Cong Charter?

[CHfisher17]

I've fished the Cong about 6 times so far this summer and I just can't get a good read on this place. Don't get me wrong, I catch a few fish here or there but I never have a "good" day fishing. My best day was about 4 Perch and a nice Hybrid. But I've also had my fair share of skunked days.

Are there any guys that charter on that lake that I can hire to show me the ropes? I'm looking for someone I can ask a bunch of questions.

OR if there is anyone on here that knows the lake well and wants a free fishing trip, you're more than welcome to PM me. I have a pretty clean 17' center console.

[NJSquatch]

the cong is a cruel cruel mistress...what and where are you targeting? This time of year you need to get out real early or real late. The recreational boat traffic makes fishing not very enjoyable.

Stop by Dow's Boat rental. They will hook you up with the intel on what works on the lake and where to go. Trolling herring in the main lake is a good summer time pattern.

Capt Dave (NJF user = muskynut) offers mulit-species charters.
Skip Lerman has bass charters on the lake. Google them up.

[jimmythegreek]

LH = herring

if you wanna catch fish on LH forget what you know about fish it has its own rules. what are you targeting? you will rarely have banner days on LH especially this time of year, the recreational traffic is brutal, you have a small window in the mornings, weekdays can be good on cloudy/misty days. post some info and I'll help

[briansnat]

A quick google search turned up this. http://www.livetofishguideservice.com/

I know nothing about the the guy, but it is worth a shot if you want to go out with a self proclaimed expert.

[CHfisher17]

LH = herring

if you wanna catch fish on LH forget what you know about fish it has its own rules. what are you targeting? you will rarely have banner days on LH especially this time of year, the recreational traffic is brutal, you have a small window in the mornings, weekdays can be good on cloudy/misty days. post some info and I'll help

I had better luck in the spring but now that the water is warming up I'm having a lot of difficulty. I usually get on the lake either really early or after work. So between 6-8 I try to target pan fish (perch and crappie) n after that I've tried trolling for hybrids or walleye. Minimal luck.

I've been working the points of the main lake and trying to stay between 15-30 feet. Nada. Im usually trolling crank baits or jigging soft plastics. I'll try live lining herring next time.

I definitely see lots of herring schools on the radar but nothing under them hitting.

[jimmythegreek]

the hybrids on LH are in deep water now, 15fow is nothing but panfish. I troll 30-40 the last drop into the main lake basin. Dows tells everybody to fish main lake points and yes there are a few fish always around but stripers migrate around the lake in lots of scattered schools. I troll live herring if I cant find fish on the graph by checking areas with side imaging, its very hard to find them w just 2D sonar. If you find schools of herring in 25-35ft run some herring thru them or liveling them. That 6am time is walleye/striper time, later in day they shut off to boat traffic, you wanna be at dows waiting to get bait at 545ish and go right to fishing. Walleye are best targeted w a 3way rig on bottom they hug tight you may not even see em on graph but they are there

[CHfisher17]

the hybrids on LH are in deep water now, 15fow is nothing but panfish. I troll 30-40 the last drop into the main lake basin. Dows tells everybody to fish main lake points and yes there are a few fish always around but stripers migrate around the lake in lots of scattered schools. I troll live herring if I cant find fish on the graph by checking areas with side imaging, its very hard to find them w just 2D sonar. If you find schools of herring in 25-35ft run some herring thru them or liveling them. That 6am time is walleye/striper time, later in day they shut off to boat traffic, you wanna be at dows waiting to get bait at 545ish and go right to fishing. Walleye are best targeted w a 3way rig on bottom they hug tight you may not even see em on graph but they are there



Thanks! Great advice. I'll make sure to follow that advice. I only have a 2d fish finder so I'll try your herring trick. I was doing something similar the last time I was out there with no luck, but I was slow trolling crank baits. I'll give live herring a shot.

[americandesi]

With a friend I did two guide trips with Skip Lerman last year. He's a great guy and does everything he can to teach you and put you on fish. I would recommend doing a trip with him.

I don't think he has a website or is on social media, but you can call or txt him at (973) 534-7834

[bulletbob]

Thanks! Great advice. I'll make sure to follow that advice. I only have a 2d fish finder so I'll try your herring trick. I was doing something similar the last time I was out there with no luck, but I was slow trolling crank baits. I'll give live herring a shot.

jimmythegreek gave sound advice,let me just add my $.02.. ANY lake that has big numbers of Landlocked Alewives [ herring in NJ, sawbellies up here in NY] has a similar food chain.. The predators are around the bait, even when the bait is out of preferred temp, or not on preferred structure.. Now some predators will lie deep, some will relate to temp for awhile, but in general there are predators near the food source its that simple.. I have never fished Hopatcong, but have fished a million lakes full of alewives, and its always the same..


I would get my sawbellies late in the day, when the masses were headed OFF the lake... I would make sure my boat has a good color fish finder, and as the sun got lower on the horizon, and there were fewer and fewer boats around, I would search for bait on the FF... .. Where you find the clouds of bait you will find big "slash marks" over under and around them IF there are fish on that particular pod... I would simply live line the Alewives, maybe with a big split shot to get them down a ways.. To fish a lake full of alewives properly, you really need a good FF that easily marks bait and fish relating to it.. Once you do have a few solid run offs, you will have a lot of your questions answered, and the mystery will be gone.. Its NOT hard fishing, you just have to know where the bait is, and if the fish are around the bait, which they usually are.. If you give them Herring/Sawbellies/Alewives, you will be giving them what they want... good luck... bob

[jimmythegreek]

LH supplies the whole state's bait shops with herring, and still has millions of them to spare for its fish population. You wont get squat on crankbaits on LH unless your bass fishing shallows for LM. The fish arent dumb, they ALL eat herring 2/7 and know what they are. The only time tackle is effective is spring nitebite otherwise you need herring until you know the lake well, then you can venture into other setups. Trolling covers water, unless you know theres fish under the boat livelining herring to nothing doesnt catch fish. And as bulletbob said I agree, BUT LH has its own rules, the stripers in LH act nothing like the stripers in SR or other places, LH has SOOOO much boat traffic that you can barely fish it in the summer, you have a small window to get on them its a tough nut to crack unless you learn the lake, took me a whole season to figure it out fishing every weekend with my boat in the water docked no less

[bulletbob]

Its pretty similar in all lake that have herring.. Thats about all they eat, and thats all they want.. If I were to fish LH, It would be between about 7 PM and maybe 8 am.. When the first waverunner showed up in the morning, I would be rocketing toward the ramp.. Buy herring, find the bait pods, liveline the herring where you read a few slashes on your FF, and you will have a decent chance.. bob

[Charlie B]

And then there is chicken liver. You won't catch walleyes or muskies on it but the hybrids love it. At times if a school is around even in mid summer mid day. It does present it's own problems but it does work...Charlie

[Gerry Zagorski]

I have some friends up there and they've had similar results as mentioned above. As usual, spring fishing was great and this year it was off the charts and just about any time of day... Now that the water has warmed up and you have boat traffic it's really slow.... First days light and at night will be your best bets.

There are lots of points up there that people drift herring on a slip bobber or free line them with and without weights. Try them all a see whats working on that day. First thing in the AM and dusk into the evening are your best bets. All the points up there are clearly marked with white buoys with lights on them. Try the different points as the hybrids move around a lot and the points provide good and varied depths and structure.

In general I wouldn't bother fishing anything but 12 - 20 feet this time of year since the shallows are too warm and there is nothing under the thermocline in the deeper parts of the lake.

Here a a few links if you'd like to learn more.

http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/arthybridbass05.htm
http://lakehopatcongnews.com/revisit-lake-hopatcong-news-from-the-past/how-to/how-to-live-bait-fish-on-lake-hopatcong/
http://www.kneedeepclub.org/Species/baitfish.html

[Bruce Litton]

If you're after walleye & hybrids, drifting herring where you mark fish is my persuasion, using 3/4 ounce slip sinkers against barrel swivels. Or use the electric (troll slow). Watch those herring. Any dead tell you you're fishing too deep, as the lake is stratified now, no oxygen below 30-35 feet, maybe fewer (all depends). Different parts of the lake stratify differently. First disclaimer: When you start EARLY, just live-line herring--no weight. Even walleye will situate well above the bottom and snatch a herring. We've got them in August. Sunrise Point way in back may be good, Pickerel Point in front. Good-size smallmouths snack on live-lined herring too. One exception. IF you see (not likely) hybrids go on the jump in the middle of the afternoon--wail big topwater plugs, then try Rat-L-Traps, but if you have any Mann's Little George tailspiners, they might be best. Those hybrids cutting the surface have lost inhibition and may hit lures. I've seen it happen despite boat traffic. Once. Pretty far out towards mid-lake. If you want largemouths, fish weedlines and docks with plastics. That's slow fishing this time of year, but a couple of good ones or more, no complaint there.