April 2026 Lake Nockamixon Fishing Report
- Anthony Awgul
- May 5
- 8 min read
Updated: May 12
Hey everyone, Captain Anthony Awgul the Lake Nockamixon fishing guide here! As part of my mission to help anglers catch more and bigger bass on our local fishery, I publish free monthly Lake Nockamixon fishing reports at the beginning of each month from April through November while guiding this lake full-time.
Want even more detailed information? I also post daily fishing reports and in-depth weekly recaps exclusively for subscribers of the Lake Nockamixon Fishing School. You can learn more and subscribe at www.awgulfishing.com/nockamixonfishingschool.
Introduction:
April 2026 was a really interesting, and honestly somewhat unusual month of bass fishing on Lake Nockamixon. We had some strong results with several big fish, but it definitely wasn’t an “easy” bite by any means. The fish never seemed to fully commit to a consistent shallow pattern (like they usually do for us), and a lot of the month felt like we were chasing a moving target. From an overall standpoint, we still had an excellent month of fishing.
As far as big fish goes, Nockamixon still appears to be pumping them out in 2026! This past month, we landed 3 giant bass over 7 pounds, including a 7 lb 6 oz (my personal biggest of the year so far) and a 7 lb 3 oz client fish (biggest client bass of the year so far). In addition, we caught 7 bass over 6 pounds and 15 bass over 5 pounds, along with plenty of 3-4 pound fish in the mix. The lake is clearly very healthy and continues to produce quality largemouth.
Early April:
The month started off cold, with water temperatures sitting in the upper 40s. We had some freezing nights dipping into the 20s and 30s, followed by a slight warming trend later in the second week of the month. Most days were classic “bluebird” conditions—bright sun, high pressure, and not ideal for an easy bite.
One of the most impactful variables this spring is the harsh winter we experienced this past year. This was the coldest winter we’ve had in a while, with reports of 1+ feet of ice on the lake. Because of this, a lot of the deeper submerged milfoil grass died off and cycled out. We were left with some remaining low-density shallow submerged vegetation that was clean and very fishable.
We caught fish on a wide variety of reaction baits to start off the month—paddle tail swimbaits (Menace Baits 5" Alive Minnow), spinnerbaits (Menace Baits Combat Spinnerbait), jerkbaits (Menace Baits Jolly Jerkbait), vibrating jigs (Menace Baits Vibrating Pulse Jig), glide baits (Menace Baits Gizzard Glide Bait), squarebill crankbaits (Menace Baits Scrumptious Squarebill Crankbait), and jigs (Menace Baits 3/8 oz Weedless Wobble Jig). The key was covering water in shallow future spawning areas for early moving fish, or slowing down with jerkbaits and jigs in deeper staging zones; especially spots with irregularities and heavy cover.
Both bluegill and shad patterns produced well, and we had a strong start to the month with two bass over 7 pounds and multiple fish in the 5–6+ pound range.
Mid-April Heat Wave:
The middle of the month brought a massive warm-up with a couple of days spiking over 80 degrees (Even one extremely hot day over 90 degrees). Water temperatures jumped a whopping 10 degrees from around 50 degrees to 60 degrees. With such an extreme warming trend, I expected a massive wave of fish to push up shallow; but that never really happened for us.
Instead, we saw a lot of juvenile bass and smaller male bass moving up, likely starting to scout spawning territory and build spawning beds. I was surprised with how many of these fish under 1.5 pounds we were seeing (Especially since Nockamixon is a notorious big bass lake where the average sized bass we catch is usually over 2 pounds). However, I believe this is actually a great sign long-term, as it shows strong reproduction and a healthy future population.
The standout pattern in the middle of the month was reaction baits up shallow, especially paddle tail swimbaits (Menace Baits 5" Alive Minnow). There were several days where that was the only bait we could get bit on. Spinnerbaits (Menace Baits Combat Spinnerbait) also produced, with a few fish mixed in on glide baits (Menace Baits Gizzard Glide Bait), jerkbaits (Menace Baits Jolly Jerkbait), and vibrating jigs (Menace Baits Vibrating Pulse Jig).
We also caught our first smallmouth bass of the year during this heat wave and had our best numbers day of the month so far with 15 fish landed in one day.
Late April Cool-Off:
After the heat wave, things cooled back down into more typical April weather, and the fishing adjusted with it.
Water clarity became surprisingly clear towards the end of the month, especially in the middle of the lake. This seemed to keep a lot of our bigger fish out deeper. We found our bigger prespawn female bass relating to deeper staging areas, catching them on jigs (Menace Baits 3/8 oz Weedless Wobble Jig) and slower presentations.
As temperatures stabilized, we started to see some of those bigger fish ease up shallower again, and moving baits like paddle tails (Menace Baits 5" Alive Minnow) and vibrating jigs (Menace Baits Vibrating Pulse Jig) began producing more consistently again.
I caught our third 7+ pounder of the month out deep during the cool-off after the heat wave on the Menace Baits 3/8 oz Weedless Wobble Jig in the Natural Craw color. This special jig has a free-swinging EWG hook that lets you Texas Rig your soft plastic trailer, making the presentation extremely weedless and snagproof. This feature allowed me to crawl this bait with confidence and ease through very thick cover (Submerged brushpile) in deep water without getting snagged, to get this giant prespawn bass to bite!
As the weeks progressed, we then followed it up with several other 5- and 6-pound fish up shallower. There were also plenty of smaller “cookie cutter” 1–3 pounders in the mix too.
Submerged vegetation also started growing back strong throughout the lake, with milfoil grass beginning to really thicken up again.
End of April:
To close out the month, conditions stabilized with water temps around 58–61 degrees and consistent weather in the 60s.
At this point, I was fully expecting a major wave of fish to push shallow with the upcoming full moon on May 1st. But it just didn’t happen. Fishing surprisingly got a bit tougher, and we never saw that big migration we were waiting for.
We had to lean more on finesse techniques, including Texas rigged creature baits (Menace Baits 4" Cavity Craw), Neko rigs (Menace Baits 6" Wicked Worm), and wacky rigs (Menace Baits 5" Silly Stick), especially around outside grass lines and high-percentage areas to intercept bass as they hesitantly eased out of their deeper wintertime haunts into shallower springtime areas. Moving baits like paddle tails (Menace Baits 5" Alive Minnow), swim jigs (Menace Baits Alive Swim Jig), and vibrating jigs (Menace Baits Vibrating Pulse Jig) still produced, particularly in bluegill patterns.
Milfoil grass continued to grow thicker, and we even started seeing the first lily pads emerging in some areas of the lake!
Overall Monthly Takeaways:
One of the most notable things about April 2026 is that we did not catch a single fish showing signs of spawning—no bloody tails, no spawning sores on bellies, nothing. Every fish we caught was surely still in a prespawn phase. Between the colder, more “real” winter and the inconsistent spring conditions, it seems like the fish might be simply "running behind" compared to the past few years. In recent seasons, we’ve seen major spawning activity start as early as the beginning of April. But this year, it looks like the bulk of the spawn is going to happen later in May, which is actually more typical historically.
Another interesting trend was the weather. April was very dry, with a lot of high-pressure, sunny days. Normally, we have our best prespawn spring bass fishing during warm, cloudy, low-pressure days. But oddly enough, the few times we experienced those desired conditions this month, the fishing seemed noticeably tougher for us.
We also experienced something unusual whenever water levels increased. Historically for us, rising water pushes springtime bass further up shallow and creates a hot bite window. But this month, it strangely seemed to do the exact opposite. The few times the water levels rose with the infrequent rainstorm, our fish seemed to either hold where they were staging or even ease out deeper.
One major pattern shift was lure color. Bluegill patterns significantly outperformed shad patterns this month. Typically, I find that big prespawn largemouth key heavily on large, nutrient rich gizzard shad. But for whatever reason, bluegill colored lures and profiles were getting more consistent bites.
As far as timing, the most consistent bite windows were in the morning and then again in the late morning into early afternoon. Throughout the month, we caught fish during all different times of day, but those were definitely the most productive periods. Interestingly, the bite never really materialized in the late afternoon or evening like it often does this time of year. Historically, that mid-day to evening window can be very strong on Nockamixon, but throughout this month, it just never seemed to develop strongly for us.
We also encountered a variety of species beyond just largemouth bass this past month. We caught dozens of quality chain pickerel and had multiple close encounters with giant purebred musky. While we didn’t successfully land a musky while bass fishing in April 2026, I’ve never seen so many in a single month. Between fish following baits to the boat, striking our lures breaking our line, and cruising through the clear water, we likely encountered a dozen musky overall.
Lastly, the Pennsylvania DCNR added dozens of new artificial fish habitat structures to the lake this month, primarily in the mid-lake area between Tohickon and the Marina. An updated structure map should be released by the state soon, and these should quickly become key offshore targets moving forward.
Looking Forward:
I truly believe the best bass fishing of the year is still in front of us. With the peak spawn ahead of us, I would expect to eventually see major waves of bass pushing shallow throughout May. Expect a mix of prespawn, spawning, and even early postspawn fish as the month progresses.
Just a reminder—under Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission regulations, we are currently in the NO HARVEST season for bass, which runs from the second Saturday in April through the second Saturday in June (April 2026: April 11 – June 12). During this time all largemouth and smallmouth bass must be caught and immediately released. However, bass fishing itself remains open year-round, and as stated in the regulations during this NO HARVEST season, "It is not a violation of the bass regulations if a bass is immediately returned unharmed to the waters from which it was taken. It is unlawful for an angler to cast repeatedly into a clearly visible spawning nest or bed in an effort to catch or take a bass" (Page 10 - 2026 Pennsylvania Fishing Summary Book). These protections are in place to ensure a healthy spawn and sustain the fishery. Let’s protect our fishery this upcoming month and go easy on spawning areas, handle fish gently, release them fast, and keep stress on spawning bass to a minimum.
If you’re interested in booking a guided fishing trip with me in 2026, I still have a few openings remaining this year! I’m currently booking into September and October, so be sure to check availability and reserve your date online at www.awgulfishing.com. I’d also recommend joining the cancellation list on the bottom right corner of my website; you’ll be the first to know if any last-minute openings come up due to cancellations.
And as a reminder, if you want to stay fully dialed in with the most up-to-date fishing information; plus connect with a community of dozens of other local anglers, be sure to subscribe to The Nockamixon Fishing School at www.awgulfishing.com/nockamixonfishingschool.
Tight lines, and I’ll see you out on the water.
—Captain Anthony Awgul
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