Black Lake, NY Forum

You know what I'm sick of is the bent pole pattern these bucket brigade meat eaters use. Once they see my flashy metal flake bass boat with the 200 hp motor haul in a fish all of a sudden the place turns into a community hole for the harvesting. They should outlaw any outboard less than 40 that doesn't have a working depth finder. And jetski's while we are wishing for something. Oh and bring back the weeds.

Fishpro wrote:Knowing that the regular season for Bass is over a week away yet, why are you even fishing for them? This is the worst time for Bass as they are on their spawning beds and highly vulnable to predation. Catching the fish takes them away from the beds and allows the baitfish to move in. Crazy!

Actually we were not fishing for bass.. We are a bit smarter than that. I personally don't care for bass. The kids were actually fishing for perch or pike.

Central NY Girl wrote:

Fishpro wrote:Knowing that the regular season for Bass is over a week away yet, why are you even fishing for them? This is the worst time for Bass as they are on their spawning beds and highly vulnable to predation. Catching the fish takes them away from the beds and allows the baitfish to move in. Crazy!

Actually we were not fishing for bass.. We are a bit smarter than that. I personally don't care for bass. The kids were actually fishing for perch or pike.

That's the tricky part about the rule .... the letter of the law says that if you catch a couple bass by accident, you are supposed to move to a spot until you stop catching them. The idea is to purposefully and intentionally AVOID catching them. And if you can't avoid them, you should put your rod away.

Frankly I think that is ridiculous. If I'm out fishing with my kids and we are catching a variety of perch, crappie, bass, pike, etc ..... no way I'm moving to a new spot.

But, if we are ONLY catching bass, we move. And we definitely stay away from beds.

It's kind of a goofy rule, but I believe the intention is to protect the bass population so we should all do our best to follow it.

Funny. We just came in off the water.. Fished the same areas we have fished the past couple of days did not catch a single bass. caught a monster catfish.
my 12 year old niece had a riot with that. we did let it go! caught 4 small wall eye about 9 inches they looked very healthy and they were also released. We have not kept any fish not even to take pictures.

Central NY Girl,

Of all the posts I have read on this topic, you put everything in perspective best when you said fishing is for fun and relaxation - ENJOY!
BL is one of the most relaxing places with some of the friendliest people I have met. I live in Florida where the bass fishing is second to none, but I look forward to fishing BL every year I can since about 2008. I am amazed at how good the fishing is with the high fishing pressure and the high # of consumptive oriented fisherman. I'll be at the Happy Fisherman camp from 6/27-7/4, hope to see some of your there. I'll post after the trip, as I won't have the technology to do so until mid July when I return to Florida and the 95 degree summer temps.

I have been coming to Black Lake since the early sixties..as a young child my family has made Black the vacation tradition. You cannot meet any nicer people even the other vacationers are very pleasant. So what if occasionally the fishing is not great..
You can't tell me it is perfect anywhere else ... I enjoy the relaxation..
I read this forum every day I don't post much mostly because of the comments.
My family enjoys the lake regardless

Central NY Girl,

You bring a nice calming influence to this forum. Fishing is not always up to our expectations anywhere, but the experience should be. Black Lake offers a tremendous overall experience, from the smallmouth, largemouth, northern pike, walleye and panfish - to the beautiful views, friendly people and crisp fresh air. When the fish don't cooperate, enjoy the scenery and quality time with family and friends. Some alternatives are going to work, getting stuck in traffic, household chores and anything else that doesn't involve the pursuit of fish. I'll take a tough day of fishing over any alternative any day.

danielsardina wrote:Central NY Girl,

You bring a nice calming influence to this forum. Fishing is not always up to our expectations anywhere, but the experience should be. Black Lake offers a tremendous overall experience, from the smallmouth, largemouth, northern pike, walleye and panfish - to the beautiful views, friendly people and crisp fresh air. When the fish don't cooperate, enjoy the scenery and quality time with family and friends. Some alternatives are going to work, getting stuck in traffic, household chores and anything else that doesn't involve the pursuit of fish. I'll take a tough day of fishing over any alternative any day.

RE: Central NY Girl

Glad to hear that you and your family wern't actually going after Bass. It's just the way you explained it in your writeup. Most people would interpret it to mean that you were. Anyway hope you and yours have a great Summer at the lake. Catch & Release!!

492VS, you can't be serious. So you want to eliminate the small boats and motors many of which are being used by elderly camp owners who have been on the lake forever or younger people who may just be starting to enjoy the sport. Sorry if we don't all have 40k for a boat like yours. I spent my money on a camp at Black Lake and love every weekend up there. as far as the jet skis, they aren't going any faster or bothering people any more than you zipping by at 50mph.

I second that! 492 that's an ignorant philosophy. I've got a 200hp motor on my g3 and I welcome people when they anchor near me. I also have a 14' boat with a 9.9 in it that my 12 year old will be enjoying this summer. If you want to make changes or get mad about something, get a garbage bag and hit that bridge on 58 with some trash collecting. My kids and I do it all the time. That's the real issue in the lake. As far as eating bass people will do it and there's nothing we can say about it. Hopefully they educate themselves on it. A 6lb bass in Nys can be anywhere from 20-23 years old.

Big boats - Small boats - Median sized - doesn't matter at all - what matters are the people behind the steering wheel or throttle. Racing through the area just to reach one end of the lake to the other is crazy. A few casts and they are off again. Powering through areas where people are fishing is just plain wrong. Funny thing, though, is that when the wind picks up a little, the first boats off the lake are your Bass boats, Pontoons and your small craft (12' & under ). The best boat that is suited for Black Lake is a 16', deep V with a motor in the range of 40 or 50 hp. Safety is the over riding feature that should be considered. Respect and common sense can go a long way when we take to the water. Catch & Release!!

Boy you guys are easier to spin up, than someone looking over a 2 foot putt. I want people to harvest the fish. If you truly want big fish you better filet the dinks. They need to lower the size limit back to 12.. Thin the herd some so more forage for the others to grow. I'd rather have meat eater fishermen using up there limit on 12-14 inchers than the 15 plus ones.

Ive been saying that for awhile. I know the rare one or two times a year I want to keep a bass I would prefer it to be in the 12-14 inch range. They taste better and its better for the fishery keep them rather then 15 inch and plus sizes.

That's the whole point of a slot limit .... make it legal to keep fish 12-15" (or something close to that), and everything else goes back in.