April 4, 2013

St. Lawrence River Nothing to report right now. Most of the focus has been on scouting for spring gobblers. Black Lake No report.

Nymphs and streamers would be most productive under the current conditions. Little black stoneflies are still around. The trout season is open, but most of the fishing is ceremonial in nature right now. You might catch a fish or two, but conditions are cold and not real comfortable yet. Catskill Flies

Numerous waters in the region were scheduled to be stocked prior to the April 1 trout opener. Among them are: Dutchess County: Crum Elbow Creek, Fishkill Creek, Roeliff Jansen Kill, Sawkill, Sprout Creek, Swamp River, Ten Mile River, Wappingers Creek, Webatuck Creek. Orange County: Askoti Lake, Moodna Creek, Neversink River, Ramapo River, Rutgers Creek, Shawangunk

The April 1 trout opener was its typical cold kickoff, with few waters stocked prior to the season and little fishing activity right now.

The continued colder than normal weather has kept the ocean water temperature cold, around 40 degrees. This has extended the stretch of excellent cod and ling fishing but has made fishing tough on some days due to high seas and strong winds. The bulk of the fish are being caught in 120 feet of water

The region is in that in-between season, with unsafe ice on lakes and the streams running cold with snow and ice on the shoreline. Not much happening right now, although spring gobbler hunters are scouting in preparation for the April 20-21 youth hunt and May 1 regular season kickoff.

Cayuga Lake Anglers trolling stick baits near the surface were catching brown trout on the south end of the lake. Seneca Lake Brown trout and Atlantic salmon were hitting on salmon flies trolled on the surface. Anglers fishing on off the pier are catching yellow perch, bluegills and a few black crappies. The panfish are