Lake Wilma does not inspire much awe at first glance. It covers just 19 acres, making it more a pond than a lake.

It wouldn’t necessarily even be open to the public if not for the fact that Duke Lake, once the centerpiece of nearby Ryerson Station State Park in Greene County, had to be drained 20 years ago when its dam was found to be cracked and leaking.

But — and pick your cliché here: Looks can be deceiving, beauty is only skin deep, don’t judge a book by its cover — there’s more to Lake Wilma if you’re a bass fisherman.

“I’d love to fish that if I lived closer,” said Gary Smith, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s Area 8 fisheries manager, based out of Somerset.

It’s no wonder. He and his crew sampled the lake last year, using standard electroshocking techniques to monitor

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