February 20, 2014

St. Lawrence River: Fishing has been decent of lake in spots like Lake of the Isles and Eel Bay, but snow and slush made for tough travel without a snowmobile. Anglers were connecting on perch and pike. Black Lake: Anglers were reporting plenty of ice, as well as plenty of small perch. Northern pike were

Weather conditions kept die-hard fly-fishers off the Catskills streams and rivers that remain open to fishing. And we’re hot hearing anything on the ice fishing front right now.

Muscoot Reservoir: Brown trout and panfish at last check. West Branch Reservoir: Anglers were frustrated by slow fishing, according to recent reports. Some brown trout were iced, however. East Branch (Sodom) Reservoir: Slow at last check. Croton Falls Reservoir: A few perch. Amawalk Reservoir: Perch action has been so-so.

Lake George was offering up some of its best hard-water action in several years, thanks to good ice conditions that allowed anglers to flock to the popular water. Lake trout were providing some good action, with many fish about the lake’s 23-inch size minimum. Perch were also cooperating, with the keeper-sized fish tending to be

Cold weather and winter storms dominated this report period. Boats that found a weather window were rewarded with cod, ling and pollock.  The fishing was good, which may partially be due to the reduced pressure on the wrecks and cod grounds.  Mixed bag catches improved to about 6 to 12 fish per angler. The cod

Lake Champlain hard-water fishing remained solid, with some good numbers and good-sized perch reported throughout the lake. Lake trout were also appearing at times, as were northern pike in the traditional spots, such as Ticonderoga, Crown Point and north near Rouses Point and Plattsburgh. On Schroon Lake, ATVs and snowmobiles were traversing the ice a

Cayuga Lake: The north end of the lake was seeing the bulk of the ice fishing pressure, with anglers encountering lots of small perch as well as pickerel. Seneca Lake: Some ice was reported on the north end, but we’re not hearing anything on the fishing front. Canandaigua Lake: Perch action was running hot and

Lake Ontario: Nothing to report right now. Oneida Lake: Ice remained in good shape on most areas of the lake, but this is the time of year when conditions can change rapidly. That said, anglers were still getting out this week and scoring on a mixed bag of panfish (notably perch) and the occasional walleye.