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Pokagon

884 views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  kissmybasstoo 
#1 ·
Anyone know anything about the fishing here? Going in a few weeks on a camping trip with my nieces and nephews. I've never been, but have heard its a pretty busy lake so I dont expect much. Interested in LMB, PM if you like.

Thanks

Bassthumb
 
#3 · (Edited)
Pokagon is one of my favorite places to camp and fish. Haven't been there in a few years. There are some very good bass in those lakes. My personal best largemouth to date came from there. Also the bluegill fishing can be stellar. Of all the lakes that are there, snow lake always produced the most fish for us. Hopefully your going to be there during the week, the weekends can be a madhouse. I assume your taking the kayak. If thats the case I would recommend camp area 1 which is right next to the group camp. That area gives you the closest access to the lake. There's actually a dock on lake James that you can tie a boat up to just down the hill from camp area 1. Also plenty of room to beach a kayak. If you look at a map where lake James and snow lake are joined by a short channel, as you go into snow lake your going to find some shallow points. Those points always produced bass for me. My bait of choice was a clear pearl colored 6" sluggo Texas rigged. Just work the outside edge of the deepest weed line around those points. It's a clear water fishery, it just seamed like those clear natural colored baits always produced best.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the great info ErieEye. I have plenty of clear water baits in my Erie / St Clair stockpile. I see millions of docks on google earth. Did you ever pitch any of those? Summertime is usually good docks bite if they are present. Any smallmouth in the lake?
 
#5 ·
I was never able to get a dock bite going any of the times I've fished it. We generally went there in either mid June or later august, early September. The deep weed edges generally held the majority of the fish. Yes there are smallmouth there and I've seen some big ones caught. However I have yet to catch one. This time of year they're going to be holding in 20 plus feet of water. These lakes also have northern pike. I've managed to catch a few over the years working those deep weed beds with spinner baits. I've seen some giants in the early morning hours swimming through the channel that connects lake James with snow lake.
 
#8 ·
I fish there quite a bit, as a native Hoosier, it's probably my favorite native state lake.

The other guys have hit the techniques I use, so I don't have a super, double secret spot or technique for you. The key to bigger bass is DEEP weedlines. The lakes are very clear, so the deep weed edge is also very deep. I like using Yamato grubs.

James, Snow, and part of Jimmerson will get used pretty heavily, but both Otters, the back of Jimmerson and Kreigbaum bay is idle zone. There is a lot of bait in the water this time of year, you'll need to try to match the hatch. Twitching black and silver jointed raps in the evening and early morning will get you a lot of fun action, but the fish will be smaller.

Don't waste too much time on docks unless they are right next to deep water, the water is to shallow and clear and the shoal areas are mostly sand.

As for Pike, I'll second that. In nearly 25 years of fishing that lake chain, I've caught two over 20 lbs, including one in 2012 that was within a few pounds of the current state record as well as a lot of other nice ones. I've also lost a lot of rapalas to very quick line breaks that were likely pike. I have no doubt there is a 30 swimming in James and wouldn't be shocked if one pushing 40 came out of there.

To put the insanity of some of the Lake James boat owners in perspective, there is a Tri-toon on that lake that has a 400 HP Merc racer on it. It's parked in the channel between Snow and Big Otter on the Snow side of the bridge. There is also a big power boat with three of those suckers on it (1200 HP!!!!!!) You can't miss it, it is a big black monster.

Oh yeah... You HAVE to get donuts from Toms. They have boat parking on the channel between Jimmerson and James. They cook them in pure lard and they are Incredible. You'll smell them from the main lake.
 
#9 ·
Thanks very much Gmeyers, you guys are getting me more excited to fish these lakes. I like fishing deep weeds so it will just be and issue of finding them. Would you suggest I start in the otters or other idle zones? Is the fishing as good there or better in James / Snow? I will mostly be fishing out of a kayak, but I also will have access to jetskis and a pontoon boat. In the evenings I will likely be on the pontoon with the nephews trying to get them some bass. They arent much into fishing yet, but Im hopefull I can change that by getting them on an evening topwater bite. I assume pads will be good for this in the twilight hours? Or would you have another suggestion for that? Thanks again.
 
#10 ·
I'd stick to the otters if I were in a kayak. There is also Marsh Lake which is connected to Little Otter via a creek that should be accessible by kayak.

There aren't too many lily pads on the lake, you just need to find bass working bait. It can happen anywhere in the lake and is usually pretty common. There is a lot of baitfish
 
#11 ·
Hopefully some of the madness will be gone given that you are going after Labor Day. I've fished in a couple of those lakes when I was a kid (Dad's friend had a place over there) and I recall catching plenty of panfish around the weeds and some bass on topwater in the evening. We tried for pike one time with chubs and also caught a couple (believe that was in Jimmerson?). Anyway...it's a cool place with lots of options. Given that you are ahead of the learning curve on fishing proficiency, I would imagine you will do quite well once you figure out the pattern(s).
 
#12 ·
Unfortunately, the lake does stay pretty busy into September, more so now than in the past, as long as the weather is nice.

I think it's probably because people the homes have turned over and a lot of people live there year around now. When I was a kid, most of the lake homes were smaller weekend or summer places. When the kids went back to school, the lake got quiet. I was on James a couple times in Sept last year with the warm fall and it was pretty busy, definitely slower than July, but it will still have a lot of boaters.
 
#13 ·
Pokagon is a short drive from my home town of Fort Wayne. I have camped and fished up there many times. The campground is very nice. It is located on Lake James, one of the larger lakes in Indiana. Lake James is beautiful and very clear as GMeyers noted earlier. Lake front property values up there are staggering and the main lake is usually pretty busy with boaters. That's why your best bet for fishing up there on James would be very early in the AM or late in the PM to avoid the crowds.

Jimmerson Lake is SW of James. You access Jimmerson by the channel that has the Tom's Donuts. Jimmerson is weedier then James and it is full of fish too. we have caught lots of NP and YP in and around the weed beds.

Snow Lake is N of James. My favorite spot to fish on Snow is the channel system all the way up on the north side of the lake called North Snow Bay. Those channels are full of BG, LMB, NP, etc. There is another channel system on the ESE side of Snow called Sprague Addition that has some good fishing too.

Pokagon and the Lake James chain of lakes are awesome I hope you have a good time and catch some fish. Good luck and post some results!
 
#14 ·
I've never gotten to fish those lakes because it's been awhile since I've been over there, and when I went before we never got Indiana fishing licenses. But I can speak to the campground (although it's probably been 5 years since I've camped there).

I LOVE Pokagon. Living in BG/Toledo area it is by far my favorite "short drive, long weekend" campground. We spent MANY long weekends there as kids with just my parents, or bringing large groups of my parents' friends that had children, etc. We always had a blast. There are miles of great trails, and it's a great state park. The sites are largely wooded, which I require in any camp site.

As kids we spent HOURS and HOURS riding bikes around that park, but most of the trails are no bikes allowed. There are also several playgrounds throughout the park/campground if you've got kids.

I very much look forward to taking my son there; just need to get my wife to realize camping doesn't require a 35' RV with sewer/shower/satelliteTV.
 
#15 ·
Thanks very much for the all the great information. I will be sure to post a detailed report. I was not very excited to go at first, but now all the good feedback has me looking forward to it. Last question i have is has anyone trolled around James at night? Any walleye action? I'm 99% a Bass guy but I do enjoy trolling at night in my kayak.
 
#16 ·
There are some walleyes there but I doubt it would be worth your time. Besides that I actually think it would be a somewhat difficult lake to troll given how much the bottom contour fluctuates. I have done some night fishing for bass on James and snow with pretty good success. Good way to avoid the crowd.
 
#17 ·
I have heard that trolling for walleyes in the evenings has worked for some people. I don't know where they trolled, and it is a very large lake. But if I were to guess....... I would try the SE side of the lake, W of the island with the house and E of the large dock complex where the water shallows up to a big flat weedy hump. The edges of that bad boy might hold walleyes after dark?

Also there is another submerged hump S and E of the sand bar, near the tobagon run. That might be good after dark as well?
 
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