February 21, 2013

St. Lawrence River At last check, Wheathouse Bay was yielding decent numbers of walleye. There were also reports of perch and northern pike action at Lake of the Isles, as well as good pike fishing on Eel Bay. Black Lake Richard at Chapman’s Sports in Hammond (315-324-5265) reports that ice conditions are fine and could

While the no-kill stretches remain open 12 months a year for those brave enough to fish in cold weather, ice has been a regular obstacle on all rivers. As water temps drop and spawning ends, fish tend to move to the slower water. Remember that most rivers closed effective Dec. 1 except for no kill

John Miller at Bob’s Sport and Tackle in Katonah reports that snow has made for some messy ice conditions of late, but anglers were still out on the hard water. West Branch Reservoir was offering good trout and perch action, while Sodom and Muscoot reservoirs were yielding decent numbers of perch and crappie on the

Tomhannock Reservoir White and yellow perch, and some of the whites have been sizeable. Sacandaga Lake A few walleyes. Round Lake Perch. Lake George Anglers have been out on some of the bays and Million Dollar Beach, but we’re not hearing of epic days of fish catching lately.

White perch and small stripers were caught in the brackish water canals and creeks leading into the Peconic bays on small jigs, tins and worms. The fishing at times was excellent, with the majority of the fish caught by boat anglers fishing the deeper areas.  All the offshore charter and open boats reported excellent bottom

Not hearing a lot about any red-hot fishing of late; most of the talk has been about conditions on the heels of the heavy snow earlier this month. In general, there’s plenty of safe ice, albeit snow-covered and maybe sloppy on some waters. Lake Champlain anglers were expressing some frustration with the slow perch, smelt

Honeoye Lake Ice was reportedly between 3 and 4 inches lakewide. Some decent-sized yellow perch have been caught in the deeper areas of the north end. The bluegill bite has been slow in the shallower areas. Conesus Lake Anglers have enjoyed a steady bluegill bite in 7-10 feet of water on jigs with waxworms or

Lake Ontario When conditions allowed, anglers were finding steelhead in some of the tributaries like Maxwell and the Genesee River. Oneida Lake There are anglers getting out around the lake with ice thickness varying from 5-8 inches. However, the thaw, rain and heavy winds we experienced during the last week of January did create some