When I originally made my plans I was considering Champlain, but with a two year and three month old that drive is a little too long.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.