Cassadaga and Bear Lakes

[Postletown]

Has anyone had any luck on either of these lakes this year? I heard rumors that people have been pulling up some walleye near lillydale....anyone on here run into them?

[Postletown]

well i went and checked out Cassadaga this morning, good amount of ice (about 12" total).  Fished the middle lake, no luck at all. Used a camera and saw one muskie that was it.  Drilled about 20 holes around the entire lake and NOT ONE panfish in sight. Pretty disappointing lol is there something I don't know about the middle lake?  Hopefully ill have better luck at Chautauqua tomorrow.  Good Luck everybody!

[javnfish]

the middle lake is dead water i'm surprised you even saw one muskie LOL!!

[Game Hog]

the middle lake is dead water I'm surprised you even saw one muskie LOL!!

Maby that's the case in the winter (never fished it on top).  The middle lake is the only one out of the 4 that I have cough a walleye, a muskie, and a northern out of.  Did you try out in front of the old restaurant?

[Postletown]

haha well that explains it! My brother and I were joking about it being dead water in winter but didn't think there was much truth to it lol. and we literally walked around the entire lake with that camera and only saw that one musky. Oh well, now we know, thanks for letting me know just a day late haha! Heading to Chautauqua now, hoping for a better experience!

[IceTrekker17]

I'm usually good for one trip to bear lake per year.  Haven't gotten down there yet.  The thing with that place was fishing later in the afternoon through dark as opposed to fishing at dawn.  The last few times I've been there, I'd get a handful of keep crappie at the crack of down, and then it would shut down until the middle of the afternoon.  I mean REALLY shut down; a bite or two every hour, and that's it.  When I was younger, we did really well when we'd first step out on the ice after lunch.  We'd be going on the lake, and the rest of the guys would be coming off because they hadn't got anything.  It turns on there at about 3pm and goes right into dark.

I want to make a trip down there, but 9 times out of 10 there's about 20ft of wet snow on the ice, and the walk is difficult.  Plus the wierd fishing hours make it slightly difficult (who wants to drive back to buffalo at 9 or 10pm after being outside all afternoon!) but when the bite is on over there, it's a great lake to fish.  As for walleye, we took our boat out there for a test spin before we docked it in erie for the year last spring.  We jigged for some perch near the scout camp and did pretty well.  Just swedish pimples and waxies if I recall.  We decided to drift in and head in for the day, and my pops put a crawler on a big orange jighead and bounced it off the bottom as we drifted.  He got a pair of really nice eyes right in the middle of the lake in a span of maybe 15 minutes.   They have definitely gotten bigger over there.  Again though, that was on the soft water in the spring.  I bet that if I liked fishing for eyes, I could get a few there through the ice.  It's just SO SLOW to fish all day for a few eyes.  I'd rather catch a bucket of pannies 

Any conditions down there?  How much ice?  How much snow on top?  Anyone had any luck down there this year?

[Postletown]

ill probably check out bear lake this week, ill let you know. Im getting the crappie itch! the chautauqua perch are fun but i need some slabs in the freezer lol

[IceTrekker17]

ill probably check out bear lake this week, ill let you know. Im getting the crappie itch! the chautauqua perch are fun but i need some slabs in the freezer lol

Let us know; we're looking to go to bear lake for a day trip this weekend.

[doctariAFC]

drove by bear on the way back from maple springs on Sunday.  Saw no one out there, a couple sets of tracks, looked like a lot of snow on the lake.

[IceTrekker17]

drove by bear on the way back from maple springs on Sunday.  Saw no one out there, a couple sets of tracks, looked like a lot of snow on the lake.

Any new reports as we get into the second half of the work week?  Looks like we're going to try the Bear Lake for old times sake; see if we can't relive the glory days.  The weather looks good for the whole weekend; Fri-Sun.  It's the snow that worries me, since it makes for lousy ice and a horrible walk.

Anyone fish bear lake the past few years through the ice?  Where did you fish and what did you catch?  What did you use?  We used to catch them near the old scout camp on minnies in the afternoon, but then 5yrs ago or so there seem to be a shift where the guys caught them off the mouth of the creek with grubs.

[JonnyDarter]

I fished Bear last year with a friend.  Snow made for a difficult pull.  Fished the North-West corner in ~ 15 FOW.  Our auger was dull so we only managed to cut two holes for jigging and two for tip-ups.  We manged a handful of perch (7-8") and one small musky on a tip-up.  I'd say our success on the lake was limited by us fishing for only a few hours, a dull auger, and immense inexperience.  I have personally seen very nice crappie from the lake along with healthy specimens of other species that make me want to hit it up again.  Good luck if you decide to fish it and please post conditions/results if you care to share. 

[Postletown]

Hey guys, just to let you know I didn't fail to tell you how I did there, I just didn't get a chance to get out there yet, those two stupid things called work and college really get in the way of my fishing time! But back to your question, when I was younger my dad and uncles used to take us there and we would get crappie all the time....the past few years we would only pull out 2 or 3 in a whole day's fishing, but they were always good sized fish.  I keep hearing that they bite better at night on Bear Lake so thats what I am going to try as soon as I get a chance.  We usually park at the clever store and walk out to the other side by that house or cabin across the lake, there's a pretty good drop off there where we suspect the fish would hold.  Hopefully one of us gets out there soon so we know how the action is this year! 

[mike_leworthy]

hey if your lookin to catch something other than panfish heres some muskies ive got out of cassadaga this season

37" out of the upper lake

38" out of the lower lake, if you want any tips just pm me

[IceTrekker17]

Hey guys, just to let you know I didn't fail to tell you how I did there, I just didn't get a chance to get out there yet, those two stupid things called work and college really get in the way of my fishing time! But back to your question, when I was younger my dad and uncles used to take us there and we would get crappie all the time....the past few years we would only pull out 2 or 3 in a whole day's fishing, but they were always good sized fish.  I keep hearing that they bite better at night on Bear Lake so thats what I am going to try as soon as I get a chance.  We usually park at the clever store and walk out to the other side by that house or cabin across the lake, there's a pretty good drop off there where we suspect the fish would hold.  Hopefully one of us gets out there soon so we know how the action is this year! 

It's a pavillion from an old scout camp if I remember right.  But yes, the dropoff is most intense there.  The lake is just a big bowl, and it goes from a weedy shoreline and drops down the the deepest part at about 23-24fow off that scout camp.  That's the only place where we've caught them.  Other guys in recent years did decent on mousies over near the creek; but we just haven't had luck there.  If the weather and the ice/slush conditions don't beat us down, I feel confident that we can get at least a handful of nice crappie.  We've also had luck with pike tipups in the weedy shallows, so we're going to set up two of those.  We'll report when we get back Sat night or when I wake up sun morning.

[Postletown]

sounds good trekker, good luck!  And Mike, nice fish there! 

[IceTrekker17]

sounds good trekker, good luck!  And Mike, nice fish there! 

Thanks!  Pretty excited; gonna be cold and windy, but we'll see where it goes.  Just heard that the BIG pond is almost froze over all the way.  Guys even toodled off sturgeon and pinehurst in a quad.  If that's the case, this may be my last day on Bear lake until later in the season.  I will post what Bear is like.  Spent a good part of yesterday after dinner going through the archives and reading some bear lake posts when Bear Lake Bob would report several times a week - and I got excited.  Guys did ok there 2-3yrs ago; and almost all of the crappie were 8-9''.  Hopefully they got a tad bigger and a tad more abundant.

[Postletown]

yeah i heard its about 2/3 of the way frozen over! Next weekend should be good! We will let the guinnea pigs get out there first and make sure its safe haha

[IceTrekker17]

Went down to bear lake yesterday with two other guys.  It was a really nice day; only about 1-3 inches of snow on top of at least a foot of good hard ice.  The ice/snow in the marina was starting to get slushy, but the frigid temps kept that at bay.  The first sunny day in the 30's and the marina might get a bit messy, but the lake is in pristine condition.  It was an easy walk out there.  Fished from 12-430pm.  Got ~20 perch and 1 crappie that was just undersized so I put him back.  We were going to stay later, but we forgot our lantern - and I had a to get back to buffalo.  Regardless, the craps just didn't seem too interested yesterday.

I didn't agree with where the two guys I went set up their hut in 15 fow off the scout camp.  I had a feeling that they were in grass perch territory, and I decided to go looking for crappie in a little deeper water.  I punched about a dozen holes around the scout camp anywhere from 18-23fow and dropped the vex down the hole, and occassionally would mark fish.  I couldn't find them consistently enough, and the wind was HOWLING.  Plus it was cold, so the wind chill made moving around difficult.  I hunkered down in 21 fow; not far at all (maybe 50 yards) from the two guys I went with.  I figured it being a 6ft dropoff over a relatively short distance, that it might hold some crappie eventually.  I left the vex in the hole I was fishing my spreaders w/ minnies in...I would mark fish a foot or two off the bottom, and occasionally get them to bite - but they were the perch.  I got about 3 of the 20 perch, all of them within a foot off the bottom.  I would occasionally mark fish 4-6ft off, and I'd lift my line up to them, but they wouldn't take it.  I figured these were the craps.  When I warmed up, I set up a second line and put it 4ft off the bottom.  I got a crap at about 1 or 2pm; almost immediately after setting that 2nd line up, but she was a half inch too short.   

That was it.  I marked fish here and there, but I didn't miss too many.  If they bit, most of them ended up on the ice.  I was surprised by the perch coming a foot off the bottom or more to take a whole minnow.  It made for a more interesting afternooon than just one crappie, but we just couldn't find them.  I think we were all on different pages.  We used to have 2-4 guys fishing in a line across different depths, with each guy fishing 2 lines.  We staggered how far off each of us were on the bottom, and once we found them, everyone else would make those adjustments.  That way, we covered a variety of depths and landscapes.  Yesterday, they were clustered in the hut in perch territory, and my two lines were all alone in the crappie zone.  I don't think we stayed late enough, and the weather didn't let us move around too much.  We might have walked over to the creek mouth on a warmer day, but I've heard over there that it can be just as hot/cold.  With the setback on lake erie, I think we'll be back to make the proper adjustments next week!  We're DEF. going to pack the power auger too - it's important to FIND them first before setting up shop and hoping they come to you, or else you end up having a day like we did.  All in all, not a bad day on bear lake.

NOTE- The amish were out in full force on bear yesterday.  They had the entire shallow area in front of the scout camp covered with 25-30 pike tipups.  They had 3 kids running around with them, so they were "fishing", and the two adults got away with using that many lines.  The tipups covered at least a 300-400 yard long stretch of shoreline centered in front of the scout camp, and was probably another 100-200yds wide.  It went from 4-6fow, to about 15fow.  We saw them land a 34 inch muskie and they put it back.  They said they caught one earlier too; don't know if they kept that one because we weren't there.  They missed a bigger one at the hole; it broke the hook off as one tried to get the gaff on it.  But it was a monster - it was also a lunge.  So they didn't land and pike, but they probably had about a dozen flags go up while we were there.  All in all they were nice; but I've heard numerous times that they are likely responsible for killing bear's crappie fishing because when no one's around, they don't obey catch limits or size limits.  But these guys yesterday seemed to be fine.  Again, don't know if they were on their best behavior because we were there, but no complaints (aside from their unending fascination with our vex!)

[silvercreeker]

Were the Amish drilling holes, or chopping big square openings.  I saw them kicking holes open in the ice with ski boots.  The holes were so big you could fall though them!
No such thing as catch and release for the Amish.  Bear could be helped with some restrictions on keeping.
We saw one hut super close to the road about 1:00pm.  Awful shallow there.

[Postletown]

very nice update! thanks a lot! Yeah we all know the crappie are in there its always hit or miss with them, like you said you just gotta find them.  Even if they are there it is very hard to get them to bite sometimes.  In the spring last year on chautauqua lake my brother and I saw the crappies hanging around the docks at long point.  It was amazing to see how they actually bite.  100% of the time the fish would turn itself totally vertical underneath our minnows and they would bite up on it.  If the minnow wasn't above them they wouldn't take it.  So those fish that you marked 4-6ft. off the bottom probably were the crappies! Well good luck if you get out again and thanks for the update!

[IceTrekker17]

very nice update! thanks a lot! Yeah we all know the crappie are in there its always hit or miss with them, like you said you just gotta find them.  Even if they are there it is very hard to get them to bite sometimes.  In the spring last year on chautauqua lake my brother and I saw the crappies hanging around the docks at long point.  It was amazing to see how they actually bite.  100% of the time the fish would turn itself totally vertical underneath our minnows and they would bite up on it.  If the minnow wasn't above them they wouldn't take it.  So those fish that you marked 4-6ft. off the bottom probably were the crappies! Well good luck if you get out again and thanks for the update!

For the earlier poster, they were drilling standard 8'' holes.  And yes, we saw that hut out near the road...it looked like he had pike tip ups set up, and may have been jigging in the meantime for pannies in the shallows. 

Postletown-  I've seen that too.  I've always had a little better luck in the spring crappie fishing.  The cool thing is that they go shallow and you can fish from shore and come back with a bucket of em'.  When we use pencil bobbers on the open water, a lot of the time the bobber will fall on it's side instead of getting pulled down; because the crappie come from underneath and take the weight off the bobber.  Anyways, it looks like Erie is going to take a tad longer, which means we will likely go back to bear.  Hopefully the snow didn't pile up down there over the last 7 days!  We're going to try to get into them; but we are stuck in the mid-winter douldrums...the crappie fishing should pick up as the season goes on, but hopefully I'll be out on Erie  8)

[Postletown]

yeah that'd sure be nice! Well, my brother and I are going to try and get out for an evening shift on bear lake tomorrow, hopefully the snow doesn't pile up and the crappies are ready to bite! Will post my results if we in fact do get out.

[nateG]

tag for later. Ty on update.

[Postletown]

I did end up going to Bear Lake on thursday night. Fished from about 4pm until 8:30pm.  There was about 9-10 inches of snow in some areas on the ice and an average of about 5-7 inches lakewide.  Ice was thick, over 12".  Ended up fishing by the trailers off that small stream in about 15 FOW.  Caught one 7" crappie.  It was not worth fighting the wind and the snow lol. Didn't even see any fish on the camera.  Im not saying I wouldn't go back because the weather and snow conditions held us back from where we really wanted to fish.  We will have to try it again and bring the quad to make it a  lot easier.  ood luck trekker if you get out today. Sorry for the late update!

[IceTrekker17]

I did end up going to Bear Lake on thursday night. Fished from about 4pm until 8:30pm.  There was about 9-10 inches of snow in some areas on the ice and an average of about 5-7 inches lakewide.  Ice was thick, over 12".  Ended up fishing by the trailers off that small stream in about 15 FOW.  Caught one 7" crappie.  It was not worth fighting the wind and the snow lol. Didn't even see any fish on the camera.  Im not saying I wouldn't go back because the weather and snow conditions held us back from where we really wanted to fish.  We will have to try it again and bring the quad to make it a  lot easier.  ood luck trekker if you get out today. Sorry for the late update!

Thanks; sorry to hear about the rough weather.  It's weird, I don't recall any other small inland lake beating people into submission weather-wise like bear lake.  But when it's nasty there, it can be truly nasty. 

We're bringing the quad out today, and our gasoline lantern.  So walking out there and packing up won't be a problem.  We'll be able to get closer to night time too without worrying about a long walk back.  It's supposed to be fairly nice; mid 20's and a bit snowy.  Maybe we'll find em'.  I'll post tonight or tomorrow morning.

[IceTrekker17]

Another rough day on bear lake.  Had planned on brining the quad to lessen the burden of a long walk through the faily deep snow - but the tires weren't ready on time, so we scrapped those plans and decided to walk out.  When we got there, the walk wasn't too terrible, because the snowmobiler's made a nice trail out of hte marina.  At the halfway point, where all the sled and snowmobile tracks all spread out, we had to huff it through the snow - which still wasn't too bad.  It was real light fluffy snow, no deeper than 9-10'' in the deepest drifts.  With the bottom of our sled waxed, it wasn't horrible.

We started punching holes off the scout camp with our dull power auger (which can be just as exhausting as a manual one at times!!) and went from 22fow in to 15fow.  We drilled several holes and the depth stayed 21-22 for a while; then one hit 19-20.  There were some holes there from guys that must have fished off the scout camp earlier in the morning  and left.  I kicked those in, and found them to be 14-15fow.  Don't know if they were tip ups or what.  Anyways, the 14-15' holes and the 21-22' holes were close, so we fished in the middle of them in 19fow on the ledge of a dropoff.  We marked stuff 1-3' off the bottom, so we thought it was a good spot (~130pm).  Then the disaster started.

Our new hut snapped like a popsicle stick as we set it up.  It is one of those new styles where it has no floor; you just pull a few tabs and the hut's poles pop out and open up like a big canopy.  Anyways, a few of the poles snapped right away, and we were forced to fish in a make shift hut / teepee type contraption roughly 30-45 minutes after we first started setting up the hut.  We fished hard though; even brought our own "weedbed" and layed it around the outside of our hut to bring in fish.  Marked fish from the bottom to 4-5 feet off.  No takers for the longest of time.  Few bites here an there.  At 430, we considered getting ready to leave slowly since everything that could go wrong had gone wrong; then I got a few bites.  I felt the bites this time, and was marking fish at 4' off the bottom.  I adjusted my rockers, and within a minute I landed a nice 10'' crappie.  I got a few more bites, and the vex was heating up.  It was looking good for the PM bite.  We set up the lantern, and waited and waited for it to turn on.  But it never did.  Even as we took our last line out of the water, the vex was still showing fish 2-4 feet off the bottom.  It was puzzling; they just didn't want any part of it.

We'll see.  We're kind of stuck in that mid winter slump.  FIrst ice and last ice for the craps was always good fishing.  But on the Erie thread, a guy made it out (alone? ) to 56fow and said that the ice was, at is thinnest, 4''.  And that was just in that spot that opened up from the winds last weekend; so I do feel that bear's days are numbered.  I've got a hunch that we'll be walking out off sturgeon next week.

[Postletown]

haha sounds like an interesting day! I don't know what it is about Bear Lake man lol. Thats all we get anymore, one crappie at a time I don't understand it.  They are supposed to be a schooling fish, they must be a different breed haha.  Oh well, Lake Erie will hopefully solve all my winter woes!

[Iceyvein]

what's the word?

[Angola Fish]

Fished Bear Saturday.  The walk was tough.  The snow is knee deep in many places and the slush underneath is over your boots in some places.  I had wet feet immediately.  The only way I could get out was to walk on frozen snowmobile tracks.  Eventually I went to the left after leaving the creek from the DEC parking lot.  Fished in 15 fow.  The inside of my hut had 2" water in it due to the deep snowsurrounding it.  The good news is the Vex was lit up like a Christmas tree many times showing activity on the bottom 5.  I used minnies and waxies.  My slip bobbers were popping up and laying flat and my rockers would move very slightly.  However, I just couldn't hook any.  The other thing to note is some guy came out at 4:00and started fishing the point a little further down.  That's the third time I've seen somebody come out late and fish that area.  There must be something there.  One last thing - the DEC parking lot has had snowmobile trailers park there for the weekend.  Last week they took up the whole lot despite not even using the lake.  I know of someone who wanted to try Bear and there was no place to park.   

[Postletown]

cool, thanks for the update! that slush sucks!