Lake Hopatcong Fishing: October Variety
I always recommend—if you’re fishing Hopatcong in the morning—that you get on the water before sunrise, and that you’re fishing before the sun comes over the horizon. In October—this photo was taken on Halloween 2015—choose which of a variety of species to catch.
Do any Best Weeks of Fishing Hopatcong Exist?
I used to think the third week of October is the best time to fish Lake Hopatcong. I felt a little suspicious of myself when I realized the best day would be October 23rd, because that’s my birthday. Really?
A few weeks later my friend Brian Cronk came to my rescue, telling me a renowned guide on the lake, Skip Lerner, says the best time for hybrid stripers are the first two weeks of August. I patiently awaited proof, and saw, for example, the nine-pound best of 36 bass caught in two hours just before August arrived, convincing me.
Others would say June nights—for hybrids and walleye from the surface—are the best time of the year to fish Hopatcong.
I’ve been reminded that fishing is relative. Your best week on the lake might not be mine; maybe what makes success for me, isn’t the same for you, and besides, my experiences when trolling in May are too different to compare well to October, not to mention January when fishing through the ice.
The lake offers so many opportunities. A very detailed book can be written on them. Maybe two volumes, but not for me to write, because I’m very much aware of other anglers on the lake, far more experienced. They might not want to share their secrets, anyhow. And whether or not the third week in October will remain my favorite is in question, because I’ve been enjoying May a lot.
My son and I used to also fish in July and August, and it was hard to beat arriving before five in the morning at Dow’s in the predawn warmth, renting a boat and staying out 10 hours, soaking in the heat for many of them, slowing way down, absorbing the world and letting nature heal all of our distraction. We caught fish, too. We never figured out the hybrids, but we caught largemouths, smallmouths, pickerel, panfish, and a couple walleye.
Brenden Kuprel and a nice October hybrid striper.
October Opportunities
And yet, we looked to October as more promising, because we always caught good-sized walleye, often hybrids as well. Largemouths, smallmouths, pickerel, panfish came as bonus fish. I’ve written about the October walleye and hybrids from several angles over the years, so I’ll write more about the other species, but first, an overview of lake conditions. By the first of October, the water temp has probably slipped a little below 70, and turnover is under way but far from finished. I remember marking fish as deep as 30 feet that early, but the climate has warmed significantly over the past decade, turnover coming later. Another thing to remember is that oxygen remains depleted in shallower water in some places rather than others. That has to do with prevailing wind that oxygenates the water by mixing it. Besides judging fish-marks on the graph, you can get an idea of how deep oxygen has penetrated by weighting a herring, putting it down, and bringing it up after a couple minutes. If it’s dead, there’s no oxygen at the depth you put it.
I like fishing when there’s some fog. Matt Litton and walleye with one good eye.
All Month Long
Friends and I have caught fish early in the month, the month’s middle, and late. The third week has been most productive in the past, when oxygen is established in depths of at least 35 feet. We set live herring and also jig. The water has cooled to about 60, maybe as low as 56, and I’ve been told by the people at Dow’s Boat Rentals, that when the surface has cooled to 56, the lake is fully turned over, which would mean the coldest water at bottom is 56 degrees. On the other hand, during the morning of November 7, 2017, the surface temp was 54 to 56. The warming trend is likely to continue in the near future.
Besides when we troll hybrids in May, we’ve caught the most and biggest that third week of October, though we’ve caught no walleye. Largemouths, smallmouths, pickerel, and panfish, we’ve caught these species at more and less an even rate from May through October, though our very best day for smallmouths was in July.
A good-sized largemouth caught from the same rock formation as my largest smallmouth right on those rocks, although my son and I have caught larger suspended over 15-20 feet during summer.
October Largemouths
In our experience, late October largemouths like rocks, but we also catch them around boathouses and docks. Senkos rigged wacky are very effective. You can pitch them to the sunlit edge of shadows, where bass will see them illumined and slip out of cover to take, or you can cast underneath docks. Jig ‘n pigs do the same, Ned rigs, etc.
If you want to devote the day to largemouths, spinnerbaiting weedy water with some depth can be time consuming and productive, as well as weedlines where you can switch out for a crankbait. You’ll collect some green stuff, but it shouldn’t so much as to dissuade trying. A Chatterbait in lieu of a spinnerbait works, too. Especially when water temps slide into the 50’s, use a stinger hook on your spinnerbaits. Largemouths continue to feed avidly, but they may short-strike.
A 16-inch smallmouth bass I caught in October from two feet of water among rocks.
Smallmouths in October
Smallmouths are not only more aggressive any time of year, their metabolisms are suited to cooler water. They also like open water better than largemouths do, feeding more on herring. Why we’ve never caught set deeper along drop-offs than 20 feet surely has to do with the lack of rocks deeper than that.
When setting live herring, each of us uses three rods, setting rigs anywhere from 20 to 45 feet deep. Crappies, on the other hand, we frequently catch as deep as 40 feet and white perch as well. Our favorite spot allows us to anchor so our set lines reach the drop-off’s bottom edge and leaves us free to turn around and fish rocks as shallow as two feet, where we catch both largemouths and smallmouths, not to mention plenty of panfish. Most of the bass, including a smallmouth over 16 inches, have come from two feet of water.
Devoting the day to smallmouths will find them deeper, but I would bet no deeper than 20 feet. Fishing among rocks may result in the most and the biggest. Since smallmouths feed on herring, catching them near rocks but on the herring might be possible, but we’ve caught the most of them that suspend away from shore during summer. Keep in mind that some of the drop-offs situate in the middle of the lake, as well as humps and the Sunken Island. You can see it all on a topographic map. I would suggest raking rocks with crankbaits and fluttering Senkos or Shim-E-Sticks rigged Wacky among those rocks. Smallmouths are suckers for soft, wiggly baits like Senkos, and of course Ned rigs, tubes, etc. work, too. Don’t overlook spots where rocks break weedbeds. Weeds hold other forage fish species and while smallmouths won’t relate to weeds as closely as largemouths and, especially, pickerel will, they’ll pick off forage fish along edges of them.
Pan-sized bluegill. I think we took some of these fish home almost 20 years ago. They are delicious.
Steve Slota crowned by the sun and holding a big yellow perch he had just caught.
The Pickerel, Perch, and Panfish in October
Speaking of pickerel, the weeds of Hopatcong offer myriad opportunity. Don’t be afraid to fish them as deep as 10 or 15 feet, though weedy shallows hold them, too. And don’t forget panfish offer steady action, if you’re willing to do a little prying to get on pods of the fish. The pumpkinseeds and bluegills are beautiful, and so are the yellow perch, crappies, and rock bass. White perch are as tasty as the other panfish, too.
The article originally appeared in New Jersey State Federated Sportsmen’s News.