They’re biting on Lake Hopatcong.






The water temperature is 42°. I’ve been nailing then on a quarter-ounce Rat-L-Trap and the Storm WildEye pictured.

No walleye yet. I was here two weeks ago and the water temperature was 47°. I caught over a dozen really nice walleye as well as a few smallmouth bass, lots of chain pickerel and huge, plate size crappie bass.

I wonder if the 5° difference in water temperature changed things?

I’ve been fishing pretty hard before and after work, still hoping to nail some walleye before I have to head home Friday evening.

My vote for prettiest is the perch!

if you "need" anyone to help balance out your boat, let me know!

Looks like fun!

Nice!
YP always been one of my favorite fish!

Never caught a chain pickerel, but those perch that size are some fine eating I can testify.

Nice fish! Dad loves perch fishing...hard to find locally.

Use to love going pickerel fishing up at Pecks Pond in the Poconos

Big Perch

nice pike and perch

Them nice sized perch are about as good eating as your gonna get.

I agree, yellow perch and walleye are my two favorite freshwater fish to eat. Both are equally delicious, especially out of cold water, which I guess makes sense, since they are both in the same family. I prefer catching and eating walleye only because they are bigger and you can get a nicer fillet off of them.

I caught a bunch in the 22 to 26 inch range when I was here two weeks ago but they are not biting this week.

A few from my last trip:

I am not much of a fisherman but those perch can be a good way to spend the day catching And if made right make a great. And I certainly would b willing to pay gas money or guide fees in view of my very limited experience about fishing Nice post Lugnut and really good pictures of a few of your good day of fishing Years ago I had a duck hunting friend that also liked to fish He did both on the Susquehanna river And he always said the best time to fish was Oct and Nov I enjoyed duck small game and deer hunting to find much time fishing But fi fishing was in your blood I can see how it would be a perfect time to go Thanks for posting

Nice

I see a blade bait in his mouth.Funny here,,,in the fall they like the blade baits,,but in the spring opener,,they pound my home made bucktail jigs.

Looks like a lipless crankbait in his mouth to me

That’s not a blade bait Upstate, it’s a 1/4 ounce Rat-L-Trap, a lipless crank bait.

You beat me to it Turtledale.

He had it down in deep too, that’s about as aggressive as I’ve ever seen them two weeks ago. They were just smashing the crank baits.

Perch and walleye are probably the best eating fresh water fish.

I can see it better now.Looked like a blade in his throat.