ADIRONDACKS
Lake Pleasant
If you yearn for serious adventure, head north into the Adirondack region, where several lakes offer fine ice-fishing.

Lake Pleasant is a good choice if your goal is big brown trout. Browns over 20 inches are reasonably common. Rainbow trout, landlocked salmon, walleyes, pickerel, lake whitefish and yellow perch are also present, some weighing more than a pound. The state-record lake whitefish, at 10 pounds, 8 ounces, was caught here in 1995.

Lake Pleasant has a surface area of 1,475 acres. The average depth is 29 feet, with a maximum depth of about 60 feet.

Lake Pleasant is near Speculator in Hamilton County. Exit the Thruway at Amsterdam and follow state Route 30 north to Speculator. Or if you’re approaching from the west, exit the Thruway at Utica, go north on state Route 28, then take state Route 8 east to Speculator.

Trout may be fished year ‘round at Lake Pleasant with no size limit, and a daily limit of five trout.

Information about local services for Lake Champlain and Lake Pleasant is available through the Adirondack Regional Tourism Council, P.O. Box 2149, Plattsburgh, NY 12901. Telephone (518) 846-8016, or log on to www.adk.com.

NYC RESERVOIRS
Ice-fishing in the New York City water-supply reservoirs can produce some very big brown trout, along with other species. But you’ll need to get a permit and adhere to numerous special regulations.

Public Access Permit applications must be submitted by mail to the address indicated on the application forms, which are available at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) offices, DEP police precincts, town offices, tackle shops and sporting goods stores within the NYC watershed area.

In New York City, applications are available at the DEP’s One-Stop Center at 59-17 Junction Boulevard, 1st Floor, Low Rise, in Queens, or call (718) 595-4820. Or try the DEP’s Bureau of Customer Conservation Services in Manhattan, 1250 Broadway, 8th Floor in New York City; or call (212) 643-2215.

To learn more about changing NYC reservoir access conditions, information about fishing on New York City reservoirs, Public Access Permit applications and fishing and boating regulations, visit the DEP at NYC.gov/Watershed/html/WSRecreation.html.

For more information, including a list of the reservoirs where ice-fishing is allowed, check New York State’s DEC Web site.

LONG ISLAND LAKES
Ice-fishermen will be pleasantly surprised to find there’s some good fishing to be had in the lakes on Long Island. Adult trout are stocked during fall here. A color brochure showing the locations of the various fresh waters of Long Island and New York City, along with information about access and fish species, is available from the Region 1 Freshwater Fisheries Unit at (631) 444-0280.

For travel information, contact the New York State Division of Tourism (North America Group Travel), Empire State Development, Empire State Plaza, Concourse Level, Room 110, Albany, NY 12223; or call 1-800- CALL-NYS, extension 47624.

For more about ice-fishing in New York, contact the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Fisheries Division, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4753. Call (518) 402-8920, or you can visit fwfish@gw.DEC.state.NY.us.

Find more about New York fishing and hunting at: NewYorkGameandFish.com