Fishing Lake

Sheesley Lake, centrally located on the club grounds, is our picturesque 5 acre lake stocked with bass.

Sheesley Lake will be closed for ALL fishing at the end of bass season and will re-open on the first day of regular bass fishing.

The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission is interested in feedback from sportsman's organizations on youth education programs. Read about proposed fishing programs.

Big Fish Contest

The Big Fish Contest is open to all Pennsylvania residents. Entries must be taken in Pennsylvania waters open to unrestricted public fishing and according to all rules and regulations of the state. Winners are determined by length, with weight used as a tie breaker. If you do not want to harvest your fish, there is a 'catch and release' entry. You must provide a picture of you and your fish along with the completed form. A list of registration locations are posted at Harrisburg Hunters' and Anglers'.

Our fishing lake is named in honor of Earl Sheesley, a member of the Board of Directors at HH&A in the late '40s. He was the driving force behind the creation of the lake. Click on the thumbnail at the right to see a full size image of a newspaper clipping from the year the lake was created. Ahhh, the 1940's, if you wanted to create a lake, your club president simply carries a box of explosives out to the site and makes it happen. Actually, the explosives carved out an area to make ditches to drain the field. A total of 900 feet of ditches were dug to drain the land. Excavation on the site started in October of 1947. The lake was completed in August of 1949. Water began to collect in the lake, and reached the desired level (4 - 8 feet) in January 1950.

The newspaper text reads:

Big blast pictured at left of page was first step in construction of a 5-acre public fishing lake by Harrisburg Hunters’ and Anglers’ Association on its game farm along Beaver Creek, in Dauphin County, six miles East of Paxtonia. Blast opened ditch to drain swamp to permit use of heavy equipment to build earth dam to back up spring water and create the lake. Handling explosives, upper right:  N. T. Thompson, association president; Russell Albert, P. C. Markle, Chris Logan, Charles R. Keller, secretary; R. P. Wheeler, all of Harrisburg. Directly above, general view of site of proposed lake.

Fishing Regulations

1. The club lake is closed to ALL fishing during the periods when bass fishing in lakes and ponds is prohibited by Pennsylvania Fishing regulations. Pennsylvania fishing licenses are required and Pennsylvania fishing regulations apply. However, there is a two (2) bass, 12 inch minimum length, per day fisherman limit.
2. No live minnows allowed as bait.
3. No ice skating is permitted on the club lake.
4. Blue Gills (no limit).
5. Pennsylvania Fishing Regulations apply. (License Required)
6. No swimming or boating allowed.
7. No fishing after dark.
8. Refer to Ground Rules.