Author Topic: Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge-Ringneck Marsh (Read 9070 times)

skinny4 · « **Reply #30 on:** Dec 25, 2017, 10:48 AM »

We caught 100+ there the other day. 2 were over 8 and 1 giant 10". We never had a flag with 15+ traps out. Fished the main channel and where the road cuts thru. Lots of stunted fish. Lots of other ponds around there worth trying too. Few more years if they dont drain it anx it might be good again.

monkeyman2269 · « **Reply #31 on:** Dec 25, 2017, 12:01 PM »

Thought it was only stunted gills and bass lol

pikemaster0607 · « **Reply #32 on:** Dec 25, 2017, 12:15 PM »

How was the ice

BlueSnow · « **Reply #33 on:** Dec 26, 2017, 06:40 AM »

Surprisingly that there was any decent ice out there last week - but I'm glad to hear it. With the temperatures as they are forecast and all of the snow staying south I might have to head out and see how my Christmas heater works this week!

little black jig · « **Reply #34 on:** Dec 26, 2017, 02:07 PM »

Quote from: Micro Minnow on Dec 25, 2017, 09:32 AM

Caught about 75 perch in 2 hours off minnows and a nice northern

I call Bull$hip!

pikemaster0607 · « **Reply #35 on:** Dec 26, 2017, 04:26 PM »

Me too but only one way to find out

skinny4 · « **Reply #36 on:** Dec 26, 2017, 04:55 PM »

That would be the best fishing ive ever heard of from there....but he never said how many perch were over 5"......or what he thought a nice northern was.....could be a 12" pike with very nice colors on it. If you like small smelt size perch. Limit catches are quite possible. I cant doubt the numbers caught. Just doubt many were worth keeping.

bills25 · « **Reply #37 on:** Dec 26, 2017, 11:53 PM »

Heading out there tommorow. Never been there but brining the guns for back up squirrel hunting if the ice isn't good

skinny4 · « **Reply #38 on:** Dec 27, 2017, 04:08 AM »

Just a reminder......this is federal land. No lead allowed. Must have lead free bullets as well as lead free fishing gear. No lead jigs, no splitshot on tipups.

BlueSnow · « **Reply #39 on:** Dec 27, 2017, 10:00 AM »

Did you end up making it out to the Marsh? How was the ice?

I might journey out that way either Thursday of Friday morning if things are in good shape.

bills25 · « **Reply #40 on:** Dec 27, 2017, 11:38 AM »

Quote from: BlueSnow on Dec 27, 2017, 10:00 AM

Did you end up making it out to the Marsh? How was the ice?

I might journey out that way either Thursday of Friday morning if things are in good shape.

On my way to honeoye instead got a good report.

gasjetruss04 · « **Reply #41 on:** Dec 27, 2017, 02:03 PM »

Back in the early 90's we always did well here. It was our local secrete. Would like to take an afternoon and revisit. Stopped going over the years as too many people were fishing it. Interesting to see if the high water levels spilled fish into the ponds this year.

BlueSnow · « **Reply #42 on:** Dec 28, 2017, 03:31 PM »

I did a drive by today and there was a shanty and a guy on a bucket out on the ice. I didn't walk down to see how thick everything was but nobody was swimming so that was a promising sign. I'm going to head out tomorrow and try out the new heater. With the forecast temps tomorrow morning maybe an extra tank of propane will be in order!

Peekay · « **Reply #43 on:** Dec 28, 2017, 03:45 PM »

I have. It’s deadbthere

monkeyman2269 · « **Reply #44 on:** Dec 28, 2017, 03:51 PM »

Should have got alot of fish from the creek into it

BlueSnow · « **Reply #45 on:** Dec 29, 2017, 12:18 PM »

Went out this morning and fished over by the overflow. We were out for about 3 hours and managed 4 dink perch over about 5.5" of ice. No wind and a great morning on the ice!

BlueSnow · « **Reply #46 on:** Jan 21, 2018, 07:57 AM »

Does anyone know if the refuge is going to be affected by the government shutdown? I don't remember if they blocked off the parking lot last time or just left everything open but unplowed.

Depending on status I am probably going to head out this afternoon before the thaw buggers up the ice again.

Bear Lake Bob · « **Reply #47 on:** Jan 21, 2018, 08:31 AM »

You would catch more fish st Darien State Park! Lol I think the glory days are over for RingNeck Marsh.
My wife and her family lived on Oak Orchard Ridge Rd , owned the property where the marsh is, until the state took it away under emminate domain to make it part of Iroquois Refuge. Things have really went down south for the last 10 yrs.

BlueSnow · « **Reply #48 on:** Jan 21, 2018, 05:52 PM »

We made the trip up today. No indication one way or the other of the shutdown.

Fished from about 1130-5 and covered the entire area. About 7" of ice with about 4" of white ice, though conditions were deteriorating throughout the day. Most variety was caught in the back part of the pond by the island with a couple of alright perch and one largemouth. A guy with a run of tipups landed at least three pike and we did manage one jack perch by the first island.

There is also a lot of signs up because of a nesting bald eagle so there is a area that is posted as off limits to the public - we didn't see the eagle!

BlueSnow · « **Reply #49 on:** Feb 08, 2019, 06:42 AM »

With the weather I might be heading out to the Marsh Saturday. Anybody been out yet this year? I checked it back in December but there wasn't enough ice to give it a shot.

I will probably swing up with a buddy in the morning - if anyone else is going to be out give me a shout and we can BS for a bit.

fredk1029 · « **Reply #50 on:** Feb 08, 2019, 12:05 PM »

I live only 10 minutes from the marsh. Where do you park to access the ice?? Always wanted to give it a shot. Close spot to maybe take the kids out for a bit if it's worth it. Any info would be great. Thank you!

BlueSnow · « **Reply #51 on:** Feb 08, 2019, 12:27 PM »

If you head east off of Gravel Road onto Oak Orchard Ridge Road there is a parking area with the overlook by the marsh. I park there (the lot is almost always parked) and then walk down the path that is on top of the dam. The water in the front corner has more than 10 fow but I've only ever caught a few small bluegils there. About halfway back there is an island and just past that folks usually setup tipups for pike.

I usually end up walking out towards the far island and fishing back along the dam. Rarely do much catching but for some reason I like going. From some of the older boards it sounds like there used to be a lot of fish here but either they had a draw down or a fish kill several years ago that impacted the numbers.

Another thing to keep in mind is that it is a lead free area so you have to leave some of the jigs and jigging raps in the truck.

fredk1029 · « **Reply #52 on:** Feb 08, 2019, 12:33 PM »

Thanks alot for the info blue snow. I appreciate it! Would be worth a try for a few hours for me and the kids being that I live pretty close. Or just me!!

BlueSnow · « **Reply #53 on:** Feb 08, 2019, 12:48 PM »

It's a good plan either way! Only other things to keep in mind is that you can only be out from sunup/sundown.

fredk1029 · « **Reply #54 on:** Feb 08, 2019, 03:18 PM »

Thanks for the heads up on that! If you do head out tomorrow let us know how the ice is! Thanks

FishnChef · « **Reply #55 on:** Feb 08, 2019, 03:23 PM »

Used to fish it all the time and yes the fishing used to be decent for Pike and such but there were a few Eastern Europeans or Russians who would be fishing there every day and keeping everything they caught including Bass. They also ran way more lines than they were permitted, they would wrap string around a tree branch or a log and then cover it in snow so you wouldn't see those lines all you would see is there tip ups. Had DEC come down twice because I realized what they were up to and both times he caught them at least five lines over the limit. Once that started happening, coupled with ice shanty, the fishing went downhill rapidly. It is a small body of water that is highly susceptible to pressure and while I don't fish it anymore I'm very disappointed to see it being talked about on an online forum

BlueSnow · « **Reply #56 on:** Feb 08, 2019, 04:26 PM »

I'm not sure if it susceptible to reasonable pressure. From my experience there hasn't been anything out there worth keeping in any numbers and most people aren't killing everything with a fin. There is a heckofa lot of water that doesn't see anything close to a hook because it's too far to walk. Couple guys going out to catch some dinks with the kids seems pretty reasonable.

Reading through all of the forums on iceshanty there are lots of responsible anglers whose presence would provide a benefit to the fishery.

Mr_Krabs · « **Reply #57 on:** Feb 09, 2019, 06:11 AM »

The fishing went downhill because in the summer of 2013 or 2014 the marsh was drained to only a foot or two in the deepest spot. A federal wildlife officer was there one day and said the marsh's intent is for migrating birds and the drain helps kill off some of the vegetation. I do agree that there were always some there that kept anything that swam but a lot of the place never sees a hook due to the limited shore access. When I go I only set tip ups for carp as the place is loaded with them and it's fun to target something different once or twice a winter.

BlueSnow · « **Reply #58 on:** Feb 09, 2019, 12:56 PM »

We were out for a few hours this morning but I spent more time with the little guy than actually fishing. Shore ice was not good near the weeds but we found a clear spot to get on. Ice was 6" thick where we were but we didn't do much wandering around. 2 dink perch caught on minnows was the sum of our catches but it was a fun day. creepers....I need to buy a new pair of creepers.

pikemaster0607 · « **Reply #59 on:** Jan 19, 2022, 09:41 PM »

Anyone been here lately ?

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Author Topic: Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge-Ringneck Marsh (Read 9070 times)