Fishing at DeHart Reservoir, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

• Overview

  DeHart Reservoir is a Dauphin County water, in Pennsylvania. This is farm and woodlot country. It measures some 596 acres, and wind has room to build across it. The outline measures near 9.0 miles, so local knowledge counts. By surface area it heads our Dauphin County listings. The town to know is Lykens, 6.5 miles out. Allentown is the closest city, 65 miles away. The boundary is near enough that local access rules are worth double-checking.

• Where to Fish on DeHart Reservoir

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. Draw-down through summer strips the margins, so follow the water out. Held water runs deepest at the wall and shallows back to the inflow. Open biodiversity records for Dauphin County list smallmouth bass, brown trout and walleye. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. Work DeHart Reservoir in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about 27°F in January to roughly 71°F in July. Seasons here are moderate, and the fishing runs most of the year. It should never be assumed safe, whatever the month says. June to September is hot work, so the first and last hours are what count. DeHart Reservoir runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Look for a notice board at the entrance. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Marquette Lake, 6.8 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Where DeHart Reservoir is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.