Ice perch, trout and pickerel at Fairview Lake
Pennsylvania fishing map feature
TAFTON, Pa. — If anyone ever cares to write a history of Fairview Lake, they might begin with this interesting and little known fact: When Mike Iaconelli, winner of the 2003 BASS Masters Classic, was a boy, he caught his very first bass at the 195-acre Pike County lake.
I know that's true because Iaconelli told me one day as we were fishing across the state line.
On the face of it, that's not only interesting because it began the career of a great bass angler, but also because Fairview is not a terrific bass fishery.
You catch smallmouth and largemouth bass there, but you really have to work for them.
As trying a bass water as it can be, Fairview can be a terrific lake for other things.
It's a good stocked trout lake. It is also excellent for pickerel. And it has some really large perch.
Icier longer
What's more, the lake is good for late-season ice fishing because the elevation holds the ice longer.
In fact, on my list of ice fishing lakes, it is one I travel to in the Poconos with strong expectations of finding thick, fishable ice when I might have to drive another 70 miles north and west into the really cold regions of north-central Pennsylvania.
When the ice is gone on Tobyhanna and Gouldsboro, you can often find it on Fairview as well as the Promised Lake lakes, the two Woods ponds and a few others in the Poconos.
Fairview is deep and clear and surrounded by pine trees, so it holds ice the longest.
Top prospect
There is also some official reasoning for naming Fairview as a top ice prospect.
When the Fish Commission did its list of best ice fishing picks for 2005, the lake got the nod from Area 5 biologist Dave Arnold.
While the Poconos literally has dozens of public waters where anglers can go, Arnold put it in his list of ten top prospects.
Arnold cited Fairview for its yellow perch, bluegills and trout, but I am also going to add bass to the list, again, not because it has a dynamite population of bass, but because the adult bass acquire shoulders on this lake.
For the record, Fairview is not scheduled for an early-season stocking, which used to be called a late-winter stocking because of the January and February plantings.
But that does matter because Fairview received a rare late-fall stocking. Trout were added to the impoundment during the first week of November.
This stocking should be enough to see it through the entire ice season.
| At a glance | |
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Fishing and Hunting News What: Late-ice fishing for perch, trout and pickerel in Pennsylvania's Poconos. Where: Fairview Lake, in western Pike County. How: Drop a mealworm-baited jig or minnow along drop-offs, deeper portions of the lake or the shallows. Get there: The lake is just minutes from Lake Wallenpaupack or the two Promised Land Lakes. Take either Route 590 to Route 390 or take I-84 to the Promised Land exit. Contacts: Try The Country Store (570-226-2021) in Tafton for supplies and info. |
Launch-area prospects
Fairview is rather kidney-shaped with a large bay, or cove, situated at its western end.
It is surrounded by vacation homes, and a lot of kiddie campers make their way to this lake.
Though it is not particularly small, it unfortunately has only one public access, which is located at the western bay on Gumbletown Road.
There's room for a bunch of vehicles and the lot slopes down into a ramp.
This physical fact wouldn't be so interesting were it not for the idea that the underwater continuation of the ramp and the area as far as 30 yards out from the ramp is an excellent place to drill a winter divot.
As a matter of fact, it is a hot spot for ice fishing.
In addition, you have to study this bay very carefully because it is the key to some of the finest ice angling on Fairview Lake.
You won't see it during the freezing season, but there is a no-wake zone out on the edge of the bay.
Around this man-laid zone, there is a substantial drop-off from the bay into the main lake.
Find this drop-off, which stretches nearly from one side of the bay to the other, and you'll have a great place to drop a jig or lay a minnow from a tip-up for the stocked trout.
I can't say which side of the drop-off you'll need to work — the mood of the fish will determine that — but it's good to learn where this area is.
I don't often recommend mealworms as an ice fishing bait. While they are just OK for panfish, they do stand out for trout.
On Fairview, mealworms are a ticket for success.
There is some natural larva here that the trout quickly find to their liking and mealworms are a good enough imitation.
Place them on a 1/32-ounce jig and work either side of the bay's drop-off.
Across from the ramp, the far side of Fairview makes a sweeping curve.
There are a lot of large boulders that go from the point of the curve down into the lake. Again, depending on the mood of the fish, this is an area to try.
The bay stretches for some 200 yards from the PFBC ramp.
As you go back into the bay, the water gets shallower and shallower. The back end of the bay is a favorite spot for cattails to grow.
The listing of a Fairview as a top ice-fishing prospect did not mention chain pickerel, but the shallow water of the access bay is a spot you definitely want to try.
When the pickerel get hungry, they migrate from the deep drop-off at the mouth back into the bay. Some impressive catches can be made here.
Far-out options
I like other portions of Fairview as well for ice fishing, but it will take a long walk and sled pull to reach.
As you head to the lake along Route 390 you'll see where an area of the main lake comes within inches of the road. This is an excellent area for perch.
I can't say exactly where the perch will be on any given day, but if you start looking in deep water, say 15 to 30 feet, you have a good chance of finding them.
The nice thing about looking is that when you do locate a school you're likely to hit perch over 13 inches. For me, that makes serious sledding worth the effort.
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