SOUTHERN N.Y. THREAD (L.I., WESTCHESTER, PUTNAM, DUTCHESS, SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUN

[Coldfusion]

Any update on the Ice Thickness at Upton Lake?

[Corndog]

Ice boy try laurel meadow north or south pond in Sterling Forest. Have had good luck there in the past for pickerel and gils. You will also get an occasional bass. Its also a little closer if you coming up from New City. Unfortunately I have to work, maybe later this week for me. Good Luck.

Ice boy.. Fishon723 is correct about Laural Meadow, a good close spot where you can have success both jigging and on tip ups. Unfortunately, fishon723 is no where's near as successful as me.. LOL!

[ice boy19]

Ice boy try laurel meadow north or south pond in Sterling Forest. Have had good luck there in the past for pickerel and gils. You will also get an occasional bass. Its also a little closer if you coming up from New City. Unfortunately I have to work, maybe later this week for me. Good Luck.

I always fish laurel meadows early season and do well just looking for a change in scenery lol. Just Talked to a buddy of mine and we are gunna hit a private lake in dutchess that he fishes. Hopefully will get a few for the pan 

[mr.clean]

Good Morning everyone ,Shellfish thank you for the personal message . Given the limited public access spots on both Toronto and Swinging Bridge I would not recommend having a large group outing at either reservoir. To my knowledge the state started stocking walleye in White Lake a few years back. The top fish at the 2013 King of The Ice contest was a walleye.

I have no idea if the state has ever stocked walleye in Blue Lake (Sterling Forest state park ,Orange county) . Back when Sterling Forest was privately owned and you paid an annual fee to fish it was stocked once or twice during the 1980's. Even back then you heard few reports of people catching any numbers of walleye. There could be a population in Blue Lake if the stocked fish have reproduce successfully over the years in large enough numbers.
Steve

[Fish_Pete]

it is not a dumb question, I know nothing in orange,except greenwood lk.. in sullivan there are two or three lakes i know that have eye but you can look on the nydec site and type walleye or just go back a few posts, btw, i remember reading white lk and Huntington may have recently been stocked reading other members posts here .. but i can't say for sure.  try swb or Toronto some folks here said they caught eye in white lk  , the state should have them as walleye stocked waters on their site. I doubt any private clubs are allowed to stock walleye unless purchased from the state hatchery and doubt the state even allows private stockings of walleye. you should go to their site and look for yourself

Shellfish, have you fished any of the waters in Putnam county that have been stocked with walleye?

[ShawnM]

The contest at  Swan Lake  is coming up soon . Anyone going ?

[OldHunter Road]

Hi-Everyone I'm off for the long weekend. Is anyone going Icefishing this weekend in Sullivan county hopefully there is safe ice? I have a home in the Liberty area in Sullivan. Hope to see you guys around.

[Reelemin]

Hi-Everyone I'm off for the long weekend. Is anyone going Icefishing this weekend in Sullivan county hopefully there is safe ice? I have a home in the Liberty area in Sullivan. Hope to see you guys around.

OldHunter Road, There has been safe ice on a few bodies of water, in your neck of the woods, since December 13th. A few warm spells early on made the conditions questionable and unsafe at times but the past few weeks have thickend the ice to 7 to 8+ inches pretty much everywhere in Sullivan county. As always approach any Ice with Safety in mind. Spud your way out when in doubt! Picks of life are always around my neck and I always bring a throw rope! Altough I hope to never have to use it. Good Luck and keep us posted on how you do.

[OldHunter Road]

Thank you for the response. I will let you know I'm thinking of going to Big Pond in the town of Andes it has nice lake trout.

[Redneck Fishfinder]

Swan Lake contest (Sullivan County) is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 25th at 7:00 am with check in starting at 6.

[bucktailnick]

Anyone hear anything with Lake Mahopac? Has anyone fished there yet this season?

[vfk220]

Thank you for the response. I will let you know I'm thinking of going to Big Pond in the town of Andes it has nice lake trout.

Big Pond doesn't have  lakers  (at least for the last 15 years), it's been annually stocked with browns and rainbows...
never got any RT from the ice ( only on open water)  , but winter BTs' are in relatively good avg  size
both tip-ups and jigs can work  (esp. if you find the right depth off ice) ... 
but usually not many bites though  due to a lot of fishing  pressure ..
besides BT occasional LmB and PK can hit on flags but panfish   mostly keep another side of the pond (shallow swampy north end)
And according to 'Fur&Fin' store in LM, BigPond  had  9'' of ice last weekend  ...

[Fish_Pete]

Anyone hear anything with Lake Mahopac? Has anyone fished there yet this season?

I have been wanting to go there but unsure about access during the winter.  Can u give any info on where to park/access lake?  Do the marinas allow parking/access?  Fee?  Thanks.

[OldHunter Road]

VLK I miss spoke about lakers at Big Pond sorry about that. Fin Fur and Feather is 10 minutes from my house. I have had some luck but its not an easy lake to icefish and I have been going there over the last 5 years.  I will decide later in the week where to go and share here my findings. The problem most of the good lakes are privately owned in that area. I have icefished Mongup Pond (No live bait),  Lake Waneta (very shallow). I'm thinking of trying Morning Side lake in Fallsburg.

[vfk220]

Mongup Pond (No live bait),  Lake Waneta (very shallow). 

I've  fished both a lot in late 90-s and early 2000-s, mostly open water and  few times iced ,
Waneta  had some disaster several years ago I guess as it lost all the big fish (LMB, Pickerel, YP)-
probably oxygen-related  during  some severe winter (no decent size hole to save the fish, that small
8' deep  hole near the dam is not big enough)  ?
Mongaup is indeed a loss for ice-fishing , had caught up to 4Lb PKs there (and good size YP), and prohibiting live bait
to defend native Brook Trout - after they stocked  North Pikes there few years ago?
In my 15+ years of fishing Catskills I never seen a Brook T. caught in Mongaup Pond , neither open water nor ice,
there is some  small brookies in Mongaup creek (fly-fished those 4-5'' babies)  both  in - and outlet  sides of the pond,
but  surely not in the main pond water ...
Yeah, Roscoe & LM vicinities are mostly private lakes and the only way to fish thee is to rent (or own a cottage there...
I've  fished Tennanah & Muskoday lakes and want to try Hunter some time..
For public lakes it's better to go Monticello area, there are  White , Swan, Superior , Huntighton and Toronto & Swinging Bridge reservoirs
( need a watershed permit for reservoirs), and I've  heard about couple more lakes open for ice-fishing - here is what DEC says :
http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/31157.html

[ice boy19]

I've  fished both a lot in late 90-s and early 2000-s, mostly open water and  few times iced ,
Waneta  had some disaster several years ago I guess as it lost all the big fish (LMB, Pickerel, YP)-
probably oxygen-related  during  some severe winter (no decent size hole to save the fish, that small
8' deep  hole near the dam is not big enough)  ?
Mongaup is indeed a loss for ice-fishing , had caught up to 4Lb PKs there (and good size YP), and prohibiting live bait
to defend native Brook Trout - after they stocked  North Pikes there few years ago?
In my 15+ years of fishing Catskills I never seen a Brook T. caught in Mongaup Pond , neither open water nor ice,
there is some  small brookies in Mongaup creek (fly-fished those 4-5'' babies)  both  in - and outlet  sides of the pond,
but  surely not in the main pond water ...
Yeah, Roscoe & LM vicinities are mostly private lakes and the only way to fish thee is to rent (or own a cottage there...
I've  fished Tennanah & Muskoday lakes and want to try Hunter some time..
For public lakes it's better to go Monticello area, there are  White , Swan, Superior , Huntighton and Toronto & Swinging Bridge reservoirs
( need a watershed permit for reservoirs), and I've  heard about couple more lakes open for ice-fishing - here is what DEC says :
http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/31157.html

I used to camp on mongaup several years ago and if I remember  correctly I did catch a small trout out of it one year. Surprised  the hell out of me

[Corndog]

Hit Laural North. Two other guys from NJ were there. And all I landed was one dink yellow. Sad day, but at least I finally made it out. Hope things are better tomorrow.
Harriman lakes as well as Rockland Lake still closed.
Blue Lake MAY open soon...

[NYBasser]

Lake Ronkonkoma on Long Island has got some nice walleyes, but it might be a while until safe ice develops there.

[mr.clean]

So glad I found this website. Vfk220 thank you for the info. on Mongaup Pond did not know about bait fish ban. Also thank you to all the folks giving reports on Harriman State Park, Rockland Lake and Sterling Forest.

ShawnM I have the same info. On the Swan Lake Fire Dept.contest as Redneck Fishfinder. If you have any phone number/Numbers for contact people please send me a personal message. I'm trying to gather enough information on this contest so that I can send it to AdkRoy and ask him to post it in his thread.

NYBasser welcome to the website for your info. here are the screen names of two other members who live on Long Island if you are looking for fishing partner/partners.              Ice Balls and Redneck Fishfinder.

Steve

[smalljaw jp]

Anyone hear anything with Lake Mahopac? Has anyone fished there yet this season?

  off limits to ice fishing..

[ice boy19]

  off limits to ice fishing..

states right on the NYS DEC website that you can ice fish lake mahopac. Can you please inform us where you got your information and why it is "off limits" to ice fishing??
http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/31154.html
       

[bowski76]

You can ice fish Lake Mahopac, but most of it is private. A relative has a house on the lake but has bubblers to protect his dock, can't get on the ice.

[kb]

Access is the only problem. It's supposed to be a good crappie lake.

[Loudmouth879]

You can ice fish Lake Mahopac, but most of it is private. A relative has a house on the lake but has bubblers to protect his dock, can't get on the ice.

Access is the only problem. It's supposed to be a good crappie lake.

states right on the NYS DEC website that you can ice fish lake mahopac. Can you please inform us where you got your information and why it is "off limits" to ice fishing??
http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/31154.html

  off limits to ice fishing..

DEC says this.....
Mahopac Lake is one of the few Putnam County waterbodies that is accessible to the public and is not part of the NYC watershed. Mahopac Lake also allows you to use a gasoline powered craft. This is a popular lake for bass fisherman; small tournaments are held here annually. Anglers also report that the lake holds some really nice sized panfish.

The shoreline of Mahopac Lake is privately owned. Anglers gain access to fish Mahopac through the two marinas on the south shore off S Lake Blvd. These marinas charge a fee to launch a boat.

Now the question is if the Marinas are open or not during the winter or if you can get in there. I wouldn't go over the bridge to fish it tho plenty of waters I fish in Orange and Sullivan county with some very nice panfish in them

[deweyicefish]

 I am packing up the gear to go to the IPA event in chaumont bay n.y.  looks like a nice weekend is in store ...
 I have been out a few times in Sullivan co.  I managed to get enough perch for a nice dinner for my wife & I...
 

[vfk220]

DEC says this.....
Mahopac Lake is one of the few Putnam County waterbodies that is accessible to the public and is not part of the NYC watershed. Now the question is if the Marinas are open or not during the winter or if you can get in there.

I drove 6N rd (around Mahopac)   today, big Marina (boat lunch)  parking was open but nobody was on ice so I  turned to East Branch (Sodom) reservoir instead
Same picture there - nobody fishing
Ice near Old Milltown rd  is 5-6'', some spots have a lot of white ice and bubbles, and  it becomes thinner  when getting deeper water (down to 4'')
so I fished that 35-40 FOW flats between 2 islands... one crappie, one YP and a dozen of white perch but only 5  decent size ...

[pooley]

So after many years, Tiorati has changed thee phone number 845-429-8257. Some lakes are now open.

[Rich_Weinberg]

I called the number, and was informed Lake Tiorati is open for ice fishing.  I plan on going Saturday around noon, and Sunday also.  Hope to see other ice fishing folk there.

[BCSHANTY]

states right on the NYS DEC website that you can ice fish lake mahopac. Can you please inform us where you got your information and why it is "off limits" to ice fishing??
http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/31154.html
     

since when?

[Corndog]

If you call Bear Mountain State Park, 845-786-2701, they will be more than happy to inform you as to what is and isn't open in Harriman State Park. As of 5pm today, Lake Welch, Lake Tiorati and Lake Nawahunta are all open. The list may expand as the weekend approaches. In Sterling Forest, Lakes Laural Meadow North and South, Four Corners are open. Again, the list may increase as the weekend approaches. A word of caution..the roads leading to Laural N&S as well as Blue Lake (sadly still closed) are covered in ice.
I fished Laural South today..there were seven of us. And just one decent Bluegill and a dozen tiny yellows.