New York's 2004 Fishing Calendar
Here's a sampling of 36 great fishing trips for Empire State anglers to consider while planning their 2004 vacation itinerary.
| 2004 FISHING CALENDAR
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The calendar is in PDF format. The Adobe Reader can be downloaded for free here.
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By J. Michael Kelly
What other state regularly produces 40-pound salmon and 50-pound muskellunge? How many can boast of walleyes, northern pike, bass and trout - all in the same lake? Where else could you fish for striped bass, stalk native brook trout and catch a mess of pan-sized perch in one county during a single weekend? The only way to savor a representative sample is to draw up a checklist of New York's finest fishing holes and then schedule trips year 'round.
Here's a sample itinerary for 2004 that will at least get us started.
JANUARY
Northern Pike
Sodus Bay This 3,000-acre cut in the Wayne County shoreline of Lake Ontario has wall-to-wall pike habitat. Anglers will find pike around the edges of Newark, Eagle and Leroy islands, as well as along Sand Point on the west shore.
The Bay Bridge Sport Shop off Route 14 at the south end of the bay is a good place to get bait and current fishing information.
Lake Trout
Piseco Lake The New York Department of Environmental Conservation estimates about 80 percent of the annual angling activity on Piseco Lake occurs during the winter. Lake trout and landlocked salmon are stocked annually in the lake, which is north of the junction of routes 8 and 10 in Hamilton County.
Crappies
Whitney Point Reservoir The annual New York State Crappie Derby, scheduled for the last weekend of January at Whitney Point Reservoir in northern Broome County, attracts about 2,000 ice-fishermen. It usually takes a crappie in the neighborhood of 14 inches to hook first place.
Photo by Ron Sinfelt
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FEBRUARY
Lake Trout
Schroon Lake Schroon Lake in Warren County is about an hour's drive from Albany via the Adirondack Northway and Route 9. It often produces lakers weighing 10 or more pounds. The local limit is two fish 18 inches or better per day.
Silver jigging spoons are notably effective on Schroon because of its significant smelt population.
A snowmobile is a great help for getting around the 4,000-acre lake. The Schroon Lake Chamber of Commerce at 888-SCHROON will supply visitors with a free contour map.
Steelhead
Niagara River Niagara River anglers who launch at the Lewiston dock have a chance to hook a 10- to 20-pound steelhead any day during the winter. Golf ball-size egg sacs work best.
Bluegills
Braddock Bay Actually, one of many small Lake Ontario embayments that offer good ice-fishing, Braddock Bay in Monroe County stands out because of its shallow, easily decipherable contours and its ready accessibility via the Braddock Bay Wildlife Management Area.
MARCH
Steelhead
Salmon River Steelhead runs in Oswego County's Salmon River have fallen off considerably from the peak levels of the 1980s, but anglers still hook thousands of anadromous rainbows annually in the stream. Some of the hottest action occurs in March, when the river hosts a mix of actively spawning steelies and coin-bright fish that are fresh arrivals from Lake Ontario.
Although most of the river between Pulaski and Altmar is paralleled by Route 13 and marked with public fishing signs, newcomers would be wise to learn the stream with the help of a drift boat guide. DEC studies indicate float-trippers log only 7 percent of the total fishing effort on the river, but account for 16 percent of the steelhead catch.
For a list of licensed guides who run river trips, contact the Oswego County Tourism office at (315) 349-8322.
Yellow Perch
Seneca Lake The best late-winter panfishing in the state? It wouldn't be much of a stretch to confer that title on Seneca Lake, where limit catches of 1- to 2-pound perch are common. Because Seneca has a maximum depth of 618 feet, it never freezes. That means fishermen who launch at Roy's Marina on the west shore can drift over schools in Glass Factory Bay instead of looking for perch one ice hole at a time.
Steelhead
Irondequoit Creek Not nearly as famous as the Salmon River, Irondequoit Creek in Monroe County produces plenty of big steelies, nevertheless. Try Penfield Linear Park south of Route 441.
APRIL
Lake Trout
Lake Champlain After ice-out, Lake Champlain affords great opportunities to hook 3- to 8-pound lake trout.
Tributary mouths are the likeliest spots to find concentrations of trout because their run-off currents are a few degrees warmer than the surrounding water and also funnel food into the lake.
The most reliable shore-fishing for lakers is between Port Kent and Westport. Among other spots, try the town park in Essex, which is south of Willsboro off Route 22.
Rainbows
Esopus Creek Though not as well known as similar events in the Finger Lakes, the annual spawning run of rainbows in Esopus Creek is a rite of spring for hundreds of Catskill-region anglers. Trout of 2 to 8 pounds swim upstream from Ashokan Reservoir in Ulster County to spawn in the Esopus and its tributaries.
Striped Bass
Hudson River An estimated 1 million striped bass swam up the Hudson to spawn last spring. There's no better way to get in the vicinity of a 40-pound cow striper than to launch a seaworthy boat at one of the several marinas at the mouth of Rondout Creek at Kingston.
MAY
Brown Trout
West Branch Delaware The West Branch of the Delaware River is a key component of the New York City water system, and its summer fishing depends heavily on the volume of cold water released from the Cannonsville Reservoir upstream from Deposit.
Anglers can count on heavy mayfly hatches as long as spring showers haven't gotten out of hand. The Hendrickson hatch, which typically runs from about May 1 to May 15, brings 20-inch browns to the surface in the no-kill section at Deposit and near the Hale Eddy bridge.
Walleyes
Oneida Lake The walleye population in Oneida Lake north of Syracuse via Interstate 81 was supposed to be about half its average size in 2003, yet many local anglers enjoyed their hottest fishing on the lake in years.
Yellow Perch
Keuka Lake If Seneca Lake has any rival for the affections of New York perch-seekers, it's Keuka Lake, where jumbo jacks are nearly as common in peak population years. Try for a limit of 50 fat ones around Bluff Point on the west side of the fork-shaped lake's Hammondsport arm.
JUNE
Smallmouth Bass
Lake Erie From the first Saturday in May until the opening of the statewide season on the third Saturday in June, Lake Erie anglers may creel one bass of 15 inches or better per day, and then catch and release all the monster smallmouths they desire.
The special regulation gives fishermen an extraordinary chance to hook a trophy bronzeback. New York's state-record smallie, an 8-pound, 4-ounce hog, was caught during Erie's 1995 early season. Four-pounders are routine in May and June for anglers who launch at the municipal ramps in Dunkirk or Barcelona.
Lake Trout
Rondout Reservoir Regular stockings and a dense forage base have turned Rondout Reservoir in Ulster County into one of New York's best lake trout fisheries. Just ask Joseph Jocka of Mountaindale, who caught a 16-pounder there last year.
Because it's part of the Big Apple's water supply, you'll need to obtain a free New York City Water Department permit before wetting a line in Rondout. For details, contact the DEP office in Grahamsville at (845) 985-2524.
Brown Trout
West Canada Creek After exiting Hinckley Reservoir near Poland, West Canada Creek flows along Route 28 for nearly 40 miles before meeting the Mohawk River at Herkimer. Much of that water is dotted with hatching Green Drakes in June.
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