ice fishing new york

[Perchman]

HI GUYS,I NEED SOME INFO ON LAKES TO ICE FISH IN NEW YORK. I LIVE IN PA, ALLENTOWN AREA. I USUALLY ICE FISH WALLENPAPACK AND THE SMALL LAKES AROUND IT. WITH THE PRESENT WEATHER ICE WILL BE HERE IF AT ALL AROUND MIDDLE OF JAN.I WOULD LIKE TO TRY SOME LAKES IN NEW YORK. I WILL DRIVE 3 OR 4 HRS IF NECESSARY.I KNOW THERE IS NO ICE THERE NOW BUT YOU WILL HAVE IT BEFORE ME.I USUALLY FISH FOR PERCH AND CRAPPIES, ALSO WALLEYE.I KNOW OF WHITNEY POINT BUT NEVER FISHED IT.ALSO KNOW OF ONEIDA BUT NEVER FISHED IT EITHER.ANY HELP WOULD BE GREAT. ALSO HOW MUCH IS A NON-RESIDENT LICENSE.

[Shellback]

NY non-resident season license is $36.00 and $11.00 for a 1 day. The season license runs from 10/1 to 9/31. You might give Sportsmens Den in Whitney Point ( 607-692-4266 ) a call for fishing info. Great shop, feels like the clock was turned back 25 years, nice old fashioned store and it has your bait and tackle needs. Also roam around the nyfisherman.com site and you will find a weekly fishing report for region 7 which covers Whitney and Oneida.

[Sluggo / NY]

Perchman..I don't think we'll be ice fishing anytime soon up here either! I'm only a short distance from Whitney Point Res. I actually don't icefish myself, but I do go to the "crappie derby" just to check it out. I know that they get some nice perch and crappie there, but not in great numbers. If you're looking for quantity..I think the extra hour drive to Oneida Lake would be worth it. I'm still running my boat on the river here! Hard to believe it's mid-December! Also..a non-resident license is $35 in NY. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

[The_Walleye_1]

dont know of any

[GJN]

I don't ice fish but I know Lake George is a popular spot. They catch pike,lake trout,salmon,etc. I don't have the number handy but you can contact Jeff or Ray at Peace Pipe Outfitters in Bolton Landing.

[Rick]

hey perchman,
i live in rochester and all i fish for is the nice slob perch around here, the best place that i go to is braddocks bay.thats only 10 minutes from my house, but can get windy. it is wide open to lake ontario and shallow, 4 ft max and there are very nice pike also, and the lake perch are nice size.its not much of a fight pulling fish out of 4ft of water, but i have always caught them there, my 2nd spot would be sodus bay, thats around 35 miles east of here. the bay is big and lots of coves to get out of the wind,
nice perch there also, and a few walleye when you get lucky.if you decide to come here drop me an e-mail and i can help you out.
solver lake is also good i have heard never been there though. another one is conesus, perch are tough to find but when you do there slobs, lots of bluegill though if you like them. it will be a short season thats for sure. good luck on the hardwater if it ever gets there. e-mail kaplander@aol.com
i

[TONY ON ICE]

PERCHMAN.
If the perch fishing thios winter is anything like it has been this spring, summer and fall around Central and Western NY, you could be in giant perch up to your armpits !
I live a few minutes from Oneida lake and call it home. If you're after big bluegills, sunfish crappies and perch, Big Bay on the far west end of the lake is the best first ice spot around. Not only are those species heavily populated there but last winter saw a huge resurgence of nice walleyes invade the bay for the first time a quite a while. The lake has a great population of walleyes (no matter what the so called biologists say) but for somereason they've shyed away from Big Bay. Some impressive northerns, Tiger muskies and pickerel are also finning around the bay.
Later in the season, the perch fishing gets hot in the deeper channel areas of the lake between buoys 119 and 130.
Sluggo is right about Whitney Point Res. There's some real nice crappies perch but they constantly play with the water levels there and it's hit or miss but the annual Crappie Derby is something you don't want to miss !
It's a great time and gets between 5 and 7 thousand people on the ice for the event !
You can usually find our group as we fly a red union suit high above the crowd so out friends can find us !
usually results in good eats on the ice and a few fish if you get there real early ! it's all for fun !
you will occasionally hook into a nice walleye. 5 to 8 pounders are not uncommon !
Right now Rick from Rochester is in the middle of some of the hottest perch fishing this state has seen in years on the bays of lake Ontario.
Irondequoit bay just east of Rochester is loaded with huge perch up to 15 inches and 2 lbs and Sodus bay a little farther to the east is producing the same quality and quantity of big perch !
Watch out when these places freeze up ! It's be hectic !
Braddocks Bay is definitely worth the trip. I don' fish there much but have freinds in the area that always do great there through the ice.
You can et lost here in Central NY with all the ice fishing opportunites on great bodies of water !
Most of the Finger lakes can be fished with great results through the ice and the North end of Keuka at Penn Yann and the south End of Honeoye Lake are two great spots to start.
Silver lake, Waneta and Lamoka Lakes are also great spots !
Flip a coin...I don't think you can lose up here this year..."IF" we get ice ! My boat is still floating !
E mail me if you want to hook up this winter on Oneida or if you want more info on the area !...................
tonyonice1999@webtv.net

[mf]

tony, i also live near oneida lake .the fishing is changing alot . the walleyes are in the weeds. every body i know who fished this summer fished the weeds and did good. that is why big bay may be seeing walleyes , because of the weeds in the bay .we did poor this summer , but we fish the deeper waters.we have to change are ways of fishing oneida. the water is so much clearer with the zebra that the walleyes are looking for cover , and the lake had a very good year for gizzered shad. the fall night bite was though. you could see the shad in the shallows weeds and the walleyes were right there eating the shad. hope this spring is better so long for now

[Rick]

well put tony. the hottest spot and largest perch in new york
would have to be senaca lake, boy do i wish that lake would freeze over. i have consistently caught 14-16 inch perch there in the fall and the spring. last year i had to sort out of 20 fish which one i wanted to mount. if anyone ever gets a chance, thats the lake to fish for jumbo's. happy holidays

[MF]

HEY RICK,where do you fish on senaca. i have been down there 4 times when they say the perch are biting and never got a bite . 20 boats in the area and not one perch. fish GLASS FACTORY BAY AND HIGH BANKS and never a fish . what is your method and where do you fish .Roys marinera has perch on his wall that look like bass they are so big HELP

[Ray]

You have to move around to find the Perch. Right now, they're in twenty feet of water in the north end. In the Spring, Reeder's Creek is an excellent choice. Dresdan is also a good choice. Reed's Point is good, too. I sure hope this weather can hold up and winter stays mild, because the perch fishing will be excellent. Also, dont overlook Cayuga Lake at the north end for Perch. You can get a nice pail full if you can get into them. Ray

[water_wolf]

Perchman,
When we finally get ice.....Braddocks Bay is great at first ice. Also near Braddocks is Long Pond, Buck Pond, & Cranberry Pond, also good early ice. Shortly after first ice big pike can be caught on Coopers Pond near Braddocks off Buttonwood Creek (goes under NYS Parkway). I do most of my ice fishing at Silver Lake. Early ice fish North end for perch, pike, walleye. At same time good perch & pike action at south end of lake adjacent to Silver Lake Marine. Later on ecellent perch fishing can be found near the institution. email me if/when you are gonna make a trip to Silver...always have room in my shanty for a fellow WC'r.

Rich Ferguson
marbleye@rochester.rr.com

[TONY ON ICE]

MF
No doubt..Oneida has changed completely from what it was only ten years ago. I believe the change is for the better and the zeebra mussels have actually helped the growth of the walleyes, perch, sunfish and a few other species.
This was the third year in a row where we caught mid summer, dog day heat, flat water walleyes in 4 to 8 feet of water in areas where they used to only be right after the spawn !
The good bite never went away ths year right from opening day and it's still happenning although the abundance of gizzard shad has slowed things up a bit lately.
Most of those shad will have died off by now and if the weather hold up (I'm praying for ice !) the walleyes will begin to feed along the shorelines again as there won't be nearly the amount of forage around.
I caught more walleyes through the ice at Big Bay last winter in two days than I had caught in the previous 5 years through the ice in that area .
It should be incredible this winter.
Same deal on the big perch.....the bite has been steady to superb all year and they're all over the lake !
Been fishing the area between the South Shore boat launch and Lakeport since late August and now we're ut by buoy 113 in 40 feet of water and the big perch are stacked up !
I might have to chisel my boat out of the water in the morning but I'm ready for the ice !
See you on the ice !

[TONY ON ICE]

MF
Ray covered all the spots you'll need to check out except for one and that's the area right off of Kashong Point between Roys Marina and Dresden.
Yuo'll see the boats ganged up there in the spring just a little north of the point !
Seneca is a huge and tricky lake to locate tho jumbo perch in and because of the water clarity, the perch spook real easy. I've seen days when you want to jump over the side with a spear as those monster lay on the bottom and won't move ! Looks like a giant aquarium and it really gets the blood boiling ! If a 5 to 10 mph breeze kicks up ! They turn on and at times it's impossible to lift them in the boat without a net ! They are line shy and we use only small diameter Flourocarbon (Seagaur 2 and 4 lb).
I will switch to 4 lb Fireline (Smoke) with a 3 to 4 foot F.C. leader if the wind is whipping as it makes it much easier to feel the hits which sometimes are nothing more than weight on your line !
These perch like plastic ! Anything motor oil, Junebug, dark greens will work and I've caught them on a lot of other colors when they were real active but you have to be prepared to use minnowws< oak leaf grubs or spikes / waxworms.

I had a friend from Wisconsin come in last may to fish with me on Seneca after I repeatedly sent him pictures of those 14 to 16 inch, 2 lb+ perch.
After we found them the first day, he didn't say too muh the rest of his trip ! Just did a lot of mumbling !
You're welcome to hop in the boat with me next spring or late this winter if we get some warm temps and light winds !
Bring a GPS !!! X marks the spot(s) !

[eyedoktr]

Perchman, I agree with all the above replys. N.Y is a great place to ice fish. I personally fish Honeoye alot. I lived on the lake for 15 years and am still amazed at the size of the fish for such a small and shallow lake. Perch and bluegills over a pound are not uncommon. There are walleye up to 8+ lbs. caught every year and big bass and pickerel also are available. The perch in the Lake Ontario Bays are bigger than I've ever seen. I've been perching at Long Pond and Irondequoit Bays almost every day for the past month. Limits (50) are not uncommon with many fish 1-1.5 pounds. Yesteday was the first time I've kept any and the 12 I kept weighed a total of 10#. I fished for about 4 hours and probably caught 75 fish. Last spring I got one at 2.75#, a real slob. Feel free to e-mail me at eyedoktr@rochester.rr.com for any more info. C'mon ice.

[Rick]

hey MF,
The fishing at senaca can be tricky as you well know.
The way i fish it, i put a 1/16 or a 1/8 jig head at the end of the line depending on the wind. the perch there seam to always hit light as tony said. the key to getting those fish to bit is patience thats for sure, i drag the jig across the bottom with a nice fathead minnow on at. very slowly, if you do not feel the weeds or rocks u need more weight, after you go thru some weeds, u need to pause for a second or rwo, like i said very slow drag. One of the places not mentioned is lodi point, nice dropoffs around the corner to the north past the boat launch. out infront of samson's is good also. i try to stay away from all the mass amounts of boats in the spring. sometimes it takes hours before you find those perch.still fishing with a worm or minnow seans to not work for me at senaca. you really need to move your bait.
for those of you out there that fish the rochester, finger lake area. we should start an ice fishing board for locals or get e-mail gonig. i will be glad to share any info when and where the bite is, any ideas? take care ho ho ho

[MF]

Tony &Rick , thanks for the advize .i fish oneida mostly and like the deep water troll. we had a good year 2years ago and have ben bad ever since.the fish are in the weeds and i have to change my ways . very hard to change. i have a Lund pro v le 1900 that i bought from a pro who fishes the PWT . he his a freind from Minnasota. i got a great buy on the boat .it was in 5 touraments when i bought it.it is set up to troll big water.it has electric trolling motors front &rear and a 200hp yamaha for the main engine.weed fishing is tough , but thats where the walleyes are .i always launch at the south shore launch .thanks again for the information and i hope to meet the both of you guys on the water . be it hard water or soft.it looks like we may get some ice sone .

[eyedoktr]

Rick, we don't really need to start a board. There is a "fishing reports" area right here on WC. I too will post when I go out....if we ever get ice.

[TONY ON ICE]

MF
I'd be glad to show you some weed walleye tactics and spots next season.
I fish quite a bit between the South Shore launch and Lakeport.
It's time to change tactics a little and get back into the mix.
There's a lot of guys who repeatedly return to the dock with poor results but they just won't believe that the lake has changed or that they have to change their approach to fishing walleyes in Oneida lake.
It's actually a lot easier once you learn the systems that we now use.

Lets meet on the ice this winter and game plan for next season !