The Rocks
The Rocks in this article and on this site refers to an earthen dam that was created across a narrow waterway on the west side of the reservoir. It looks like a rock bridge or rock dam and it’s a damn good place to start fishing from the shore.
The big side of the lake – you can catch everything; trout, bass, crappie, bluegill, everything but Lake Trout.
Want to catch something big? Use medium to large live herring or shiner hooked under the dorsal fin with a #6 hook and suspended about 4 to 6 feet under a bobber. Half way between your hook and your bobber should be a barrel swivel and above that a 1/4 or 1/2 ounce egg sinker. Cast out and wait. Wait for the bobber to get pulled completely under water, reel in your slack, and if the bobber is still under the water, set the hook. If the bobber pops up before you can set the hook, just wait and see if the fish comes back. You will catch trout and bass using this technique.
You can also forgo the bobber and just live-line a shiner or herring. Use only a #6 hook, no swivel, no weight, no bobber. Cast out and let your bait swim around. Leave your bail open to allow free movement of your swimming bait. When you see line start running off faster or a big splash where you fish was just swimming, let it go a few seconds, then close the bail, reel in the slack and set the hook. I like using Circle hooks when livelining because there is less likelyhood the fish will swallow the hook. If you use Circle hooks, don’t set the hook, just start reeling in and the magic of technology will do the rest.
Are you with your kid and want to catch something just to show him or her what a fish looks like? If they’re small kids, avoid the rocks completely because it’s easy to fall and get hurt. Still hell bent on fishing this spot? Ok pick up a package of night-crawlers and use those on a #8 baitholder hook suspended 2 to 4 feet under a bobber. You will catch tons of sunfish and small bass.
Fishing on the bottom is not advisable from this location. You will get snagged on rocks and weeds.
Fishing with lures can be fun. In the Spring and Fall we’ve caught trout on silver Kastmasters and in the summer we’ve caught lots of bass and crappie on smaller floating and swimming lures.
The Swimming side of the lake – you will not catch any trout here but you will catch bass, sunfish, and chain pickerel. Use Rapala floating lures to stay out of the weeds. Weedless rubber worms are great here too. Some of the biggest largemouth bass we’ve caught have been on this side of the lake fishing weedless rubber worms right on the bottom.
You can fish with live shiners and minnows on this side of the lake as well, however the thick weed cover makes it a real nightmare if your casting accuracy is sub par. The weeds get thicker as the summer goes on.
In the winter this side freezes over pretty good and makes for good icefishing. Fish using live shiners and you’ll catch largemouth bass and chain pickerel.
