Photo by Ron Sinfelt

Such is the single-mindedness of some veteran muskellunge guides that they feel disappointed when a client reels in a prime example of one of the greatest game fish on this earth.

I’m talking about northern pike, in particular the three-footer I tied into last year while fishing with Clayton charter captain Myrle Bauer on the upper St. Lawrence River. That brute slammed a muskie-sized plug, put up a muskie-sized fight and was darned near muskie-sized, period. Yet I could tell by the half-hearted smile on Myrle’s face that he was disappointed to learn its true identity.

Not me, brother! I had a fine time playing that fish to the net -- and an even better time dining on its firm, tasty flesh, a few days after Myrle demonstrated how to remove those notorious Y-shaped bones. Bottom line: Whether the muskies are hitting or not, I will never complain about tangling with a nice-sized northern, nor consuming it afterward.

Lucky for me -- and others like me -- New York has a plethora of pike in rivers and lakes from one end of the map to the other. All fishermen have their favorites. But surely the following, listed from west to east, are among our state’s very best:

CONESUS LAKE
If you’re looking for something big and slightly scary to fill in that empty space on your den wall, you may well find it swimming below the surface of Conesus Lake. Since the 1970s, New York Department of Environmental Conservation sampling crews have netted several pike in the 30-pound class while assaying fish populations in this jewel of the Finger Lakes chain. Admittedly, you are far more likely to catch a two-foot keeper than a four-foot wall-hanger. But Conesus anglers can rest assured that some serious whoppers live in the neighborhood.

Catching the big ones isn’t easy. In fact, catching any game fish can be challenging in this 3,400-acre lake in Livingston County, thanks to its dense forage base. The lake harbors so many sardine-sized alewives that resident pike (along with bass and walleyes) are often stuffed to the gills and disinclined to chase a passing lure.

The key to taking these sated monsters is dogged persistence. Fish often, hard and methodically, covering each patch of water thoroughly, rather than trolling or casting in random, rapid fashion.

Some likely places to connect in Conesus include the large cove between McPherson and Orchard points, both on the east shore, and the thick weeds off Cottonwood Point on the west side of the lake. You can pinpoint these and other promising locations by studying the lake map, available free from the DEC’s Region 8 office in Avon, at (585) 226-2466, and also on the state agency’s Web site at www.dec.state.ny.us.

The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation maintains a public boat launch at McPherson Point. There are three other public ramps around the lakeshore. One of those is off Route 20A at Sand Point, and another is on Pebble Beach Road at Conesus’s northwest corner. The third is at the south tip of the lake, in the Conesus Inlet Wildlife Management Area.

Conesus Lake is about half an hour’s drive from Rochester via Route 390 and Route 20A, but it draws serious pike, bass and walleye anglers from a large area of the state. The Livingston County Chamber of Commerce, at (716) 243-4160, will help anglers find suitable overnight accommodations.