Burke Lake

[jsnyd86]

Does anyone know much about this lake? I've been trying to do a little research online, but can't find anything recent. Sounds like it used to be a great place to fish 10 years ago. Is it still a decent fishery? I'm going to go today and get out on the water. Mostly scout, but will get a line wet and dry a few approches where they may be holding. The topography looks great across from the launch and average depth is around 8ft.

[Shady]

Never fished it, but several years ago, I rented a row boat and rowed around the lake with my wife. I saw a lot of decent sized fish and one very big fish that I later decided was probably one of the few tiger muskies that are supposed to be in the lake. Good luck and let know how you do!

[HokieDJ]

It's a tough lake to fish. I tried it twice with no luck. There looks to be lay downs around the island and there's a creek channel between the island and the public ramp where the rental boats are. It leads to the dam. I hear that's a good spot to deep crank.

There's trophy muskee in there but most people catch them by luck cranking for bass.

[jsnyd86]

Thanks for the advice guys. I keep reading that it's a tough spot mostly from the pressure. I'm going to head out late afternoon before the "storm" comes in. It's also during peak activity hours. That should give me the best chance to see what's up with this lake. I've targeted a few possible areas and will follow up with a report. The challenge is bitter sweet, I'm motivated, but the key to this lake seems like a huge hurdle.

[tufnik]

I yak fished there once during the Spring. Marked fish in the deep center (about 50' if I can remember), but caught nothing. My son shore fishes there with his friends. He catches catfish and bass.

[camelbird]

Ive heard its an extremely pressured lake. Fished it many times only to get a few bluegill, small bass and a catfish. And I'm sure it isn't my fishing skills that has kept me from producing. haha

People say deep and in the channels, find the baitfish toss deep cranks and fish the wood cover/fish habitats near the piers

As for me I've fished it many times and have cursed it many times

[FRED driver]

Went to high school 10 minutes from there, and, as everyone else said, that lake has sucked for a loooong time. You may get lucky every once in a while but there isn't much. Mostly catfish I hear. A nice lake to just paddle around I suppose?

[HokieDJ]

There's some big bass in there and trophy muskee. It's just really hard to catch them.

[jsnyd86]

Ohhhh.... Burke Lake. As soon as I got in the yak and made my first few paddles, I was immediately reminded of a small lake I wasted countless hours on when I lived in Silver Spring. Upper Rock Creek Park has a remarkably similar lake with stocked trout. You can rent a john boat, buy tackle, walk around the lake and you can also get skunked just as easily. BUT, I wasn't going to let that get me. I made my pre-trip planning and had a game plan. I was ready. Since it's post-spawn, early summer. I wanted to focus on ledges and structure near deep water. My luck was cut out for me because the wind was also banging into the side of the lake I planned on fishing. As I made my way to the first location I was side tracked by attractive lay downs but didn't spend too much time there. DNR says there is an abundance of bait fish that keep the population healthy, but a different approach yields most success. I tied on a white chatterbait and went for longer casts to the shore and worked it into deeper water. I jigged it, brought it in slow and burned it back to the boat. Nothing. I thought I had a follow so I changed it up slightly. I tied a a small black and blue jig n pig and hit the grass with it. I got a few hits but they were tiny. Probably blue gill, so I moved down a bit and tied a bigger green, brown jig. I think I had a hit on it, but I missed it. I think I just nailed a branch though. I wasn't having much luck so I wanted to switch it up, again... I went further away from shore. Maybe two casts distance and Carolina rigged a 7" worm and also used a lipless crank. I didn't get a thing.
Looking back, I think I found a flaw in my process. My pre-trip planning seemed organized, but when I got on the water I had blinders on. I was going to those spots I selected without taking in the different aspects of the lake. I didn't see ANY baitfish. So regardless of how awesome I thought my areas were going to be, I should have looked for those bait fish first. I don't have a fish finder on the yak I had, but the water was pretty clear. Stained, but clear. I trolled a super fluke back to the launch with no luck. Ramp fee is $5, the park is very nice and well maintained. My wife and daughter did their own thing while I was out and had a blast. It's a great place to bring the family. If you want to ruin a perfect day, try to fish. I'll give it one more shot just to correct my mistake and try a new approach, but I don't think Ill be fishing here often.

[HokieDJ]

Welcome to Burke Lake

THere's a ramp/launch run by DGIF that's free. It's a side entrance off 123. Did you go through the park instead?

[jsnyd86]

Yea, I drove right past it. Since I had the family with me we went through the park. We're Fairfax residence though so that helped a little. Next time I'll hit the free launch.

Welcome to Burke Lake THere's a ramp/launch run by DGIF that's free. It's a side entrance off 123. Did you go through the park instead?