Remote Adirondack Lake Fishing

[Fat Dan]

Hi Everyone.  I am looking to take my 12 yo son on a camping/fishing trip this spring.  I am thinking a lake in the Adks that requires hiking in would be a fun option.  A lot of them have lean-tos so that would be nice if not already occupied.  I have experience hunting in the Adks, especially the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness, but I have never fished there.  I am thinking about trying Pharoah Lake for trout.  Do any of you have experience fishing there?  If not, can you recommend a place a ways in from the roads where we would have a good fishing opportunities.  Thanks

[Doc]

I used to have a listing of DEC stocked remote ponds in the Adirondacks, but I have lost track of where I put it. But I would suggest that you maybe snoop around the DEC web site to see what they might have. Between some kind of such listing and the online topo maps, you should be able to find a good time.

Are you looking for just a day trip, or are you going to include some camping along with the fishing?

[Fat Dan]

Thanks.  We would spend 2 or 3 nights.  I did see that Pharaoh Lake is stocked.  I am not sure how hard it would be to fish without a boat but it might be the best option of the lakes I know.  There are supposed to be brook trout and lakers in there.  

[Farflung]

I might suggest the St. Regis canoe area. Yes you will need a canoe, but you can rent them, along with  other gear. Very good fishing for brook trout in the early (ice out) season. Check with  the DEC Region 5 website, and that can get you started. There will be a phone number that can get you to their fisheries biologist.

[DirtTime]

There's tons of small lakes and streams in the ADK's, and plenty of remote ponds. The Siamese Ponds Wilderness has a lot of small lakes and ponds that you need to hike to get too. The other side of the road is West Canada Lake Wilderness which hold even more. I would suggest figuring out where it is you'd like to go and take things from there.

 

A few tips:

Don't count on a lean-to. Pick up a couple of small packing tents to sleep in or a three person tent. Sharing a lean-to with strangers sort of sucks. Make sure the tent will allow you to stow your gear.

You're going to need a bear canister, it's actually a regulation if you are in the Eastern High Peaks area from April-November. At minimum, if not in this area a bear bag for food. Read up on how to sue and set one up. They don't just keep your food from bears, but raccoons and other scavengers.

Ice out and snow melt brings a lot of flooding up there, and at times trails can be impassible and or dangerous (even the flat ones). Keep that in mind. Flash flooding up there's no joke.

Remember, May starts the black fly season and it runs until August. Sharing camp with those little bastads sucks more then sharing a lean-to.

 

 

[Fat Dan]

Thanks everyone.  I do have tents and will bring one.  I'll pick up a bear canister.  I used to throw my food in a nylon bag and hang it up in a tree but I am sure a bear could figure that out.  I need to get a bear canister anyway for hunting up there.  

 

[Fat Dan]

I am leaning toward Pharaoh Lake since I am familiar with the area.  The lake is 100 feet deep in places.  I am not sure if we'll be able to reach the fish from shore but it's worth a try.  Thanks.

[DirtTime]

Enjoy the trip and good luck getting on some fish. 

[Doc]

What a great Father and son adventure. That is a trip that he will remember all of his life. Wherever you decide to go, take plenty of pictures and be sure to share them with us here. I would love to see pictures of that trip. Even if you don't get a single fish, the hiking and camping will be a fantastic thing to experience.

 

[Fat Dan]

Thanks, guys

[Steve D]

Sounds like a great trip for the two of you. Like mentioned above be sure you have plenty of bug spray. The black flies and deer flies can be brutal and ruin an otherwise great trip. Please keep us posted and enjoy every minute of it. The Adirondacks are a special place.

[Fat Dan]

Thanks everyone.  I am trying to decide between mid-April and mid-May.  Those 2 options are based on his school schedule so I can't just switch it to the end of April, etc.    I think April would save us from insects but the water may be too cold for good fishing.  Mid-May would probably be perfect for fishing but I have heard black flies can be brutal around that time.  As much time as I have spent in the woods, I have still not experienced black flies but I have heard they can be brutal and ruin a trip.  

Edited March 1 by Fat Dan

[Doc]

Beware of the evil black flies. They have been known to drive people mad. I experienced the black fly torture up in Canada, and can say that if it weren't for the constant cloud of smoke from cigars, I probably would have become a victim of black fly insanity. Today with the advance of repellant, perhaps it isn't so bad, I don't know. But I would suggest that you take the black-fly warnings very, very seriously and take whatever precautions you can find. Perhaps a head net might add some protection, but those critters can find ways inside your clothing. I had bites on my chest and I kept my shirt on and buttoned up.

[wolc123]

Mid April will less black fly activity, but May will be more fish activity.  I usually hit a small Adirondack lake (near NW corner of the park) both of those times every year, and just about every other month (in-laws live on it so we get free food and lodging).   A boat is your friend, as it seems that the black flies don’t often venture out far over the water, on the lake.  Fishing from shore could be especially tough in May.

I rarely fish from shore, but I have tried turkey hunting up there in May a few times, when I heard gobbles on the surounding hilltops.  It usually doesn’t take too many black flies, to drive me back out onto the lake fishing.  I’d at least take up a 2-man canoe, for you and your son, so that you can get out and away from the black flies if they become an issue.

I prefer a rowboat, because they are more stable for fishing.  I only use the outboard to get back when it’s windy.  Mostly, I just row along and cast towards the shoreline in April, May, and October.
 

 During the summer months, the smallmouth bass suspend out over the center of this lake.   The nice thing about that is, I can usually fish for days, on a single bucktail jig.  I go thru dozens in the spring and fall, due to snags on rocks and sunken branches.  

I did fish Long Lake (near the center of the park) from my canoe one summer.  That “lake” (really just a wide spot on the Racquett River) is pretty shallow out on the middle, and the smallmouth bass were hitting the bucktail jigs pretty good out there, drifted on the bottom.  I had much more success out in the middle, than I did working the shorelines there.  I think that was mostly because there was a lot less fishing pressure out in the center.  Lots of bass-boats ply the shorelines of that highly pressured lake.  
 

On the smaller, deeper, less-pressured lake up on the NW corner of the park, the bass move out over the deep center in the summer, to follow schools of baitfish and to get oxygen.  I usually watch for surface activity out there on calm mornings and evenings, row towards it, and fish the bucktail jig just below the surface (or a surface bait like a Zara puppy).  
 

These pics were from last Memorial Day weekend up there.  There were no other boats on the lake, and I only had to share it with beavers and loons most mornings.  I was trying for perch (no luck there) but caught and released lots of smallmouth (by accident).  

 

Edited March 2 by wolc123