Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation

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ZelieSam
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2017/06/19 08:13:56 (permalink)

Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation

If you've heard anyone refer to Lake Arthur as the "Dead Sea" I have to believe this is why.  The lake is high from all the rains, muddy, pea green, and already north of 80 degrees.  The gizzard shad are getting their groove on so you'll hear them splashing and jumping all night but never catch them (they eat plankton).  Every fish in the lake is gorging on alewives right now because they are the perfect size and at peak numbers prior to spawning and die-off.  Weeds are a bit behind due to all the muddy water but they'll have the fingers and shallows sewed up by the end of the month.  
 
So yeah.  Summer Arthur.  Gotta love her.  
#1

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    BeenThereDoneThat.
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/19 14:17:44 (permalink)
    Sam thanks for that report on Arthur. Think I may make the trip down that way maybe next week. Pending the ability to walk UN-primate style after peddling my asz off, over hill and dale, thru the Pennsylvania Wilds.

    The fish not biting doesn't bother me because, even if they was, I don't catch the stupid things!!😕

    But I do have a brand new never been used before, fishy home directory map, on my sonar all programmed for the lake.

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a life time. ~Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919)~
     
     
     
      Old fisherman never die; we just smell that way. 
     
    #2
    BIGHEAD_1
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/19 20:10:48 (permalink)
    Sam the fishing is kicking  AZZ you really need to find the right lures and places on THIS SO CALLED DEAD SEA   We never seem to find it DEAD and ALWAYS get fish SOOOOOOOO  try again  try the bomber's in clown color and at the BIG island between it and the dam on the point closer the  bridge A One Time HINT
     
    #3
    BeenThereDoneThat.
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/19 20:23:34 (permalink)
    Sam..... you were saying? 😒

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a life time. ~Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919)~
     
     
     
      Old fisherman never die; we just smell that way. 
     
    #4
    ZelieSam
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/19 20:39:19 (permalink)
    lol.  I didn't say the fish weren't biting.  Other than the gizzard shads.  Those aren't biting.  I'm simply saying that if you don't know what you are doing and you hit Arthur in mid-June you can easily understand the dead sea comments.  
     
    Thanks for the tips, though.  Not sure how you guys huck lures for hours.  After about 7 casts all of my... me hurts.  And bait fishes FOR me.  :)  Also as luck would have it I nearly crashed into that exact island two nights ago in the dark.  Stupid channel.  I avoid the stumps personally.  I don't fish anywhere you could wade up to my boat and rob me for my sammiches.   
    #5
    Porktown
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/20 09:43:37 (permalink)
    Arthur is like any body of water.  Know some of the patterns, and you will catch some fish.  Go in blindly, and you'll experience why they call it the Dead Sea.  Unlike many, it is overcrowded and far too many spoon feedings on this site and others, which I am sure add to the moniker.  I've been a beneficiary of that info, as well as a violator of spoon feeding others.  But I have learned to control myself, and be helpful to those asking, and very vague on my reporting to the public.  Spoon feeding definitely adds to the crowds and likely the amount of fish that drive away in a cooler.  Just like any lake in mid summer (not there yet), it will feel like the Dead Sea when fishing mid-day.  No doubt, certain conditions will turn the feed bag on, but most likely, you'll be out there working on the sunburn, more than working on the bass thumb, when the dog days roll in.  Most fish are hiding from the mid-summer heat, just like most of us are.  They're still eating, just need to fish when they are eating.  Most find that too inconvenient to their sleep patterns though.
     
    You couldn't pay me enough to fish that shoal between the dam and the island at night (I've fished it many times during the day).  That place looks like the 3 Rivers Regatta at night, with boats practically tied off to each other.  Everyone knows, EVERY fish in the lake, hangs out there, Neely's and Upper 528!!!
     
    I completely avoid that shoal when just general navigating.  The channel is not marked well, and might not be a full channel...  It takes an extra 1/2 minute to go around the island, rather than 30 minutes trying to get your boat dislodged from the beaching on the shoal, then going around the island.  I seem to see someone do it, just about any weekend that I fish that section.  The GPS maps are nice for general navigating, my Navionics is a bit off when it comes to that channel.  By all means, go find out for yourself.  Especially at night...
    #6
    BeenThereDoneThat.
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/20 15:00:46 (permalink)
    Well I ain't going fishing there since Sam said people can wade up to his boat and steal his sammiges. Nobody gets my baloney-n-cheese sammiges.

    Not even over thumb wrestling.... nope!!

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a life time. ~Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919)~
     
     
     
      Old fisherman never die; we just smell that way. 
     
    #7
    Zmley46
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/21 09:11:58 (permalink)
    Been catching a lot of panfish. Also, the hybrids are hitting good at night. Landing my first ever last night. Been seeing a few muskie caught too but haven't been lucky enough to hook into one myself yet.
    #8
    BIGHEAD_1
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/22 04:44:20 (permalink)
    BeenThereDoneThat.
    Sam..... you were saying? 😒

    Freaking SCHMUCK ,  Always a smart remark.  with the screen name used think you would know I was GIVING GOOD ADIVCE 
     
    post edited by BIGHEAD_1 - 2017/06/22 04:51:34
    #9
    BeenThereDoneThat.
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/22 09:26:07 (permalink)
    BIGHEAD_1
    BeenThereDoneThat.
    Sam..... you were saying? 😒

    Freaking SCHMUCK ,  Always a smart remark.  with the screen name used think you would know I was GIVING GOOD ADIVCE  



    HEYYYYYY....... I represent that remark!!!😴

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a life time. ~Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919)~
     
     
     
      Old fisherman never die; we just smell that way. 
     
    #10
    psu_fish
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/22 15:13:36 (permalink)
    I'm going to try my luck Saturday AM at the Dead Sea, weather permitting
    #11
    psu_fish
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/23 19:48:13 (permalink)
    Anybody know if the lake will be all muddy tomorrow after all this rain? Idk if it worth driving 1 plus hour
    down


    Thanks
    post edited by psu_fish - 2017/06/23 19:59:00
    #12
    crappiefisher
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/23 19:48:45 (permalink)
     Don't forget the Weds. Bass Tournaments started. My son & his buddy took first place a couple evenings ago.
     
    crappy
     
    #13
    Porktown
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/23 19:58:11 (permalink)
    Dang wake makers... Congrats to Crappy Jr! Be honest, who taught who, everything they know on that lake? 😋
    #14
    crappiefisher
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/23 20:17:30 (permalink)

     
    crappy
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    ZelieSam
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/23 22:01:13 (permalink)
    PSU - it is always muddy to some extent.  Water will be a bit high from the rain but nothing crazy.  Life as normal for summer Arthur.  Good luck!
    #16
    pitts_flytier67
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/29 07:00:44 (permalink)
    Fished the "green lake" this Wednesday. It wasn't the dead sea, I had some luck with bass. Not sure why it looks like green pea soup, and so early in the season. The only thing that got any response were plastic worms.
    I heard there is a weekly bass tournament on the lake. Does anyone know the day and times? I would like to avoid whatever launch ramp they use.
    #17
    Porktown
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/29 09:27:56 (permalink)
    Wednesdays are tournaments, possibly others.  Not sure what times, but usually 20-30 boats zooming past around sundown to get to their weigh in.  I think they use McDaniel launch.
     
    Not sure when the lake typically starts to change to pea soup, but seems to happen every year when the water gets warm.  It is a good large mouth lake.  I rarely target them, but always catch a few.  I have bought some large mouth specific lures to give it a shot.  Most other stuff will shut off in late July - most of August, for me at least.  During that shut off time, the alewives will be in large schools, skimming the surface at times.  It is fun watching them get ambushed, but happens randomly and usually done by the time you can get your boat to them.  Need a good calm day to see them skimming.
    #18
    psu_fish
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/06/29 15:26:02 (permalink)
    I'd have to really explore the lake, but I think come the dead of summer, deep diving crankbaits on ledges might be the ticket
    #19
    crawlerman2
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/07/06 09:37:46 (permalink)
    I went last Saturday and fished from 8PM to 3AM.  Alwives were not out until close to 11, got thick around midnight.  Ended up with 4 LM on worms before we could catch alewives, 3 small hybrids and 2 nice channel cats after.  My buddy caught 3 small hybrids.  We kept moving looking for bigger fish but kept getting 12-16" hybrids.  The lake went dead around 2:00
    #20
    SpreadEagleBeagle
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/07/07 07:43:22 (permalink)
    Been a tough season for me with family commitments and such.  Only been out a few times and the rain has definitely been a buzzkill.  
     
    Hitting it up Saturday night weather permitting.  Would like a wiper but will settle for a couple of hefty channels for the skillet.  Arthur never disappoints for catfish!
     
    Bighead--should be out with D.F..  Give us a shout if you see us in my Alumacraft.
    #21
    crappiefisher
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    Re: Aurthur in June: How This Lake Earned its Reputation 2017/07/07 14:36:35 (permalink)
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