap on the marks u see to tell if they are crappie/panfish or not. Its a big lake, pick 1 or 2 points and fish them very well. I spend as much time searching as I do fishing this time of year, unless Im trolling

[justin1982]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and PMs. I will definitely let you all know how it goes!

[Chrisper4694]

I just got home from laying a big fat goose egg there...good luck man, I didn't even get a clue. Had some sunnies nibbling my jig to death that's about it.

[FASTEDDIE29]

Looking for your report Justin! Hope your having a good day out there! Let us know what's going on either way. This transition period this time of year can be rough!

[justin1982]

Hey all. Well another rough day on the big pond. When we rented the boat, Laurie at Dows told us guys had been catching stripers on binskys, jigs and chicken livers around chestnut point. I had all 3 and to Chestnut point we went. 2 white perch. Headed to Pickeral point. The wind had picked up and we were having a lot of trouble anchoring but we were spotting fish in 40 ft water, between 33-38 ft. Since we were drifting so bad we couldn't really stay on them. Talked to a couple guys on boats and they said they were marking fish in 40-45 ft but couldn't get them to commit and they said they've been nailing stripers most of the week between chestnut and Elba? Points. Moved back near Dows, got nothing and called it a day. Fished from about 7:30-2, water temps were 58-61 degrees, mostly all fish marked in over 30 ft. Another failure at the cong, livers, herring, lures, fishfinder and I even downloaded the navionics app suggested by Skunk City (great app btw). I think I might be retiring from the cong, I haven't had luck there in years! Maybe it's just me or I need some professional NJFers assistance! Lol tight lines all!

[Jigman13]

There's no giving up. Just regroup reload and retry. The success will be even sweeter when you achieve it. Lots of guys on this board fish hopat with great success, but even they have tough days. Turn the discouragement into motivation!

[Chrisper4694]

You picked a tough day to fish man. Fluctuating pressure makes fish uncomfortable and harder to get them to bite. I had success on a nearby smaller lake this afternoon with crappie but they were picky too. Give it a try in a week or two.

[NJSquatch]

Da 'Cong is an cruel mistress. Just when you think you have it figured out turns out you don't. Keep on trucking eventually it will pay off. Took me 2 years to catch my first hybrid. I'll be out there tomorrow hopefully with a positive report.

[NJSquatch]

Hit the lake Saturday with the wifey. Brutal NW wind at 10-15mph sustained with 25mph gusts made it really tough to fish the main lake structure. We did catch a bunch of willing crappie on blade baits in the wind shield of Elba Point.

Hope to take a half day later this week and get back out there.

Winter is coming!

[Block Buster]

I fished Hopatcong two weeks ago and no joke I got tired of catching Hybrids.. Could Not keep my line in the water.. I actually had to real in my lines while I ate my sub for lunch...