As a member of the Sweet Arrow Anglers bass fishing club, Jeff Cutler has traveled throughout the Northeastern U.S. casting for largemouth and smallmouth bass. From upstate New York to Maryland, the Minersville resident has had the opportunity to experience some of the best bassin' the region has to offer.
For anglers who enjoy targeting bass as much as he does, Cutler has a handful of waters he recommends that are worth exploring. Topping this list is Oneida Lake, the 21-mile-long massive lake in southern Oswego County just off Interstate 81 north of Syracuse, N.Y.
"Oneida is just an amazing lake," Cutler said. "It's not known for big bass - you'll catch a 4- or 5-pound largemouth here or there - but it's known for numbers of fish.
"It's just loaded with 2- to 3-pound largemouths, and it's filled with 2- to 4-pound smallies, too. For me a good day up there is an easy 40-50 fish day.
"Oneida is loaded with weeds and rocks and they are a great combination for fish, and one of the good things for people with smaller boats is that you can stay right there on I-81 on the northern end of the lake and can catch lots of large or smallmouths. Topwater baits work well for largemouths and spinner baits will trigger the smallmouths, and if you want to use soft plastics, it's hard to beat a tube or a Yamamoto Senko."
For anglers in search of a wall-hanger, Cutler recommends heading south to the upper Chesapeake Bay near Havre de Grace, Md.
"You can catch the trophy of a lifetime down there, and the Chesapeake has been absolutely on fire the last three years or so," Cutler said. "It's not uncommon to hear of 7-pound fish being caught, and 5- and 6-pounders are common, and it's an electric bite down there in the summertime."
Closer to home, anglers will find several excellent choices for great bass fishing. When it comes to sheer numbers, Cutler points to Mauch Chunk Lake in White Bear between Summit Hill and Jim Thorpe. Managed under Big Bass Regulations by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, this 330-acre, county-owned water gave up an incredible 142 bass per hour during the PFBC's most recent electrofishing study last summer, the highest average since the lake was first sampled in 1989.
"Mauch Chunk is an awesome lake if you just want to catch fish or if you want to go somewhere and learn how to fish a pattern or a lure you're not familiar with," Cutler said. "You're not going to catch any monsters there, but the lake is just infested with 10- to 14-inch fish.
"It's a real clear lake and around the shore it's pretty shallow, so you have to fish anywhere from 6-12 feet of water. It has a lot of manmade structure - bass cribs and wood - and in the upper end there are a lot of stumps, so you have to fish a little bit deeper water there."
Not to be overlooked is the Auburn Dam, a distilling basin on the Schuylkill River between Landingville and Auburn that offers good fishing for largemouths in the 12- to 16-inch range.
"Auburn Dam has a very good population of largemouth bass," Cutler said. "It's got a lot of wood cover, lily pads and weeds."
Another local favorite is Tuscarora Lake, located at Tuscarora State Park near Barnesville. This 96-acre impoundment holds both smallmouth and largemouth bass.
"Tuscarora is a trolling motor lake, so you don't have to worry about boat pressure there," Cutler said. "It's a smaller lake, but has a great population of largemouth and smallmouth bass, and areas of shallow water and deep water, so it gives you a lot of variation to fish."
Which is exactly what this list of waters provides for anglers of all skill levels.