Trophy lakers upstate?

[FreshwaterPhil]

Planning a trip down to NY state mid February. Primary target would be lakers in the double digits. Though I have plenty of tip ups, I much prefer to jig them with lures with my Humminbird, running and gunning on foot to find fish.

Up here in Quebec, fishing lakers is forbidden in winter. I've caught quite a few while targeting other species, most in the 4-7 lbs range, but like I said, my primary focus would be bigger ones. Not much interest in numbers of small ones, this would be a trophy trip.

Ideally, a spot with a cheap motel or b&b nearby, maybe 2-3 days to give enough time to prospect and hopefully land a big one or two. Upper Adirondacks would be my preference due to proximity to QC border. Considering Upper Chateauguay, Lake George if ice is safe enough, Champlain sort of overwhelming, especially as I'm on foot.

Any tips are much appreciated.

[jayy]

You might catch a 10lber in any of the trout lakes but If you want to maximize your chances I would stick to the bigger lakes. Lake george is a solid option.   You will still need some luck.  Even the locals on LG can go several years without a trophy fish.

[ship of fools]

You might catch a 10lber in any of the trout lakes but If you want to maximize your chances I would stick to the bigger lakes. Lake george is a solid option.   You will still need some luck.  Even the locals on LG can go several years without a trophy fish.

Champlain has a better chance of a 10 plus pounder.

George has it's share of 30 inch plus fish but there are tons of 21-25 inchers that seem to beat them to your jig most of the time.

[youngblood]

Niagara River.Bring your long pole and waders.

[lowaccord66]

Champlain or a bay on Ontario.  Both have giant lakers...both are tricky to fish because of highly variable ice conditions. 

This is champ.  It took about an hour and a half to spud out there.

[Jlay_upstateny]

Champlain or a bay on Ontario.  Both have giant lakers...both are tricky to fish because of highly variable ice conditions. 

This is champ.  It took about an hour and a half to spud out there.

Hour and a half walk out on Champlain takes some balls.. you ever get any giants up there?

[bootstrap]

dont have to go for miles on champ out to a hump. can get plenty close to shore. i dont consider 10-12 lb lakers giants.

[FreshwaterPhil]

Wow, thanks for all the responses. Tough dilemma. Boils down to wether a small lake with a few big ones would be a better shot than a very big lake with more big ones. Safe ice the wildcard. Ticonderoga seems to be close enough to LG and Champ. Both a bit intimidating due to size, and possible ice hazard. Looking at NEK region of VT as well.

[lowaccord66]

Hour and a half walk out on Champlain takes some balls.. you ever get any giants up there?

 

It was slow going with a lot of back tracking to avoid weak shove ice.  Depends on what you consider giant.  I think 16lbs is worth the effort.

And agree Bootstrap you dont need to go far on your side.  I wanted to fish a specific hump on the other side and it took some doing to get there.

Phil why not go hit Simcoe in Ontario?

[FreshwaterPhil]

 

It was slow going with a lot of back tracking to avoid weak shove ice.  Depends on what you consider giant.  I think 16lbs is worth the effort.

And agree Bootstrap you dont need to go far on your side.  I wanted to fish a specific hump on the other side and it took some doing to get there.

Phil why not go hit Simcoe in Ontario?

I did think of it as too. Bonus there would be whitefish, never caught any yet. Bit far for a 2 day trip though, good 5-6 hour drive from Montreal.

[Hess]

You mentioned Ticonderoga -- you need to be at least north of Crown Point on the lake, to find any Laker action (south of CP, Champlain is basically a warm water fishery with much shallower depths and weedy bays & shorelines -- bass/pike/panfish, etc...)!

[lowaccord66]

I did think of it as too. Bonus there would be whitefish, never caught any yet. Bit far for a 2 day trip though, good 5-6 hour drive from Montreal.

Simecoe has been on my list for a while.  Lakers get big in there.

[Buckmaster7600]

The lake with the largest amount of big lakers in north eastern New York is tupper lake. It’s also one of the most difficult to catch them. If I had a winter long goal of a 20lb laker I would spend my time on tupper. You can also spend 3 days there and not catch a laker, not because they’re not there.

[Adironzach]

The lake with the largest amount of big lakers in north eastern New York is tupper lake. It’s also one of the most difficult to catch them. If I had a winter long goal of a 20lb laker I would spend my time on tupper. You can also spend 3 days there and not catch a laker, not because they’re not there.

I will agree here. There is definitely a tank or two in that lake. Tupper's biggest issue is that the fish have so much forage, so its really difficult to convince them to bite. There are so many smelt in that lake that the lakers get very fat and lazy.

[Catchthis44]

I landed a nice laker on Tupper a few years ago on a short trip (2 days), caught on a tip up with a fat head on the northwest end of the lake.

[lowaccord66]

4th has large ones too.  A 20lber came out of pieseco not long ago...

[gitthegaff]

I did think of it as too. Bonus there would be whitefish, never caught any yet. Bit far for a 2 day trip though, good 5-6 hour drive from Montreal.

What Caliber Lakers are in Lake Simco?

[Adironzach]

What Caliber Lakers are in Lake Simco?

Most fish are in the #4-7 range but there are plenty of #12-15+ caught every year too. You can find some good videos of Simcoe Lakers on Youtube.

[Eye slayer23]

Lake ontario has some nice 1s to

[lowaccord66]

Lake ontario has some nice 1s to

Yup! 

[FreshwaterPhil]

After much research, I flaked out on this one. As I had a bunch of airline miles for a free plane ticket, and family in Texas, I decided to scrap my trophy laker plans to spend a week in the sun fishing for buffs, one of the last 2 species on my freshwater bucket list. Trip won't cost me much more than a couple nights at motel up here.

Funny enough, I did get a bit of redemption a couple days ago. Was out with a friend for big pike, not too far from VT border. Set our tip ups, then jigged for perch a bit deeper. School of perch suddenly disappeared on flasher, big mark smacked my lure a few feet of bottom. Though accidental and not intended, it ended up being my biggest ice laker at 28 inches, beating my previous biggest by 1.5 inches.



After seeing it come through my 8 inch ice hole, I'm glad I didn't attempt going after bigger ones with my Nils. When I do finally make it down there for trophies, definitely going to use the 10" Jiffy. Last thing I need is to put in all that effort and have one too big to fit

[dogfish]

Looks like you were on the "Gog"!  Use to fish there myself on the VT side.
Nice laker congrats.

[ActiveTrapChecker]

Nice one!

[FreshwaterPhil]

Looks like you were on the "Gog"!  Use to fish there myself on the VT side.
Nice laker congrats.

No, Massawippi, close to Memphremagog. Wippi got some pike big enough to eat the laker I caught.
Probably going to try the gog for landlocks once I get back from my trip down South.

[lowaccord66]

28" is a fine specimen! 

[kpd145]

great looking fish there 

[Adironzach]

Sweet fish! nothing wrong about that at all. Always is an awesome feeling to catch a PB and on light tackle, the thought of that might makes me jealous. Safe travels to Texas and enjoy some of that texmex for me! 

[Jkrum10238]

Planning on heading up 15-17th. I want to catch my first lake trout. Staying in my family cabin in Day. What's my best bet with current ice conditions?

[FreshwaterPhil]

Ok, this ones going a bit off topic, but my buff trip to Dallas went quite well. You can read more on my blog at:
http://freshwater-phil.blogspot.com/2020/02/fishing-for-buffs-buffalo-in-texas.html

Some teaser pics...

[OneBucketMike]

Ok, this ones going a bit off topic, but my buff trip to Dallas went quite well. You can read more on my blog at:
http://freshwater-phil.blogspot.com/2020/02/fishing-for-buffs-buffalo-in-texas.html

Some teaser pics...

(Image removed from quote.)

Looks like that tail on the last got bitten off? Or are they spawning and she was making a nest?