Lake Wynonah

[deadcold]

Been fishing the past couple weeks and the bites been pretty good so far for Trout. Ice depth last time out was about 6" black ice with 2 " milk on top. Biggest fish so far was an 8 pound Rainbow that was full of eggs. This being a lake with no incoming feeder stream, the trout are all put and take with no reproduction. Also been catching some nice Tiger Trout in the 5 pound range and a Couple 5 pound class Brownies. Also caught one  decent pike although its still a little early for them.The pike bite should turn on in a couple weeks as they move shallow in prep for the spawn. Fish were caught mostly in about 8 FOW but I always set some in shallow in case the pike are out and hungry.

[Chip D.]

Is this a public access lake?

[deadcold]

No, its a private lake located in a gated community on route 183 in Schuykill county.

[Thor]

Is Lake Wynonah tough to fish and figure out?  My wife has relatives that live there, and I could probably swing a pass to get in and fish.  However, I would probably only get there once or twice, and I've never even seen the big lake, let alone had a chance to get an idea of how/where to fish it.  Is there a hydro map showing depths available?

Are there other fishermen there, or do you have it to yourself?  Any weak spots on the ice to be wary of (springs, dock bubblers, etc.)?

Thanks.

[Chip D.]

No, its a private lake located in a gated community on route 183 in Schuykill county.

Too bad -- it looks like it would be one schweet lake to fish.

[deadcold]

Its a pretty big lake for the amount of pressure it gets. On even the busiest days in the winter there may be 10 guys out on the entire lake. Like most lakes, the ice can vary from place to place. In fact, there is still some open water that the resident geese keep open. Every year the open water spot moves. Unfortunately, right now the open water is at the best spot on the lake for the walleye. Most coves are safe right now and that's where you will find not only the trout but the pike once they start feeding. There are some EXTREMELY big Bass in this lake. I have seen them at 10 plus pounds but they are hard to find in the winter. Maybe they are in the deeper parts of the lake but I cant locate them even with an underwater cam. The perch and crappie are also tough to find but when you do, they are large and usually hungry. On a final note, there is a spot on the lake called the shoals. It is a spot where in about 30 feet the water goes from 40 plus FOW to less then 3 in the winter and the fish stack there. If the ice is safe, that's where you will find some of the guys on any given day. Hope this helps and stay safe!

[deadcold]

Took a friend out for a day of fishing hoping to get a hot bite going. The Ice was about 5 " black ice with 4" milk covered by a slushy mix of about 8 inches snow/water. Definitely need waterproof boots at least until the slush locks up. Pretty slow day with only about 12 flags. Used a mix of shiners and large fatheads. Nothing on the jig rods but I mostly deadstick them with a big shiner anyway. Caught one nice brownie at about 3 pounds. Also had on something huge that almost spooled me. had to put too much pressure on the tip up spool and the light leader snapped. Probably a big pike but if it was a trout, I would guess it was a 10 pound class fish. My buddy got the big skunk this time but last year I put him on a beaut of a Brownie that now hangs on his wall. The stinking geese are ruining the chances at any walleye this year. May have to move out to the Shoal area and see if I can find any there. Stay safe and tight lines, DC

[deadcold]

heading out Monday morning early. Hopefully find the walleye hungry or at least get into some of the pike that should be coming into the coves in prep for the spawn. Its been about two weeks since i made it out so I am itching. If anybody on here fishes this lake and wants to meet up, drop me a PM.

[stilljiggn]

 How ya doin, My granparents live on this lake and i have a permanent pass to get in. I always wanted to ice fish this lake but never seemed to freeze to good. If your gonna be out on Sat. maybe ill meet up with u. I dont use tip ups though , jig jig jig for me. Power auger and vexilar are the way to go. Drop me a pm if your interested.

[deadcold]

 Got out with the brother in law for a day on the big lake. After running for bait we got set up at about 10 and fished until dark. Had flags poppin all day with many run offs. We couldn't figure out what would make a 20 foot run but not hook itself since we use trebles. That was until One took it a little too deep. A beautiful 23" fat Brownie that I estimate went about 7 pounds. In between chasing flags we were set up on top of a dead tree in about 25 FOW that held at least 50 slab Crappie. We dropped everything we had and only hooked up on one. Everyone that fishes here knows about "the tree" and these fish get hammered pretty hard on almost a daily basis. Its fun watching them on the underwater cam though but it can get a little frustrating. Maybe someone who has a little more patience than me would have done better but it was still fun.  DC

[deadcold]

 Gonna be out again on the big lake this coming Saturday. Planning on getting out for the morning bite. We should be setting up over the tree hoping to entice some Crappie to come home for dinner. Also planning on hitting up "Walleye point" now that the geese have finally left. If anyone on the site lives here or has an entrance pass and wants to meet up with us, we will be at F dock. Just look for the guys staring at the cam screen and mumbling about trying dynamite. DC

[deadcold]

Spent the day on Saturday fishing Walleye point with my brother in law and his brother. Early morning bite was pretty good but it died as soon as the wind picked up around mid day. After that it was mostly wind flags and cold faces. Unfortunately, the walleye didn't show up and although the crappie were still hovering inside the tree, they all had lockjaw. We did put two nice Brownies on the ice and found a coupe hungry Pike to play with. We had many more run offs and a bite off on what was probably a big Pike. The Pike bite should continue to improve now that they have moved into the coves. It was a pleasure to meet up with fellow iceshanty poster Thor and his friend. He ended up setting up right next to us across from walleye point. Thanks for giving us your left over minnows. I hope I can keep them alive until the next time I get a chance to get out. DC

[Thor]

I fished Lake Wynonah for the first time and got the skunk.  I was probably a bit too late for the morning bite, and I had to leave before the evening bite.  It was nice meeting deadcold and his crew.  I appreciate the fishing tips on this lake.

You're welcome on the minnows.  At the rate I catch fish, they would have died from old age before I used them up.

Tom

[deadcold]

Took a day off from work and hit the lake with the bro in law to celebrate his birthday. We headed for "Walleye point" and set our spread in a pair of semi circles around both sides. It was a pretty slow day with only a handfull of flags but we made the best of the few hits we had. The in-law started things off with a nice fat Brownie that almost spooled his tip up. A chunky fish that went about 18" and about 3 pounds. After a run off on my tip up that was closest to the shore, my furthest one out went off. As I approached the hole I could hear that sweet sound of a fish ripping line. I picked up a Pike that went about 24" on my old wooden cross tip up. Gotta love old school technology. Later in the day, one of the shallow flags went off and once again I could hear the spool spinning as I got close. I lifted the cross and gave the line a firm tug. I guess the fish didn't like that much because he went insane. I battled him at the hole for about 5 minutes and he gave as good as he got. Everytime I would gain line he would go on another screaming run and smoke 20 feet of Dacron through my pinched "drag" fingers. Slowly I gained the upper hand and brought his head up through the hole. After slipping my fingers under a gill plate, I raked him onto the ice. A beautiful fat Brownie of around 22" and about 6 pounds.We had to call it quits early but it was a beautiful day to be out. DC

[Chip D.]

You have to post some pictures of these big trout!

[stilljiggn]

I AGREE!!!

[deadcold]

I took a couple of pictures on the camera on my phone. They aren't the best quality but if someone can help me figure out how to post, I would be happy to do so. I think I showed them to Thor that day we met on the ice a couple weeks back. Anyway, I plan on one last try at them this Sunday. Looking at the lake and seeing more and more open water tells me that the end is very near and I will have limited options on where to set up. It looks like the point we were hitting the past couple trips out has gone back to the geese. Setting up further back in a cove should at least get the Pike active. I guess we will have to drill some holes to see whats safe. DC

[deadcold]

 My son helped me figure out how to put pics up. Gonna see if this works

[stilljiggn]

   WOW!!  Nice trout  Way to go!

[deadcold]

First day out on this lake on the ice in almost two years. Ice was about 4 inches everywhere we drilled and it felt very safe. With the inch of snow on top it was easy to see we were the first ones out on this lake this year. The geese have one area that they are keeping open and unfortunately, it's the area that we like to fish. Oh well, its a big lake so we found another spot where we have had success in the past. I thought we were gonna have a banner day but the bite ended up being very slow. Not sure if it was the full moon or the fact that we only had the dead middle of the day to fish. I wish we could have stayed out longer but we had to be off the ice by 4 PM and I have a feeling the bite was gonna turn on right after we left. My brother in law did have one hooked that he fought for awhile until it spooled him and snapped his line. He said it was a good fish but not sure what it was. By the way it was smoking line through his fingers, I would say a big pike or a huge trout. We were using some big shiners on tip ups. DC

[deadcold]

Spent another day on the lake fishing with the brother in law. It was another slow day with only a few hits. I did manage one nice bass for my efforts. After a nice fight I slid a beauty at about 4 pounds onto the ice. After a quick admiration, back into the hole she went to fight another day. A little while later, it was my brother in laws turn for a flag. Whatever it was at the other end was screaming out some line but managed to steal the shiner before he could get the hook set. We had anywhere from 3" to 5" of ice and it felt quite safe. Hopefully the rest of the lake locks up before next weekend because its time to do some fish searching. I know what this lake is capable of. We just gotta find em.  DC