Hopatcong is a fickle mistress. The lake gets a ton of fishing pressure and the lock jaw can test your will at times. Time on the water will reveal some go to spots. Check out the
navionics web map to look for spots to check out.
In my experience fall bass fishing is
tough but then again i primarily focus on hybrids and walleyes in the fall. Senkos are effective in the shallow water around docks. Stick with a some blue on the crank baits. The primary forage is alewife (herring).
Great thing about this site is the search function. I use it regularly when wanting to check out a new body of water.
My advice is to fish off hours and in less than ideal weather. During the weekends there maybe as many as 2-3 fishing tournaments and a ton of pleasure boaters. Memorial day to Labor Day is pleasure boat madness.
The big 5' drawdown is this year. They already started releasing 1.5" a day. The lake will be down 2' by 10/13 and some ramps start to become unusable at that point.
Try to make it to the Hybrid Meet and Greet and pick the brains of the crew.
Be safe out there and report back with your adventures
