Spring in the Adirondacks (Upstate NY)

[skyphix]

As a follow up to my last thread I thought I'd recap the early spring fishing here in the Adirondacks. Ice has only been off the lakes for about a month and can still be found on the ponds in the higher elevations. Our temps are now solidly in the upper 50's and 60's so things should really start to turn on. So far its been a lot of sunfish and some smaller bass, but the crappie will start their spawning soon (big ones for up here, 1.5+ lb'ers) and then I'll worry about trout as the hatches start. Here's the recap in photos.

First ice fishing trip of '09


Mid Ice season



First open water fish of the year - there was still ice in the middle of the lake.


Grass Pickerel


Smallie out of a tree, broke my rod


Big bluegill taking poppers far too big for them


The occasional largemouth hitting poppers as well


One more chunker just to seal the deal


And a brook trout - my first fish on gear other than fly gear. Caught on a small gold spinner and ultralight spinning rod.


Thanks for looking.

[Ifishtoolittle]

Very nice fish pics.

[Greg Madrigal]

Sweet post!!! I love seeing all the places I haven't fished yet! Thanks 4 the pics & nice catches, esp. the fat ice trout. Brownie?

GM<><

[Skyler]

Ice fishing. Sweet.
Nice work out there.

[skyphix]

Thanks for the replies eveyone.

Actually, that trout through the ice is a Lake Trout (Salvelinus Namaycush) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_trout which is related to Brook trout in that they are both of the Char family (Unlike Browns or Rainbows). There are Brook Trout/Lake Trout hybrids called Splake that are sterile and stocked.

Now that spawn is over, things have slowed down a bit, but will pick up in a week or so. Water temps are still in the low 50's for the most part so the lakes have just flipped and the fish are slow. The Bass spawn is pretty much full force as well, which makes them a big tougher to catch.

[skyphix]

Right on schedule



(I know its a casting rod and a spinning reel - I've since aquired a spinning rod... before this the only standard gear I had was ice jigging rods and the spinning reels to go with them)