Best Lakes for Fishing in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania’s best-known lakes are very different fisheries: Raystown, a deep flood-control lake in the central mountains with inland striped bass; Pymatuning, a shallow two-state reservoir in the northwest that is famous for walleye, crappie and a carp-feeding spillway; and Lake Nockamixon, a Bucks County lake near Philadelphia with a Big Bass program and a handy pier. This guide compares them side by side, shows the rules that change lake to lake, and says which one to try first. We combined the three lake guides into this page because the verified, current detail for each was not enough to stand alone, and we say where our sources are dated.

At a glance

Lake	County	What it is known for	Rule that differs
Raystown Lake	Huntingdon	Inland striped bass and hybrids, a 53 pound 12 ounce state record	Inland striper limit: 20 inches, 2 a day
Pymatuning Reservoir	Crawford (and Ohio)	Walleye, crappie, muskellunge, ice fishing, the spillway	Own limits; boat anglers may use a Pennsylvania or Ohio license
Lake Nockamixon	Bucks	Bass, hybrid stripers, a pier with loaner rods	Big Bass lake: 15 inches, 4 a day, release April 11 to June 12

None of the three has an entry in the 2026 DEP fish consumption advisories, so the statewide default of one meal a week applies to fish from each. Check the DEP table on the day you plan to eat what you catch.

Raystown Lake

Raystown, in Huntingdon County, is the largest lake entirely inside Pennsylvania. Sources vary on the size, from “over 8,000 acres” to about 8,300, with depths near the dam of about 200 feet. The Fish and Boat Commission’s record list credits the inland striped bass record, 53 pounds 12 ounces, to Robert Price of Huntingdon in 1994 from Raystown. A local visitors’ page calls the angler “Sparky” Price, which we cannot confirm. The lake’s stripers depend on stocking, according to a fishing magazine, and a circa-2005 article cites about 100,000 fingerlings in most years. That is dated, so we do not rely on it.

The rule: inland striped bass and striped bass-white bass hybrids are open all year with a 20 inch minimum and a limit of two a day. The 2026 book’s miscellaneous waters listing for Raystown Lake and the Raystown Branch names trout and smelt only, so no special striped bass rule applies. Trout have no closed season there, with a limit of five a day in the regular season and three a day after Labor Day. Smelt may be taken with a dip net from shore or by wading only.

When and how. A magazine article from around 2005 describes stripers spawning in the upper lake in mid-March, spreading to main-lake points in early to mid-May and settling into the deeper water from mid-lake to the dam once the thermocline sets in June. It suggests finding baitfish on sonar and free-lining live bait near the surface in morning and evening, and using fluorocarbon line sized to the bait. We cannot vouch for the timing today, so use it as a starting point. Weekends and midday bring boat traffic, and the lake’s level changes because it is a flood-control reservoir run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A Corps list names seven public launches and two marinas, reached from Route 26 (Seven Points, Snyder’s Run, Aitch, Tatman Run, Shy Beaver, James Creek and Weaver Falls), but we have not confirmed it for this year.

The record is covered with the other stories on our Pennsylvania Dock Tales page.

Pymatuning Reservoir

Pymatuning straddles the Pennsylvania and Ohio line, with about three quarters of the lake in Crawford County. The state parks agency gives the lake as 17,088 acres, 17 miles long and about 35 feet deep at the maximum. It lists walleye, muskellunge, carp, crappie, perch, bluegill and largemouth and smallmouth bass, and says ice fishing most often produces walleye, perch and crappie.

The license rule: a Pennsylvania or an Ohio license is valid on the lake from a boat only. From shore you need the license of the state whose shore you stand on. For ice fishing, either license is valid anywhere on the lake. The Commission’s 2026 book lists the Pennsylvania limits.

• Walleye and saugeye: 15 inches, 6 combined.
• Largemouth and smallmouth bass: 12 inches, 5.
• Muskellunge and tiger muskellunge: 30 inches, 2 combined (lower than the 40 inch, one-fish rule elsewhere in the state).
• Crappie: 9 inches, 20.
• Ice fishing: up to five devices, with no more than three hooks on each line. Holes may not be larger than 10 inches at the widest point.

We cover only the Pennsylvania side. The Ohio side has its own rules, so check them before you fish from an Ohio shore or launch.

Where. The state parks agency lists ADA fishing access at the Jamestown Day Use Area and fishing piers at Espyville Marina, Linesville Marina and on the Shenango River. It does not list boat launches on the page we read. The Linesville Spillway at the north end draws visitors who feed bread to carp and ducks. Fishing there is a separate matter, so check posted rules. The story is in Where the Ducks Walk on the Fish.

Lake Nockamixon

Lake Nockamixon, in Nockamixon State Park in Bucks County, is a warmwater impoundment on Tohickon Creek. The state parks agency puts it at 1,450 acres (Wikipedia says 1,420, and we use the agency’s figure) and lists walleye, muskellunge, pickerel, smallmouth and largemouth bass, striped bass hybrids, channel catfish, carp and panfish.

The rules. Nockamixon is on the 2026 Big Bass Program list. Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass are 15 inches with a limit of four a day, open January 1 to April 10 and June 13 to December 31. From April 11 to June 12 the program is catch and immediate release only. Hybrid striped bass follow the inland 20 inch, two a day limit; we found no special rule for them here.

Access. The state parks agency describes an accessible fishing pier at the lake’s midpoint in the Day Use Area, loaner rods at the park office (photo ID required) and fish-habitat maps at the park and marina offices. Fishing is prohibited from bridges, below the spillway to the silt dam, from boat docks and launching or mooring areas and within 100 feet of them, in the rental area, and in the marina to the buoys. We did not read a current biologist report, so we have no survey data.

Which lake should you try first?

• A first trip with children or a borrowed rod: Nockamixon, for the pier and the loaner rods.
• Walleye, crappie and winter fishing: Pymatuning, with the two-state license rule in mind.
• Big striped bass and a boat: Raystown, with a boat and a live-bait or plug rod.

Gear that works

A medium spinning rod around seven feet handles pier panfish, bass and crappie on all three lakes. Walleye and hybrid stripers call for a medium to medium-heavy rod, and a muskellunge needs a heavier setup. For Raystown’s stripers, a medium-heavy rod with fluorocarbon line suits live bait and plugs. Tell us the lake and the fish, and we can build to it.