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Author Topic: SOUTHERN N.Y. THREAD (L.I., WESTCHESTER, PUTNAM, DUTCHESS, SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUN  (Read 1091955 times)

Offline Gamalot

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Well Steve, Walleyes are certainly here in our local lakes. White lake, SB, Toronto, Mongaup Falls, Cliff lake and the Rio that I am positive of. Most that do get caught are not necessarily the species the fisherman was after. I have friends who fish Lake Erie and the Finger lake exclusively for the eyes and know very well how to target them in those lakes. They have come here to fish with me and did not catch a single one with the same technique they use up north. I heard a bunch of stories when the SB dam was being repaired and the lake was a small puddle and lots of guys hammered the eyes which probably put a serious damper on the population and future breeding success. I can't say if there are that many to make this area a good fishery for them just yet. I do know the DEC is stocking far more eyes than trout these days in our waters simply because the water temps are not now as suitable as they once were for good trout fishing and stocking. Places where I used to catch some very nice large trout now seem to hold more bass and pickerel and other smaller warm water fish like crappie and perch. Our waters here, if you believe the DEC bioligists are way more suitable for the walleys to take hold but so far I have not had any success except in the Delaware and a couple smaller lakes with eyes they were not legal size. Every time I rig and fish for walleyes I end up doing great on SM bass.
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Offline Loudmouth879

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Caught a mixed bag this morning fished from 6:30am-11am....I caught 5 fish we caught 12 total. LMB, SMB, 1 gill and 1 rock bass... took a little bit to get on them but got it figured out. Unfortunately I forgot my depth finder but judging from other places I've fished figure it probably averages 8ft-10ft deep. Had 5 bass spit the hook on me also. It's a little different fishing such a clear and weed free lake not use to that lol.

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Offline mr.clean

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Loudmouth879 thank you for the report of your trip to lake Louise Marie. Glad you and your friend located and caught fish.
Gamalot you can add Lake Huntington to the list of lakes with walleye don't know if the DEC stocks Huntington. But I've see photos of walleye caught from Lake Huntington  no idea how big or if there is a breeding population in the lake. Always a chance the walleye were transferred from the Delaware by the so called "Bucket Biologists" . Unfortunately for us fisherman the fish do not always follow the general location and feeding plans we know of for each species and make it a challenge for us to find and catch them on our trips.

 Steve

Offline Gamalot

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Lots of the smaller and some of the private lakes in Sullivan have walleyes. In years back it was a pretty standard practice for guys to do bucket stocking from one lake to another and trout and walleye were the usual suspects. Loch Sheldrake lake has good eyes and I think Wanasink also but whether or not they are breeding on their own in each body is the question. Back in the early 60s a few guys caught trout and transplanted them in Masten lake. I never caught one but while snorkeling I did find a dead brown about 4 pounds someone had let go in the lake. Back then we never caught a bowfin in the bashakill but they sure are there now. A few guys each year when I was a kid went seriously after very large channel or Blue catfish that swam up from the Delaware in early spring to spawn. I don't know if they still spawn there or not but some monster cats did get landed with big deep sea tackle. There is no telling what we might find in any of these lakes because of bucket biologists and by natural wanderers that can get up from the main rivers. I know guys who have caught nice striped bass in the Delaware above Barryville. Trout need cold water to survive and thrive and most of these shallow water lakes get too warm this time of year. Walleyes can handle warmer water and actually are the better choice for stocking by the DEC.

Gam
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Offline hardwater diehard

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Caught two walleyes back in the late 90s ..one in SWB and one in Toronto Res....but since the dam repairs and water release at SWB it is believed that some went south into Mongaup Falls Res and eventually into the Rio Res..my buddies have caught some undersize walleye at Mongaup Falls several yrs ago .

Loudmouth879 I would have thought that the lake would be deeper ..was it void of any visible stumps/structure ? How were the lily pads and other vegetation?
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Offline Gamalot

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Loudmouth left his electronics at home so I am sure his depths are just a guess. If anyone can get me on with my kayak I will go and do some depth checks. I will bet there is a spot with close to 30 feet deep.
Mongaup Falls has eyes and I have seen some good ones from there over 5 pounds. Same with the Rio but the numbers just are not there yet. SB took a major hit during the dam repair and I suspect any eggs laid during breeding season were destroyed when the water went out. All three of the Mongaup river reservoirs still have some trout in them but not like they did back in the 60s and 70s. I caught and released a 7 pound brown this spring in SB and was pretty surprised to even catch one there. Rio still gives up a few nice trout early in the year too but none are as good as decades ago. If the trout can and do lay eggs in the rivers flowing into these reservoirs there will always be some trout that make it. SM Bass and pickerel don't let many smaller fish live long enough to grow big though. Some calm days on the RIO I have seen huge schools of sawbellies boiling the surface and the same on Toronto. Lots of large bait balls show on my screen in all three big reservoirs and a few in Mongaup falls. These days if I want to trout fish I head to the Roundout and although the browns are getting fewer and farther between the Lake trout are thriving.
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Offline Loudmouth879

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Loudmouth879 I would have thought that the lake would be deeper ..was it void of any visible stumps/structure ? How were the lily pads and other vegetation?

I’m sure it is we pretty much stayed about 20-30 yards from shore. Not sure how deep the middle is. As for vegetation in spots there’s underwater grass and very few Lilly pads however where there were Lilly pads there were lmb. It appeared to me the main structure in the lake are docks as just about every house has one. No visible stumps..... my next spot to fish is treasure lake right next to llm.... again private but heard some good things about it and it’s about 1/4 the size of LLm so less places for the fish to hide

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Offline mr.clean

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Gamalot the more we exchange posts my knowledge of Sullivan County lakes and the fish species they contain increases . Also interesting to know Roundout Reservoir  holds Lake Trout thought there was only a small population of Lake trout in White Lake.

Loudmouth879 enjoy your visit to Treasure Lake.

Steve

Offline hardwater diehard

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Give a man a fish he eats for a day .Teach a man to ice fish he has an obsession for a lifetime

Offline Gamalot

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I wish they would show the results of these surveys. We all have different fishing habits and different tastes. I personally don't fish for perch but I do catch enough of them. Most get tossed back unless they are exceptionally large like 12+ inches or if they are hooked badly and will not survive. Eagles have to eat too so on SB, Toronto and a few other local lakes I fish I have fed them fish that I was sure would not live. I have no issues with those here who enjoy fishing for perch by the buckets, I just hate cleaning a big bunch of them after a long day on the ice.
If I agreed with you we would both be wrong!

Offline mr.clean

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 Hardwater diehard thank you for the link to the DEC perch survey.  Gamalot I agree would be nice to see the survey results before we hear about any change in the fishing regulations with regards to perch. May both of you gentlemen and your families be healthy.  I hope each of you is having a good open water fishing season.
 Steve

Offline beachwoods 16

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Seeing some ice on a couple ponds!

Offline Loudmouth879

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Hope everyone is having as good of a 2020 as they can and didn't get bit by the covid bug..... driving around today in OC a lot of the ponds were skimmed over looks like the water temps are there for a change after this weekend the weather looks good to possibly put us on the ice in January.... been a while since I fished in the beginning of January lol

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Offline mr.clean

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Loudmouth879 good to see you back here on Ice Shanty. I noticed similar with regards to small ponds during a drive on Monday.Hopefully the weather cooperates and we can be fishing in early January.Have a good Holiday season.
  Steve

Offline beachwoods 16

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Thanks Loudmouth. I was around Sullivan county yesterday and of course there is no safe ice but I was pleased to find over an inch at shore in spots with some bodies of water almost iced over! I hope you all have been well and look forward to some good fish stories!

Offline delawareriver

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Been meaning to try white lake last few years but never made it, been sucking it up and making the trip to George and Otsego. How's the lake trout fishing at white lake?

Offline Gamalot

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IMO just keep going north if you want LT. Yes, they are in White Lake but damn few are ever caught so I would not target it for them and I live real close.
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Offline beachwoods 16

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Been meaning to try white lake last few years but never made it, been sucking it up and making the trip to George and Otsego. How's the lake trout fishing at white lake?
Yeah probably won't catch a laker,(but you might), and  there is a nice mix of fish there.  I would love to hear about your ventures upstate.

Offline delawareriver

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Thanks guys. Looking like a bunch of day trips this year (wife is paranoid plus have 7 month kid at home so don't really wanna take the risk staying in hotels for multiple days) was hoping to make a hour and half trip instead of 3-4 hour trip. With that said lg has been a blast the last few years especiallywhen there's enough ice to get away from the heavily fished areas, Otsego we always seemed to hit on the wrong days, friends have 40-50 fish days the day before to get skunked the day we show up to fish. Did catch a few here and there. Fourth lake was tough, no Lakers over 3 days but did find a mid lake hump and pounded a dozen 3+lb smallies off of. Well worth the trip upstate instead of fishing the same waters over and over.

Offline NYBasser

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How do you guys think the ice has held up after all the snow? I'm sure big lakes that havent froze yet will be fine with fresh ice soon but small ponds that might have locked up early might be hard to fish with all the snow insulating the ice and preventing more from forming.

Offline hardwater diehard

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The smaller/shallow lakes seemed to be froze over before the storm...lower Sullivan County ...maybe skim to 1/2 inch ...its probably a slushy mess now as temps were in the 20s for most of the night ...and broke above 32 for at least 2 hrs today ..23F now ..going to 10F tonight. If the next 10 day hold true temperature wise (as predicted) there maybe some smaller bodies of water that have a chance for good ice making. Lower Sullivan county did not get the 24 inches as predicted ..12-18 inches and the further north the more now there is ..my prediction ...as always the first week in January could have some walkable ice ...but last year I found some walkable ice on 12/20/19 ..I may venture out and see if that body has walkable ice this Sunday. last year was tough ..had to fish when it was froze and not when you wanted or could seemed to be the norm.
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Offline Gamalot

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Going by my nearest local pond, Crane pond at the end of Cold Spring road where it meets Oakland Valley road. One day it has a nice coat of skim ice and the next day it is wide open with waves.
We got around 18 inches from this storm and I have not ventured far from home since. I am pretty sure some farm ponds that are isolated from the winds could be locked up and near safe while those that get wind blown will be a little later. It is a double edge sword this time of year because the small ponds without the wind hold the snow on top as an insulator while the ones that get the winds get blown off and single digit temps builds good clear ice. I have not even looked at any of my ice gear yet this year because all through the hunting season we had almost zero snow and many days well above 45-50. While cleaning up the snow with the blower and plow blade every time I got off the blacktop and over grass it was a real mess because the ground is not yet frozen. If I have to guess at this point I doubt we will have safe ice on any of the big lakes until well into January unless we get and keep a deep arctic freeze for a few weeks. Pray for winds to blow this insulating snow off the large bodies and help the cold to make solid clear ice rather than the white ice that is far weaker. Just be safe out there and we know there are some here who have the itch to get out early while others wait for the conditions to set up for the right thickness.
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Offline NYBasser

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Thanks for the updates Gam and Hardwater. Looks like we will be waiting at least another week or more.

Offline delawareriver

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Best case is the ones with skim ice, the weight of the snow sinks the ice and freezes the slush on cold nights like tonight. Not great ice but definitely fishable. Just won't hold up well when we get a warm up

Offline Loudmouth879

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Looking out the window at the two ponds by my house they're a slushy mess now... they had skim ice before the storm.... Some of my memories that fb decides to pop up for me showed me fishing 7 years ago at this time.... those were the days

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Offline NYBasser

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Well delaware you hit it right on the spot, me and my buddy decided to look around for ourselves and found a spot in Sullivan where the original black ice sank and the slush on top froze. Total of 5-6 inches with 3 inches of hard white ice and 2-3 inches of hard black ice. Super fishable, ice was booming all day long.







Offline mr.clean

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NYBasser congratulations to you and your friend on finding ice you felt comfortable fishing on and putting some crappie and yellow perch on top of the ice.
  Steve

Offline beachwoods 16

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Nice job Basser!!

Offline NYBasser

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Thanks guys

Offline delawareriver

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Well delaware you hit it right on the spot, me and my buddy decided to look around for ourselves and found a spot in Sullivan where the original black ice sank and the slush on top froze. Total of 5-6 inches with 3 inches of hard white ice and 2-3 inches of hard black ice. Super fishable, ice was booming all day long.







Awesome man. Same thing happened down my way, had less black ice and more slush ice. Decided to wait for my muskie and walleye spots to be litte safer but had a bunch of friends out banging on the panfish ponds

 



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