Dave Lehman, who lives near Titusville, recently took advantage of the diverse angling opportunities offered by Conneaut Lake. Lehman hoists a couple of white bass.

Though Pennsylvania has a diverse inventory of angling opportunities, the list is short when it comes to natural lakes.

A smattering of natural lakes is found in the northeastern and northwestern corners of the state. Conneaut Lake, the largest of the bunch, supports a warmwater fishery that is as varied as it is exceptional.

Late last week, I joined veteran angler Dave Lehman of the Titusville area for a day on Conneaut. By the outing's end we had sampled much of what this 925-acre lake has to offer.

Conneaut Lake is located in Crawford County, only a few minutes west of Interstate 79. Though the lake's quality fishing is no secret, the sport is overshadowed by recreational boating.

With a heavily developed shoreline comprised largely of private dwellings, Conneaut can get whipped into a lather during a nice summer weekend.

But the boating traffic doesn't get heavy until late morning. Anglers who plan trips during the early morning hours, particularly during a weekday, won't find much competition for space with boaters. And, in general, fishing pressure is relatively light.

A whole lot of structure and fish habitat is packed into Conneaut's modest size. Submerged vegetation, consisting mainly of coontail and pondweed, is common out to depths of about 12 feet.

Weed control, which is a controversial matter on Conneaut, takes place mainly by way of cutting. There are several large bars and points that project into the lake. Offshore humps, both shallow and deep, are present. Regardless of your location on the lake, quality fish habitat is not far away.

The sun had just risen when Lehman and I left the ramp. He explained that the first area we would fish would be a weedy point that extends off of the lake's northern shoreline.

It wasn't long until he swung the day's first largemouth into the boat, one that hit a skirted jig. A few moments later a 3-pounder ate my 7-inch, Texas-rigged plastic worm.

The next spot was a small midlake hump. As we plied the hump with jigs and worms, the nearby surface was disrupted by feeding fish.Lehman excitedly exclaimed "White bass!" and we quickly grabbed rods rigged for these open-water eating machines. Lehman let loose a cast with a jigging spoon, while I did the same with a suspending jerkbait. Soon we each hooked 2-pound white bass.During the short flurry, we boated a half dozen white bass in the 14- to 16-inch range. White bass grow big in Conneaut, and the last three state record fish came from the lake.The current state record, a tad shy of 4 pounds, was caught in 2002 by Meadville angler Bob Hornstrom.As the day progressed, we continued to explore the many weedy points and humps that pepper the lake. The largemouths came regularly, one here, a couple there. No monsters, but all nice fish in the 14- to 16-inch range. By lunchtime we had boated more than a dozen.During previous excursions in the past couple of weeks, Lehman took largemouths in excess of 5 pounds.In the afternoon, we decided to explore some of the deeper haunts, where we would be more likely to hook up with one of the lake's quality smallmouth bass.Lehman opted for a drop shot rig dressed with a floating worm for working this rock/gravel structure. He allowed the boat to drift slowly with the wind, working the moderate slope that went from 12 feet to more than 20 feet deep.On the first drift, a 17-inch walleye hit Dave's rig in about 15 feet of water. Subsequent drifts, with wind and rain in the air, produced two of the trip's best fish: a 19-inch, 4Z\v—pound smallmouth and a 33-inch northern.Public access to Conneaut Lake is by way of the Fish and Boat Commission's ramp, located on the northwest corner of the lake, just off of Route 618. The mouth of the boat basin is shallow. Pay heed to the warning buoys.

He shows off a 33-inch northern pike.