SOUTHERN N.Y. THREAD (L.I., WESTCHESTER, PUTNAM, DUTCHESS, SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUN

[greensider]

I have seen pictures of big pike from their supposedly federation stocked them

[wolfpak3770]

Anyone know if Lake Huntington has people fishing it?

Had a report from someone driving by last weekend. He said there was guys out there.

[mr.clean]

Good evening made a couple phone calls today to Sport Nuts in Rock Hill,NY and Monticello Home and Garden neither one had any information on if the Swan Lake fire depty is having their annual contest this Sunday Jan.31 . This information is from 2020's contest so some thing may have changed .
  Swan Lake Hose Co. #1  Dale Goodstal memorial Ice Fishing Contest
 Registration 6-7 Am at Swan Lake park
Adults(16&over $10.00) ,Youth 7-15 $5.00,Youth 6 and under Free
Weigh-in of fish ends at 3PM sharp.
fish categories  Pickerel,Perch,Panfish
Bait,refreshments available for purchase,   raffles besides prizes for fish.

My apologies to all if this contest has been rescheduled for some time in February or canceled this year because of Corona Virus concerns. Swan Lake is privately owned with no public access to my knowledge.

If there is no contest you can take state route 55 which goes through Swan Lake over to Kauneononga Lake area (White Lake) or stay on route 55 to its intersection with State route 17B make a right turn at traffic light and proceed to Lake Superior (Left Turn off of RT.17B onto Dr.Duggan road there is a sign for Lake Superior park) Ps. if parking lot by White Lake boat ramp is full and you traveled with a buddy unload your gear and one of you head back on route 55 in direction of swan Lake just look for Green building /Town of Bethel Justice Court just past this building to your right is a good sized municipal parking lot. So you can park there and make the walk back to the boat launch there is a path behind justice court which takes you to route 55 no idea if it has been cleared of snow.

I would advise everyone to purchase some bait at shops close to your home in case there is not contest Both Sport Nuts and Monticello Home and Garden open at 9AM on Sundays.
For Sports Nuts if traveling west on Route17/I-86 get off at exit 109 make a left turn at end of ramp take this road past the Sullivan County ASPCA bait shop is in building with cedar shingle siding look for boats parked outside.
Monticello home and Garden is on route 17B about a mile past the raceway (same side of the road) Bait/sporting goods area is in rear of building.

Stay safe and warm have fun if ice fishing this weekend. remember to check weather reports before heading out on Sunday for latest info. on the coming snow storm.

Also a thank you and good work to all who provide information about White Pond.

 Steve

[Angola Fish]

Ditto on White Pond.  Thanks for your input/help Kb, alexg diehard, tjk and seadog!  I never expected that much response.  A lot of good guys on this thread.

[greensider]

Those same guys are on a forum called new york sportsman formerly hudson valley sportsman as well as many other helpful and nice people

[egriffin70]

I have seen pictures of big pike from their supposedly federation stocked them

Guys getting Pike in Putnam lake thru the ice ,  must of stocked in there too.

[Crappyice]

Heard people got out on White Pond, middle branch East Branch, and Diverting in putnam.  I checked wampus and its still a no-go, found 3 inches at Mohansic but got kicked off by parks staff (lol). Also heard they dropped boyd corners and the ice is shot. Anyone been around muscoot or amawalk or cross river?

Have you been back to Mohansic? Are they open yet for ice fishing?

[Coldfusion]

Good weekend on Diverting Reservoir for my Brother and I. Caught 5 jumbo yellow perch yesterday and a 14 inch cookie cutter brown today.

[alexg425]

Have you been back to Mohansic? Are they open yet for ice fishing?

haven't been back.  they said to call the park office and ask.  I fished at wampus pond today and same deal with the county parks having to "open" the lake to ice stuff, but there was a crowd of people playing hockey and skating all weekend so I said screw it.  there was 6 inches at wampus, I crushed a bunch of 9 inch gills and largemouth to 2.5 lbs. I must of caught 20 bass and 15 gills. a couple of other groups were out there fishing. someone in complained and the cops came to kick everyone off the ice but when he heard how thick it was he didn't care and just left.  was hoping to try and fish during the storm in the morning but it seems that there will be too much snow on the roads already. 

[kb]

Another nice day on Saturday. 

Sunday was similar but the schools were scattered, and we had to work at them.

[Loudmouth879]

An Orange County snow report here as of 5pm 15"

[Gamalot]

An Orange County snow report here as of 5pm 15"

As of 6AM Tuesday morning it is still snowing here in Sullivan county and I bet I have close to 30" in some spots. My Kubota tractor with the 50" blower is earning it's keep in this wild storm and I already blew the driveway and some area in the yard for the dog twice but it just blows right back in.
I can't wait for the reports on how the lakes faired and if the heavy snow is laying on the ice or is getting blown off. Fishing in 2 feet of snow covered ice sure is no fun at all. This is the kind of storm I remember from back in the 1960s as a kid and we were doing flips off the roof of our house into deep banks. Now I see reports we could get slammed again this weekend. Ouch.

[mr.clean]

 Good day ,may everyone be safe and have no major storm related damage to their property. I looked at the Times Herald record's website(newspaper) they report 16 inches of snow here in new Windsor at 10 PM Monday night guessing final total maybe close to 18 inches . Sad new story in the paper today a Goshen,NY gentleman died on Monday afternoon/early evening after the snowmobile he was riding broke through the ice at local reservoir . He was with a friend who was able to get back to shore and is now recovering at local hospital in stable condition. Cold water rescue team from local Fire Dept. did recover the gentlemen's body from water. My condolences to this gentlemen's family,girlfriends and other friends. Be careful if going out all this snow will weigh down the ice possibly causing cracks which water will come through creating overflow on ice surface and slush pockets.

Curious did anyone drive by or go the Swan Lake this past Sunday and did the fire dept. have their annual contest. NO mail delivery here yesterday due to the storm so still waiting for a reply to my letter if the fire dept. ever received it.

Kb congratulations on all the perch.

If still digging out from the storm pace yourselves. Take care ,stay safe and good fishing to all.
  Steve

[Gamalot]

If the lakes look anything like my home here in Forestburgh 4 miles east from SB and Rio we are screwed until this crap melts or blows off.

[hardwater diehard]

Measured 16-17" atop the hood of my SUV ..lots of wind last night ..my best guess is a lot of that snow was blown south  ..so same should be true on local lakes ..so accessing the southern most parts of the lakes may be troublesome with drifting ..some weight of the snow may play apart as well


Found this interesting ..

https://www.inchcalculator.com/snow-weight-calculator/

[Gamalot]

Measuring how much snow we actually got is never an exact science. Some places out in my yard had drifts over 3 feet while other spots had only around a foot or so. I did a few different measurements during the storm. I have a table on the patio that I measured first with 7 inches and cleaned it off. Measured it again in the morning and it had 8 inches so I wiped it off. Later that evening I measured and it had 6 more inches at 9 Monday night so I wiped it off again and on Tuesday morning it had another 7 inches. All day today it got another 2 inches while I was cleaning up.
Not Scientific but 7 + 8 + 6 + 7 +2 =30". My open utility trailer has 15 inch high sides so the wind kind of stays out of it. In the middle of it my yardstick measures 26 inches deep. Damn that global warming and climate change stuff sure is hitting us hard. Meanwhile many of the big lakes up north still don't have safe ice and might not get it this winter at all.
What we need now is for one of our regular local guys to do a real check on a couple lakes like White, SB, Superior or any of the other usual haunts that were fishable and report from both the north and south ends. We have a few contests coming up but even if there is a foot of snow that will make for tough fishing not to mention if the parking areas will be cleared up.

[hardwater diehard]

Well in your travels if you see an unplowed parking lot ..you can contact the region 3 office via Email and let them know ..last I knew they contract out that work . When I contacted them about White lake not being plowed out some time back they responded quickly .

[mr.clean]

 Good afternoon Hardwater diehard,Gamalot thank you both for the snow fall totals from your areas of Sullivan County. Hardwater diehard thank you for the  link to snow weight calculations interesting read.
Gamalot nice looking tractor that company that is contracted to clear snow here at my condominium complex could use such a vehicle or at least a snow blower like the tractor has they are doing last of  the plowing now  some of the snow piles must be six feet high. If we got another big storm this weekend I'm not sure where they will push the snow.

I have not looked at any extended weather forecasts for February going by past knowledge if it is possible the mahogany Ridge Hunting-Fishing club contest at Highland Lake will be held as scheduled. i believe it was in february of 2014 0r 2015 Winter storm Pax left parts of Sullivan county with 24 or more inches of snow days before the contest. It was still held in those tough fishing conditions think fellow Ice Shanty member BossJ attended and had the first place crappie that year.

Steve
Ps. thank you for info. on calling region 3 DEC office to get state lake access parking lots cleared of snow.

[Gamalot]

If there is a foot or more of snow on top of the ice a few conditions could make things real hard for fishing. Those dragging gear by man power won't drag very far. Those with machines could be fine and then again maybe not. Deep snow on the top often makes for slush down under and above the ice and slush is real tough. Snowmobiles do better than most ATVs but when any of them get stuck in deep slush it is a royal PITA getting them unstuck. The King contest is coming up in a little more than 2 weeks and a lot can happen between now and then so let's keep our fingers crossed for the right conditions.

[Gamalot]

This is the latest update as of 3 PM on Thursday 2/4/21. I drove up to White Lake and Swinging Bridge in Sullivan County mainly to check if the public launches were plowed out yet. Both are but the plow guy at WL pushed the snow up to in front of the ramp so you have a big bank about crotch high to climb over. SB is plowed very nice.
On the ice is not so good. The snow is hard packed and knee high and very tough to walk in. Under the snow there is about an inch or two of slush on the ice. ATVs will get high centered unless they are real tall or have tracks and snowmobiles won't do much better if they get bogged down. Dragging gear by man power will be near impossible until some of this snow drops down or crusts over or lots of machines pack it down. There was no one out and no signs of any machines having been on the lakes at all yet. Knee high is between 16-18 inches so fish at your own will. If you do get out please report the ice thickness on either of these lakes.

[moose66]

Fished a private lake in Sullivan today. Really tough walking with 18-20 inches of snow on the ice which turned to slush. Managed some good ones so it beats working!

[mr.clean]

 Moose66 glad you caught some fish not the easiest of conditions to be fishing in with all the snow on the ice.

Gamalot thank you for taking the drive and reporting on state access/parking lots at swinging Bridge and White Lake.

Steve

[beachwoods 16]

 I was by SWB yesterday @ 8 am.  Someone came on from a private access since the storm and it looks like they may have been on a 4 wheeler. Been fishing some small ponds lately and doing good on Crappie. We need a good night of high wind to help with the snow. Good luck to all those fishing.

[Ice Wine]

Fished Toronto Reservoir yesterday and there was a foot of snow over 6 plus inches of what looked to be good black ice. Lot is plowed. Snowmobiles had been out so was able to walk in their path but running for flags was tough. Lots of action in the afternoon but no perch over 9 inches.

[Fishmaniac2021]

Hi there folks!
Does anyone know how’s the ice on Greenwood lake, NY side of it?
Planning my first ice-fishing trip this season, probably this weekend. Driving from NYC, don’t want to go too far.
Any info would be appreciated.

[Gamalot]

Fished Toronto Reservoir yesterday and there was a foot of snow over 6 plus inches of what looked to be good black ice. Lot is plowed. Snowmobiles had been out so was able to walk in their path but running for flags was tough. Lots of action in the afternoon but no perch over 9 inches.

Thanks for this report. Did you fish from the Moscow road launch or the Dam side. I prefer the dam access but it is a bear getting back up no matter what machine you have.

[dougie]

Harriman has 1 lake open across from Silvermine. Small pond I don't remember the name. Teroiti still has open water.

[laker5911]

Harriman has 1 lake open across from Silvermine. Small pond I don't remember the name. Teroiti still has open water.

Thanks for the update.  I think you mean Lake Nawahunta by Silvermine.  According to Sterling Forest, Four Corners Pond is open too. They'll be checking ice this weekend.

[Ice Wine]

Thanks for this report. Did you fish from the Moscow road launch or the Dam side. I prefer the dam access but it is a bear getting back up no matter what machine you have.

Moscoe Road.

[Loudmouth879]

Hi there folks!
Does anyone know how’s the ice on Greenwood lake, NY side of it?
Planning my first ice-fishing trip this season, probably this weekend. Driving from NYC, don’t want to go too far.
Any info would be appreciated.

From what I heard Greenwood is just starting to ice up not safe at all