Bob Frye

If ever there was a lake with an appropriate name, it’s Crooked Creek. A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impoundment in Armstrong County, it covers 350 acres at normal pool and loops around on itself twice over it 5-plus-mile length. There are a few other twists, too.

The students with the highest GPAs don’t always turn out to be the most successful in life. But their ranking compared to their peers at least suggests potential.
It’s the same with fishing lakes.

Some places just scream good fishing. Then there’s Lake Wilma.
Owned by Consol Energy Inc., it’s not big at just 19 acres. It’s not a place you can boat, with fishing restricted to the shoreline. And it’s not necessarily easy to reach.

I’ve never lived especially close to Shawnee Lake in Bedford County, having always called home places further west or east. But traveling for work, family and adventure, I often found myself close enough to justify a stop.
What fun those detours typically were.

Briar Creek Lake in Columbia County is, you might say, another example of the twist on the “BOGO” concept applied to fishing.
You know how a BOGO works. Walking into a store – groceries are famous for this – you purchase one of some wanted and/or needed item, and they give you another at no cost. It’s “buy one, get one.” The hope is the lure of the bargain leads you to shop for more products on a larger scale.

It wouldn’t be fair to call Hamilton Lake near Wellsboro unloved. Tioga County does a good job of maintaining it and the park around it for the benefit of local residents, and the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission stocks it annually with trout, something that draws big crowds in spring.
But to call it underappreciated? You could make that argument.

Just as limiting is that much of this natural, 90-acre lake is rimmed by private residences. You can fish it from a boat – that’s your best option – and there is one Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission launch on the western shore. Even it only has space for 10 vehicles and trailers, though.