Thinking of taking the family up to Black Lake towards the end of July. Never been there before, . How will the fishing be? Do the weeds get thick? Any input on fishing or good accomodations would be helpful? I'm looking for a cabin with a dock.
Thinking of taking the family up to Black Lake towards the end of July. Never been there before, . How will the fishing be? Do the weeds get thick? Any input on fishing or good accomodations would be helpful? I'm looking for a cabin with a dock.
Hey Scott,
I'll be leaving for Black Lake on the 28th of June for our annual 2 week vacation there. We've been going there for 14 years now, and the place is absolutely awesome. The weeds will be thick, some spots get so thick you think you can walk on 'emBut don't get discouraged, there are plenty of great spots to hit on the lake, and the fishing is awesome. As far as accomodations go, check out the accomodations page on the Black Lake website http://www.blacklakeny.com
Most of the places are all booked up for the season, but you can get lucky and find a place, especially when somebody cancels. I would try The Log Cabins first, that's where we stay, and they have the best cabins....clean, central air, cable, and decent docks with electric. After you check out the website give me a shout and I'll give you any and all info that I can on the place you found to stay at and I'll be happy to give away some of my hot spots. Good luck
"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."
tailrace is right! great fishing... might be hard to find a place though... I'll be coming up july 5th for the team bass usa event there...
If you don't find anyplace, thousand islands are right down the road, and you can road trip it to black lake...
Made reservations at the log cabins for the last week in July, can't wait!!! Thanks for the info tailraice.
Hows running in the lake, are obstacles well marked? Where can I get a good topo map?
Cool, you're gonna love itDefinitely get a Hot Spots map, you can either get one online, or you can buy one from the Log Cabin Store. I would get a map asap, and study that bad boy. Black is a pretty shallow lake, I think the mean depth is 12'. Here's what i think....get the map, then give me a shout. I'll tell you all that I can, this way you'll be able to reference the map at the same time and you can jot down some notes. I'm leaving for Black on the 28th of June and I'll be back on the 12th of July.
"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."
hey Tailrace,
I've been doing reading some fishing reports about the lake. They are all over the place, some people say its the best lake ever and others say don't waste your time. Now I don't get into dock talk a whole lot but I wanted to get you unbiased opinion. I've already paid the deposit so I'm going. But just wandered about qty and size of the fish. I like targeting smallies and largemouths and my style of fishing is whatever the fish are telling me to do
regardless of reports, black lake is still one of the best bass lakes in the northeast... Also pike, bluegills for the kids, catfish etc... enjoy...
I'll be up the the 5th...
Justflippin,
I've been doing Black Lake for 20 years, the best time is in May and early June..
For the last 16 years my wife and I go up in mid July... The fishing is not as good as late May, but it's still teriffic....
Fish the bays east of Hogback Island for LM, use frogs buzzbaits and plastics...
I've taken some 5 & 6 Lbs in the weeds...
Fish the rocky shores on the west end for the smallies, that is when you leave the Log cabin docks heading at 11:00 to the rocky shore areas...
The Walleye in the Lake are tough because of the weeds, but there are some big ones and they are not fished very heavy. There are plenty in the 18"-24 " range.
Your goin love it, it only gets better as you learn the lake...
Good luck....I'm leavin on tJuly 12 for 7 days..I stay at Pleasant view Camps..
Herhonk...........
Thanks for the info guys. Can't wait to hit the lake, I heard it's great scenary too.
Great scenary up there... I'll be up there july 6th for the Team bass USA tournament... haven't been up there in 3 years... long drive for one day but I'm looking forward to it...
I've always said this would be a great place to visit in mid Oct... maybe this year...
I got my hot spots map yesterday and this lake looks sweet!!!! As I study it I may have a questions for you black lake vets.
I use mostly florocarbon and some braid for grass. What do you guys use on Black in July/Aug?
I use Suffix green mono....10lb for my spinning rods and 14lb for the baitcasters. If I'm fishing the thick weeds I'll use braid.
"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."
Hey Tailrace,
When your at the cabis do you leave your boat in the water all week? Any worry about theives?
Good luck on your vacation!!
Yep, the boat stays in the water the entire time. Never had to worry about theives, but i always tuck everything back into the compartments. Heck, most of the people up there leave everything out in their boats....rods & reels, electronics, ect. and I've never heard about any problems. thanks for the good luck wishes, I will definitely post a nice report upon my return.....hopefully with some hawg pics
"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."
Cool, that's good to hear! Definately looking forward to your post. I love the challenge of fishing a new lake but any tips would be welcomed.
Oh yea, do you know of a good merc mechanic in the area. Just in case.
Schermerhorns Marina is off of Route 12, about half way from Black to Alex Bay in the 1,000 Islands. Just ask anybody, and they will know how to get there. The people who work there are AWESOME, they've helped me out a few times when I had boat trouble
"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."
Capticeman,
What were the results of the tourney? How did you do?
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by justflippin »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I've been doing reading some fishing reports about the lake. They are all over the place, some people say its the best lake ever and others say don't waste your time.
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I was looking into Black Lake myself recently for similar reasons and in reading another forum somewhere amongst some long-timers to the lake debating/lamenting the state of affairs there, the two things that struck me about it were that
a) the bite turns on and off, so that one day/weekend it can be unbelieveable and the next day or visit you'd think it was sterile
b) while there are still a good number of fish in the lake, historically it had been 'teeming' with fish but now due to ecological changes which I don't recall, the numbers are 'down' to a reasonable number over the past few (10?) years.
My take away was that its still a great place to fish overall, but that personal opinions are based on historical perspective (or lack thereof) and experiences; both of which can vary widely for this lake and probably why you had such varied opinions of it.
Let us all know your opinion and verdict back here upon your return. Its still on my 'maybe' list and would love a fresh opinion. Hope the bite is 'on' while you're there
When I originally made my plans I was considering Champlain, but with a two year and three month old that drive is a little too long.My drive to Black will probably be 10 hrs.
I never heard of Black lake a day before I made my reservations. I figured if the fishing wasn't that good I could just hit the thousand islands area a few days too. Honestly the fishing around here is always tough, except for Lake Erie. I'm accustom to lakes that are highly pressured, small, and stingy. Last summer I went to Chatauqua, fishing was good some days and slow others. The algae bloom changed our pattern but we adapted pretty good and our last two days were the best. This year I wanted to go somewhere less congested and more quite.
I think the ecological change to Black is the invasion of the zebra muscles and some people say the 15" inch limit on SM/LM. One guy wrote about the clearing water and the zebra muscles and he thinks the fishing hasn't declined but it has just changed. Fish aren't in the same areas as they used to be because of the clearing water. He says that he just started changing techniques and areas and hasn't seen a decline at all. I have experienced the same things around here too and in one of our lakes, the fishing has gotten way better. The clearer water has promoted deeper weed growth and bigger fish, weeds (like milfoil) is not very common around here.
I will post an honest report when I get back.
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