Author Topic: Not giving up yet... (Read 3576 times)

BlueSnow · « **on:** Mar 06, 2020, 06:51 AM »

So I post a lot on where I go and conditions and I need an assist.

I'm going to take off work on Monday and head east and north to try and find some safe ice early Sunday morning in hopes of fishing Sunday afternoon and Monday morning.

Trying to decide if I should swing back past watertown or if I should go further a field and try someplace over by Old Forge. I don't know what the snow and the warm weather have done so just looking for for a recommendation.

St Lawrence bays
Indian River
Chamout/perch lake
Fultain chain

I don't do planks...

aquarium234 · « **Reply #1 on:** Mar 06, 2020, 07:24 AM »

Fulton Chain should still be safe on sunday-monday, next weeks going to finish off our north country ice though :-( short season this year. Farther up you go will be thicker ice.

dgrenier · « **Reply #2 on:** Mar 06, 2020, 08:24 AM »

To the best of my knowledge, Perch Lake is closed. I believe it is only open for fishing between 12/1 - 3/1

BlueSnow · « **Reply #3 on:** Mar 06, 2020, 09:03 AM »

Quote from: dgrenier on Mar 06, 2020, 08:24 AM

To the best of my knowledge, Perch Lake is closed. I believe it is only open for fishing between 12/1 - 3/1

Damn - I thought it was 3/15 at the end of Pike. Well that takes a place off the list

mdm25549 · « **Reply #4 on:** Mar 06, 2020, 09:12 AM »

Unless you have extensive knowledge of chaumont bay ice as I assume that’s where you meant I wouldn’t recommend it

BlueSnow · « **Reply #5 on:** Mar 06, 2020, 09:15 AM »

So that's more or less leaving the fulton chain, LOTI/EEL, and Chippewa?

All that snow and then rain is a real bummer.

finsntins · « **Reply #6 on:** Mar 06, 2020, 10:04 AM »

guys are out on fourth lake today,gonna be cold next couple nights,ice will be fine,still have to be carefull of the channels!!!!!

perch chacer · « **Reply #7 on:** Mar 06, 2020, 10:17 AM »

Quote from: BlueSnow on Mar 06, 2020, 06:51 AM

So I post a lot on where I go and conditions and I need an assist.

I'm going to take off work on Monday and head east and north to try and find some safe ice early Sunday morning in hopes of fishing Sunday afternoon and Monday morning.

Trying to decide if I should swing back past watertown or if I should go further a field and try someplace over by Old Forge. I don't know what the snow and the warm weather have done so just looking for for a recommendation.

St Lawrence bays
Indian River
Chamout/perch lake
Fultain chain

I don't do planks...

Check out the "Oneida Lake Diehards" site. There are some ice conditions reports from yesterday.

eyehi · « **Reply #8 on:** Mar 06, 2020, 12:21 PM »

Quote from: aquarium234 on Mar 06, 2020, 07:24 AM

Fulton Chain should still be safe on sunday-monday, next weeks going to finish off our north country ice though :-( short season this year. Farther up you go will be thicker ice.

Not sure where in the north country you are talking about .... i will be fishing in st lawrence county thru the march 15 season closure ...... to the op the early to freeze bays on the big river still hold feet of ice ....

BlueSnow · « **Reply #9 on:** Mar 07, 2020, 08:56 AM »

So I am going to head up to Inlet tomorrow and am thinking either fourth lake or driving down to Limekiln (or maybe both), never really tried for lakers so time to start reading up. I'll let you know how it goes.

finsntins · « **Reply #10 on:** Mar 07, 2020, 12:55 PM »

plenty of people on fourth today!!!!gonna be beautiful tomorrow

BlueSnow · « **Reply #11 on:** Mar 08, 2020, 08:21 AM »

Quote from: BlueSnow on Mar 07, 2020, 08:56 AM

So I am going to head up to Inlet tomorrow and am thinking either fourth lake or driving down to Limekiln (or maybe both), never really tried for lakers so time to start reading up. I'll let you know how it goes.

Going to be getting in around 3 barring any foolishness on the thruway. Tight lines....

trapper2000 · « **Reply #12 on:** Mar 08, 2020, 08:27 AM »

good luck man! be safe

BlueSnow · « **Reply #13 on:** Mar 08, 2020, 07:40 PM »

Fished out of inlet on 4th lake. 18" of ice half white and half black. Saw two trucks on the ice, had two small ski planes buzz around us and too many sleds to count.

Fished from 50 fow through 35. Marked a lot on the bottom but nothing higher In The water colum. Caught a 9" perch. Going to try somewhere else i. The area tomorrow am.

Any recommendations?

BlueSnow · « **Reply #14 on:** Mar 09, 2020, 03:09 PM »

Fished until about 11:30 this morning before heading home. One more dink perch and lots of holes drilled.

Trip details:

Total Time: 30 Hours
Fishing Time: 9 Hours
Sleeping / Eating/Transit: 21 Hours

Biggest surprise was the amount of ice on 4th lake
Biggest surprise x2....60 degrees at home with flowers in the yard.

BlueSnow · « **Reply #15 on:** Mar 09, 2020, 05:33 PM »

Also - the access road to limekiln was sled passable (or 4wd if you aren't concerned about the drive back to Buffalo). So we bailed and went back to 4th.

BlueSnow · « **Reply #16 on:** Mar 10, 2020, 06:01 AM »

Some final observations from the trip....

I am definitely going to make the trip back up into the park in the coming years, but I will need to find a different location. I like the idea of setting up the tipups and going for a big fish but it is also nice to have some pan fish to play with. I'm sure there are probably some in 4th lake but nobody we were talking to was catching anything and for the drive it would be nice to have some activity. Another challenge for that neighborhood seems to be finding places that have public access that is maintained in the winter. The Limekiln chart looked very good, but no easy access was a disappointment.

Re-iterating from an early post, I have no idea how to fish deep water as proven by the couple days on 4th and then my afternoon on lake Alice a few weeks ago. Anything past 35 fow I'm just drowning spikes, need to get some more practice or talk to folks who fish in those depths regularly.

We stayed at the Marina Motel which was extremely convenient to the boat launch(<.5 mile) at the bar/pizzeria(a golf shot), I'd go back even though it was a bit pricey, but that's probably the case with everything in that area. The roads from the thruway (365, 12, 28) were all pretty good roads though if there are snowflakes in the air I imagine things can get dicey very quickly, based on the amount of snow that was winged back on 12/28 I'm guessing they are measuring the snowfall in the feed more often than not.

Lesson learned: Get gas before you turn left off the thruway as the further up you go the higher the price is (aside: is it better to pay the higher price for gas as a tourist to help ensure those places stay in business or to save the dollars and get gas in Rome?)

With the amount of ice that was there this year I can imagine and extension for the auger is in order for a regular winter and some sharp blades! One of the guys I talked to said he was out last year on the ice until 4/17.

This has been a bit of a disjointed post but it seems to match up well with the disjointed season. Thanks for everybody who provided recommendations and information - I appreciate it and hope someday somebody finds this to be useful.

Bluesnow

trapper2000 · « **Reply #17 on:** Mar 10, 2020, 06:52 AM »

blue i give you a E for effort man and a nice report

Fishin-Mission · « **Reply #18 on:** Mar 10, 2020, 10:31 AM »

Be careful trying to get your last trip in. I see we just lost a 67 year old fishman near Rome on the Erie Canal. No fish is worth your life. I am sure you could find some safe open water fishing.

filetandrelease · « **Reply #19 on:** Mar 11, 2020, 07:23 AM »

I haven’t given it up yet , I and the goon are going exploring later today 🎣

choo choo · « **Reply #20 on:** Mar 11, 2020, 07:35 AM »

Good luck to you and Nate ,Fred...have fun and hope you get some nice ones. Looking forward to your report.

filetandrelease · « **Reply #21 on:** Mar 13, 2020, 04:33 PM »

Well got out today after the rain let up , but was it windy wow if it hadn’t rained combined with the wind i would have had a few more days , I’m thinking I maybe down I do have a couple small lakes I could check for flat fish , but there is only a couple more days of eye fishing left 😉

News:

Author Topic: Not giving up yet... (Read 3576 times)