Black Lake, NY Forum

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Thank the good lord you are not going back. I have been going to black lake for 65 years. You must not know much about fishing because a blind person could catch bass , pike and pan fish there. The economical state this country is in is why the fish camps are for sale. The personal camps is because , people are getting older and can not take of them. Do not bash the local area, because it is peoples home. Hammond has been like it is since forever. Please do not ever go back if you think it is that bad. Their are a LOT OF WHO LIKE GOING THERE.

BigRig....Let me guess - you're from suburbia with manicured lawns, curbs, hydrants, homes starting at 250G, fancy restaurants and lots and lots of things to entertain you within minutes of your residence . You may find it hard to believe but all of St. Lawrence County, with the exception of a few small cities and villages, is very rural in nature. And, the standard of living is alot lower than other parts of the state. That being said, most people I know who live there love the peace and quiet and wouldn't dream of living, let alone visiting, where you're from.
You could have just trashed the fishing and left it at that. But that wasn't good enough for you. You just had to make some condescending remarks about the area. If you had any intelligence you would have realized you would get trashed for your insulting remarks.
As for the fishing, what tr21 said. If you had done a little homework you would have found out that trying to fish the lake in mid to late summer was going to be alot more challenging than earlier or later in the season. In another month I'll be hammering the crappies. Give me you email address and I'll send you some photos.

There are lots of fish in Black lake. Fishing was odd this year but they are there. Now, we enjoy Frog/topwater fishing so Black lake is perfect for us. However, as anyone that fishes frog baits your hookup rate maybe is about 25-30% if your lucky! Especially some of the thick stuff we fish at times. I just got back a few days ago and we were up there a week. We fished nearly every day an average of about 8-9 hours per day. We fished 2 days on the Oswegatchie River, 2 days on the Indian River and 2 days on the lake...last day we did not fish. One thing I have learned about Black lake is every Spot is a Hot spot when conditions are right. But to show you or tell you what i mean, we fished Mile Arm Bay one day and easily had over 50 Strikes explosives strike and top water Swats at our Frog baits. I believe we landed 7 fish that day. WHAT only 7 fish??? Well we were fishing cover that looked like we were fishing through Astroturf. Several of the explosions were massive, easily 3 pound plus fish. The ones we landed we had 1 17 inch bass and one 29 inch Pike. The rest smaller. Why am i disclosing a fishing spot....well we went back to Mile arm Bay 2 morlack lake times on this trip, the very next day and 2 days later after we came out of the Indian River. Guess what, we were lucky if we got 10 strikes combined on those other 2 days. No cold front, weather was gorgeous. We found the Oswegatchie to be holding a Whole lot of pike this year. We caught pike every day on frog baits, crank baits and spinner baits. The best Day we had I believe we caught 13 (landed) fish between Bass and Pike. Now we hooked up with probably 7 more but some were quick releases just before we got them in the boat, or just short hooked.

I did notice we could hardly catch a fish in the areas that looked like AntiFreeze for your car. Literally fluorescent Green. It was awful, never seen Black lake look like that. I thought the Indian River looked gorgeous! I love fishing there. The thing I love most about fishing Black lake is fishing the Rivers. I also love fishing the rocks. I think Black lake was better a few years back, but it is still a great fishery compared to what I have here in PA. I also wondered why they don't clean up the abandoned vehicles and broken down homes along some of the rivers, but for the most part it is beautiful there. I also wish more people would practice C&R but it is their right to catch and keep fish....However, they should be of Legal size and creel limit per day. I know those laws are being broken up there, and I would like to see some violators prosecuted.

Bye!

Your opinion is horrible and your fishing ability is not much better. My 7 and 11 year old and I have been hammering crappie all summer. My neighbor catches bass everyday. I've watched numerous fisherman hammering bass, catfish, crappie, Gil's, and pike all summer. I'm glad you hate this place more fish for me!

Good riddens. And hope the door does hit ya on way out

Big Rig. So long loser. Yes loser...If you can't see the beauty of Black Lake it is best that you don't return, ever! Our grandchildren, under the age of ten, can catch endless amounts of fish. They aren't looking for instant gratification they are there to enjoy the art of fishing. You must be that boater that pushes it full throttle, screeches to halt, throw in a line for 10 minutes and if nothing bites you're off to a new location, not caring about the disruption your wake has caused true fisherman. How dare you criticize the appearance of the town of Hammond, how dare you complain about local services. Please don't come back. We are better off without your kind.

I can understand being frustrated with the fishing and the lake conditions. I however do not think it is fair to make such judgments after only two trips. The fishing like in any lake is different depending on the time of year. I for one think it is a poor ice fishing lake with the exception of catching pike. But it is the place to be in the spring to catch everything that lives there. Summer fishing is usually pretty good. There is no question that this lake holds a huge volume of fish and is one of the best around.

As for the weeds, there are a lot of them but there are a few good fishing stretches where there or no or few weeds. I think the algae can be a bit off putting which I am surprised you didn't mention. The weeds and and algae are actually one of the main reasons why this lake holds so many fish though. The fry have ample food and cover with these two things. I think the weeds and algae have actually been better this year then the previous couple years though.

I am not sure why there being a few run down places is something you care so much about. As you said it is your personal opinion but I actually think it adds to the rustic feel the lake and area provides. For instance I think the old run down place on Tin Island is really cool. The lake makes you feel like you are going back in time. Part of the appeal of Black Lake is that it is not a ritzy place. It is somewhere that most anyone can afford to go to and is much cheaper to buy places then other water bodies. If you are looking for high end fancy places with castles on islands then you should go to Alexandria Bay right down the road.

OUCH!!!!!!

I have personally traveled all over for my job. I have yet to find a area which does not have rundown buildings.

The economy is not just bad in the St. Lawerence area. It is all over! If I had that sort of opinion I would have kept it to myself!


Lastly, My family cannot wait to get back up in the fall!

It seems that a lot of the people that visit the lake and complain are those who come from out of state. The irony is that their own states have such poor or no fishing or overfished watersheds. Why ? Poor conservation or maybe because these self elite people think that every place should cater to their whims and wishes. They say - the grass is always greener on the other side. So - I say - stay home and make your own place as you want it to be. I'll, in the meantime, continue to enjoy the beauty of Black Lake. Catch & Release!

We will be back up sept 12. Can't wait

CYA

Fishpro wrote:It seems that a lot of the people that visit the lake and complain are those who come from out of state. The irony is that their own states have such poor or no fishing or overfished watersheds. Why ? Poor conservation or maybe because these self elite people think that every place should cater to their whims and wishes. They say - the grass is always greener on the other side. So - I say - stay home and make your own place as you want it to be. I'll, in the meantime, continue to enjoy the beauty of Black Lake. Catch & Release!

By the way, you are right about the watersheds of PA. The ARE overfished and poor. Otherwise why would I travel to NY in the first place? I do practice catch and release. Unlike the dude that I talked to that had the 40+ undersized crappy that was bragging about how he does this all the time. How does THAT speak for your Black Lake conservation. We did catch some keepers and we DID release them. I wish you all had the facts before you made so many assumptions.

Fellow BL Fans.....can you believe (BigRig)? He came there twice and didn't knock em dead so he Joins the BL Forum just to trash the lake we all keep near and dear to our hearts. Maybe this frustrated Building Inspector from the Big City (BigRig) get it? rides around the area and bad mouths the country way of life. If your looking for high end property, head on over to Lake George. Try to spend a quiet day fishing on the lake of a thousand jet skis. I like LG for the activity and night life, but it doesn't hold a candle to the down home country atmosphere of Black Lake, and the surrounding area. I have spent the last 10 yrs. coming to BL. I taught my son as well as other family members to fish and enjoy the surroundings that BL has to offer. The area is beautiful, the people are friendly, the fishing is amazing (if you know how to fish) Hey thats 3 for 3. It doesn't get any better than that. I will close now and give you time to lick your wounds, cause I know you just got your #*& kicked by my friends and fishing buddies. PS: If you can't say something nice about Black Lake, DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL.