Helpful ReplyHelp with Raccoon creek state park

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Badfisher2
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2020/06/24 19:28:59 (permalink)

Help with Raccoon creek state park

Hello!
 
I've been trying to fish raccoon creek lake recently and have not once gotten a bite from anything other a bluegill. I've only fished from the shore so far, and my question is, are there any good places to fish from the shore other than the "main" spots? or is a boat needed to find the trout/bass.
 
Thanks!
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solitario lupo
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Re: Help with Raccoon creek state park 2020/06/25 11:41:22 (permalink)
You have a lot of shoreline on both sides to fish. There’s should be plenty of places to fish from shore. It’s a Dead Sea over there. I fish it in my yak and maybe get a bass or to. Carp fishing can be good now. The only good places I know to catch fish are my secret spots and it’s not the actual lake. Got a lot of walking down that path to even get to them. Still might be some trout by the dam.
post edited by solitario lupo - 2020/06/25 12:45:14
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snagr
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Re: Help with Raccoon creek state park 2020/06/25 13:38:18 (permalink)
i fished there a few times years ago and didn't do any good.  
 
here's a biologist report from 2019.  other than trout; stunted panfish and average bass fishing doesn't look like a place to invest a whole lot of time in.   
 

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Porktown
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Re: Help with Raccoon creek state park 2020/06/25 15:38:00 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby Fisherlady2 2020/06/25 17:19:14
Like most lakes in the area, seasonal patterns are most likely the reason for your current struggles.  We are in that transition to summer time patterns on most lakes right now, which unfortunately are also known as summer doldrums to most (including myself).  The shallows are warming up and fish are suspending in deeper water, usually a some sort of structure that you need to figure out and then figure out how to get them to bite too...  This makes shore fishing pretty hard.  It makes fishing from a boat hard too.  I mostly fish Arthur and have been trying to figure things out there for years.  I often end up with days of a bluegill or two, some without anything.  Even when I think that I have figured out a pattern, it changes the next week or year, etc.  Just a hard time of year for many inland lakes.
 
Most likely in April/May, doing the same thing you are doing now, would have you into fish.  Or at least see guys getting into some and giving you faith that fish are around.  October/November will likely have you on fish.
 
There is a guy that visits this site on occasion that hammers some nice fish at Raccoon, so I know there are nice ones there.  I'm sure that he has figured out some summer patterns too.  Maybe he will chime in and give you a hand.  If it is your home water, don't give up on it completely.  When you figure a few things out, you will be rewarded.  Try at dusk or dawn, it may bring some of those deeper fish in closer for a bit.
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snagr
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Re: Help with Raccoon creek state park 2020/06/25 19:02:30 (permalink)
tried to include the 2019 biologist report in my post above but i reckon ain’t got nuff posts here to share links. so you can find it if you go to the pfbc website and click on biologist reports.
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Kevin_A
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Re: Help with Raccoon creek state park 2020/06/29 10:07:58 (permalink)
Two other things to take into account this year is that they had the lake drawn down a couple times and it's been PACKED.
 
Several draw downs may have messed up structure or fish patterns that were established. Maybe it made things weird for a bit, who knows.
 
However, Raccoon has been incredibly busy and more so than normal from what I've seen. I've tried to go several times with the kids and just drove away. Like, literally could not get a spot that wasn't within 6 feet of someone and 3/4 of the way out the dam. There were a ton of boats/kayaks/canoes on the lake at the same time as well. I haven't seen that in the past, even during the summers when you could always seem to find a spot and have the kids play with bluegill while you try for something else. Sometimes succeed, sometimes not. I have a feeling even the lowly brain dead bluegill are getting wise to things because of the number of people fishing/on the lake. 
 
It's possible that some EARLY morning fishing could produce some bass and I do want to try at least one night trip here soon because I know there are some decent channel cats in there. All in all though I think it's a tough, very busy, very weird year and it's going to take more work than usual to pull anything out of certain waters. 
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solitario lupo
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Re: Help with Raccoon creek state park 2020/06/29 11:48:26 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby Kevin_A 2020/06/29 11:56:52
Kevin they do close the gates and you have to leave at night so don’t know how you would do night fishing there unless you find a way to sneak in. You might wanna try at dusk to do that.
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Kevin_A
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Re: Help with Raccoon creek state park 2020/06/29 12:04:14 (permalink)
solitario lupo
Kevin they do close the gates and you have to leave at night so don’t know how you would do night fishing there unless you find a way to sneak in. You might wanna try at dusk to do that.



I actually didn't realize they closed the gates. Thanks for the info. I've left there a few times around probably 9:30/10 last year when the kids called it quits. Maybe I just got lucky or didn't stay late enough to get locked in. Oh well. Another one off that list.
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