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

[kbaez]

Fished superior today . Total catch was 4 yellow perch one 18" pickerel between 4 guys in a shanty ..Went for a walk found a location with close to 45+ bluegills and other panfish layed on the ice left to be eaten by critters any reasoning as to why not take them home or release them?

[IceBalls]

Just a small comment on fishing large waters ( such as Sodom Reservoir, Lake Superior, etc.)..... After probing these waters for more than 50 years, I've gotta tell ya...... the odds of catching large numbers of fish are quite small.  These impoundments are so large, and contain such a huge volume of deep water, that fish are dispersed quite thin.  You've got to be extremely lucky to hit a large school. So... why spend your time trying there???  The answer is SIZE !!!  Large waters breed large fish.... not large numbers of fish, but some real "lunkers" !!  Want some BIG TROUT???  Try Cross River Res. (also some nice White Perch at times).  Want some really nice Pickerel???  Try Amawalk Res.  DON'T EXPECT TO "KILL 'EM" on these waters, but at least you have a shot at some wall-hangers!   Good Luck !!

[TRAPPER3]

Fished Sullivan County yesterday......about a dozen slime darts ...couldnt find the perch or crappie......8=10 inches of ice.......

[hardwater diehard]

Hey IB how did you weather the storm down in your parts ?

[Loudmouth879]

So... why spend your time trying there???  The answer is SIZE !!!  Large waters breed large fish.... not large numbers of fish, but some real "lunkers" !!

I have to disagree with this statement... all my 13-16" perch i catch come from a lake/pond thats about 45 acres and except for a small channel on the one side that gets to about 12ft deep the whole thing is right around 5-8ft. Its more about finding bodies of water that don't have a lot of pressure, provide the proper food for your target species and also those that don't have a lot of predators for the species you are targeting.... Where i agree with your statement about large waters breed large fish is with species such as pike or walleye or muskie... fish that are generally at the top of the food chain. Heck I've caught numerous 14-16" crappie in a small little 8 acre farm pond thats 4 ft deep except for one pocket by the dam where it drops to 12-13 feet. Sometimes the best spots are the ones normal people are not willing to walk/drive to because its too much work

[NYBasser]

Fished Swinging Bridge and Superior today. Slow day overall, but still went home with a couple crappie and white perch. Howling winds made it hard to fish. Fish were very finicky today, marked a lot of fish, but just couldn't get them to bite. A buddy on SWB did very well with the crappie bite though. Ice was anywhere from 6"-8" where I went.

[Dave327]

NYBasser tried to stop by and meet you today, walked across the lake today introducing my self to grey shantys, but none were you. You probably and out on the lake around 2:30. I was packing up to leave. I got there at 7:45 got one pear he on tip up zero jigging. It's time for me to find a new lake.
NYBasser maybe will meet up someday and bs abit.
Kbaez don't really know why someone would jig up all those blue hills and leave them on the ice. Seams like a waste of food to me.
I will be out somewhere next weekend hopefully the bit turns on.  Maybe I'll see some of you guys.
Good luck and keep tight lines.

[Dave327]

Sorry guys for all the typos, I'll start proofreading before I post.

[NYBasser]

NYBasser tried to stop by and meet you today, walked across the lake today introducing my self to grey shantys, but none were you. You probably and out on the lake around 2:30. I was packing up to leave. I got there at 7:45 got one pear he on tip up zero jigging. It's time for me to find a new lake.
NYBasser maybe will meet up someday and bs abit.
Kbaez don't really know why someone would jig up all those blue hills and leave them on the ice. Seams like a waste of food to me.
I will be out somewhere next weekend hopefully the bit turns on.  Maybe I'll see some of you guys.
Good luck and keep tight lines.

Yeah my buddies and I decided to fish Swinging Bridge in the morning, finally got to Superior around 12:30 pm. Swinging Bridge definitely had more action, lots of flags going off from what I saw. Fished on the north side of Superior today. Definitely a slow day today, and the high winds did not help. Our shanty almost blew away twice! Looking forward to meeting you sometime soon. Don't know how well the ice will hold up to this week's warm weather. Might be out next weekend if the ice holds. 

[T-Rain08]

Any one know if Round Lake town of Monroe, Orange County is locked up?

[Rather-B-Fishin]

Thanks for the input on sodom....might try it one of these days...fished Sullivan waters today 4-6" of glare ice...made it fun in that wind....pickerel =slime darts...love that Nick name! Got a couple of them and some dinks ohhh yeah almost forgot ...some nice wind burn too!

[fishon723]

NYBasser nice sliding stop today at Superior. The road down to the boat launch was pretty icy. We had about the same day with some dink perch, one blue gill, but did get a 13.5" crappie. Hope you didn't have a hard time getting out of there. Met Kbaez when we were leaving who told me about the knuckleheads that left all those fish on the ice. Just rediculous! Hope to see you guys out there. Tight lines to all!

[mr.clean]

Dinks welcome to Ice Shanty, please add you general location to your profile . Personally I have never found an air gap between water and ice either but have read about them in a few articles.
 Glad to read people are getting out hope to make my first trip of the season this week. This is speculation person/persons who left fish on the ice at Superior may think by thinning the population of bluegills it will increase the average size of the fish.
Steve

[Gamalot]

Just a small comment on fishing large waters ( such as Sodom Reservoir, Lake Superior, etc.)..... After probing these waters for more than 50 years, I've gotta tell ya...... the odds of catching large numbers of fish are quite small.  These impoundments are so large, and contain such a huge volume of deep water, that fish are dispersed quite thin.  You've got to be extremely lucky to hit a large school. So... why spend your time trying there???  The answer is SIZE !!!  Large waters breed large fish.... not large numbers of fish, but some real "lunkers" !!  Want some BIG TROUT???  Try Cross River Res. (also some nice White Perch at times).  Want some really nice Pickerel???  Try Amawalk Res.  DON'T EXPECT TO "KILL 'EM" on these waters, but at least you have a shot at some wall-hangers!   Good Luck !!

I will agree with Roger, Big water = Bigger fish. Those who move around searching for where the school fish are have a great deal more success if they do find them. I never fished for quantity and was more interested in quality or larger fish. I will take an 18 inch trout over a dozen 10 inch perch any day but that is just my opinion. I would never catch and kill a bunch of any fish and just leave them on the ice going to waste. I have however caught a few small perch that were badly hooked and would not survive on SB and fed them to the Bald Eagles. They have to eat too and it sure is a thrill to have one or two of them fishing with you. As with any fishing there is always a simple reason why the schools of fish are in a particular spot at any given time, water temp, protective cover, structure or food availability all play a part. The guys who get one of those conditions right tend to do much better than those like me who just set up and hope for the big one to swim by.

[NYBasser]

NYBasser nice sliding stop today at Superior. The road down to the boat launch was pretty icy. We had about the same day with some dink perch, one blue gill, but did get a 13.5" crappie. Hope you didn't have a hard time getting out of there. Met Kbaez when we were leaving who told me about the knuckleheads that left all those fish on the ice. Just rediculous! Hope to see you guys out there. Tight lines to all!

Haha, my friend's AWD crossover certainly couldn't handle the ice going down. We did just fine getting back up the hill, had to drive with one tire in the gravel ditch on the right side of the ramp and just followed it up. Traction was good all the way to the top. My friend who was driving was scarred for life after that experience! He says he is never going down that ramp ever again, even in the summer, lol.

[bowski76]

We fished Lake Superior on Saturday, lots of guys out there but everyone seemed to respect boundaries.
We had pretty good action, I managed to catch a 22" pickerel.
Fun day for the first outing of the season.

[CatskillsFisher]

22' pickeral has got to be a record for sure! I know just kidding you meant 22"...glad you had plenty of action. I had a very humbling day on ice yesterday, got skunked for first time in a very long time.  I was on a lake in dutchess county that I've done very well on before. Must've hopped 30 holes with my flasher and only marked one fish and caught zero.  Oh well till next time..

[dwitte62]

T-Rain 08, I drove by Round and Walton Lakes in Monroe yesterday. Round was still mostly open by the Town Dock. Walton was covered but looks like it just happened maybe Saturday nite. This warm up will not help down here.

[kbaez]

Any other lakes anyone can recommend other then Superior first  year fishing Sullivan county not to formiluar with the area

[hardwater diehard]

Any other lakes anyone can recommend other then Superior first  year fishing Sullivan county not to formiluar with the area

lot of private lakes

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/31157.html

[bowski76]

22' pickeral has got to be a record for sure! I know just kidding you meant 22"...glad you had plenty of action. I had a very humbling day on ice yesterday, got skunked for first time in a very long time.  I was on a lake in dutchess county that I've done very well on before. Must've hopped 30 holes with my flasher and only marked one fish and caught zero.  Oh well till next time..

And I caught that 22 footer on 2lb test  !
I fixed my post.

[fishon723]

Any other lakes anyone can recommend other then Superior first  year fishing Sullivan county not to formiluar with the area

  I might try Swinging Bridge tomorrow if my work schedule lets me. I will let you know how it is if I make it out.

[Ladyice]

My boyfriend took me out for the first time this year Sunday to lake Superior with a few guys from his job had amazing time in his friend shanty had to purchase one for him.. got him a 6 man insulated guide gear ice shelter this way I can continue to go on cold days like last week

[kbaez]

She is a keeper...What you guys think? I got lucky and found a girl who enjoys ice fishing as much as the rest of us

[fishon723]

She is a keeper...What you guys think? I got lucky and found a girl who enjoys ice fishing as much as the rest of us

Sounds like a keeper to me. My girl is heading out to Minnesota with me the end of this month to fish a tournament. Gotta love it!

[kbaez]

Sounds like a keeper to me. My girl is heading out to Minnesota with me the end of this month to fish a tournament. Gotta love it!

That's awesome..Good luck

[hardwater diehard]

https://www.facebook.com/monticellonyfiredepartment/photos/pb.1415301445458038.-2207520000.1484010600./1759756611012518/?type=3&theater

Monticello FD @ Sackett lake February 18th 2017...7 AM-3PM

[kb]

She is a keeper...What you guys think? I got lucky and found a girl who enjoys ice fishing as much as the rest of us

Its great, but sometimes you need some time on your own.   As long as she realizes that, shes a keeper.   She'll also need that time as well.  You cant hang on each other.   Personal time is very important.....

But its great that you found a women who appreciates ice time....

Good luck

[Ladyice]

Any recommendations on the best gloves for keeping my hands dry and warm?

[fishon723]

Its great, but sometimes you need some time on your own.   As long as she realizes that, shes a keeper.   She'll also need that time as well.  You cant hang on each other.   Personal time is very important.....

But its great that you found a women who appreciates ice time....

Good luck couldn't have said it any better than that. Great advice!