Black Lake, NY Forum

I am happy to see your reports this year... My boyfriend and I will be up May 14th - 21st. Am excited for some pike fishing.

Also a little comment: not illegal to fish for bass but illegal to keep them. State fishing regs state catch and release only right now and only by artifical lures...


Keep up the fishing and enjoy your time

plumblonde wrote:I am happy to see your reports this year... My boyfriend and I will be up May 14th - 21st. Am excited for some pike fishing.

Also a little comment: not illegal to fish for bass but illegal to keep them. State fishing regs state catch and release only right now and only by artifical lures...


Keep up the fishing and enjoy your time

Sorry - You may want to read the "special regulations" section on Black Lake. There is NO out of season Bass fishing permitted on Black Lake. Seems one of the most ignored regulations there is for Black Lake.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/31493.html

I never see anyone patrolling black lake?? In PA we run into Fish and Game Commission all the time.

In 2017 there will be one lake in Jefferson County allowing early "catch and release" of bass, It is Butterfield. I believe the rest are still adhering to the 3rd week in June season opener. In 2016 all Jefferson County is still 3rd week June opener from what I read.

Great reports Bob, thanks.

Bass Akwards: Maybe I'm just lucky, I've been checked twice and bordered once by the NY DEC. Once North of the bridge, and once South. North by Jennies Island I was looking for tools in a compartment while fixing my trolling motor, Dec pulled up along side and boarded my boat. The officer said I was hiding fish. He stuck his hand in the box and caught me with a vast assortment of tools. I had no fish on the boat at all. Then he tried to imply my license was altered. I had just purchased it the day before at Gander Mnt. The print was very light, he said it looked altered. I told him that the next time I would change the printer ink cartridge in the DEC printer. (like that's my responsibility). I just think he was mad because he didn't catch me in any violation. Then I was stopped and checked down by the mouth of the Indian River, Grindstone Bay. This guy was very polite and friendly, we had three bass over 15" he checked our licenses and went on his way. So they are out there, I was checked twice in 12 years.

BassAkwards wrote:I never see anyone patrolling black lake?? In PA we run into Fish and Game Commission all the time.

we have been visited every year for the last few years by 2 game wardens may 22 -26

There are a lot of fishermen at Black Lake, and it's big. With only a few officers to patrol the area, odds are that you won't encounter one.

But don't be fooled, they are watching! They spend a lot of time watching boats through binoculars and usually only approach a boat if they notice something suspicious.

MrSimon wrote:There are a lot of fishermen at Black Lake, and it's big. With only a few officers to patrol the area, odds are that you won't encounter one.

But don't be fooled, they are watching! They spend a lot of time watching boats through binoculars and usually only approach a boat if they notice something suspicious.

they just wanted to see our licenses.. they were nice guys.,.,they did catch 3 guys targeting bass they could hear them talking about it so the state got a hit on their fines ,we just fish perch @
crappie

Regarding the fishing for bass on Black Lake: That's right as far as it is ILLEGAL to fish for black bass on Black Lake outside of the season (3rd Sat in June - November 30th). Says so right on the Region 6 regulations page. And yes, it appears to be completely ignored/not enforced. People in their "bassin'" boats aren't trolling up and down Fish Creek and casting for crappie.

kaziemierz wrote: People in their "bassin'" boats aren't trolling up and down Fish Creek and casting for crappie.

Haters are always gonna hate us in our big sexy metal flaked fishing machines. The true fishermen who don't live by participation trophies or selfies. Believe me everybody this time of year is catching bass. Even on opening day last weekend the onslaught of pontoon boats settled down in the bay by my place. Bobbers were carpet bombing the bay. Yes they were targeting the correct species. Watched about 7 bass pulled and released in less than a half hour while eating lunch. Not one Pike or Walleye! In the grand scheme of things yes it is illegal to target them. But in reality they are just table fare come the 3rd Saturday in June when the Pennsylvania bucket and stringer brigade invade the lake for limits morning,noon and night. It's not like these bass are our pets. Hooking a bass now has less of an affect than one hitting hot oil next month. Cause that female ain't spawning again. Man this making me all hyped up to go out in my row boat and give those fish a beat down like the rest of you.

I thought kaziemierz was talking about my bass boat, a 15' aluminum canoe

I read these posts early last Thursday before heading up to the lake that evening. Once we settled in we went down to the lake to see if was still there-it was. What did I see right off my shoreline? Ironically a "big sexy metal flaked fishing machine" with two gentlemen from PA who just caught a bass, set the hook hard and flipping it into their boat. We chatted for a little bit. I knew what they were doing. They knew I knew what they were doing and they quickly left. They were targeting bass and they have been coming up to the lake the same time for many years most likely doing the same thing.

It is unfortunate that in a time when we can see (sometimes while driving) what an old high school classmate had for dinner, we can't look up the reason for fishing regulations or the regulations themselves. It is also unfortunately that individuals find it noteworthy, like Neil Garfinkel on the Black Lake Facebook page, to post a picture of the bass he caught or Ton Novak commenting on the 7 bass he caught. Does not impress me at all. What would impress me is a picture of large pike or crappie.

Here is a portion of the NYS DEC regulations:
General take and possession

"A person may not fish for a species (even if immediately released) during the closed season for that species on a given water. Fish caught during the closed season must be unhooked and released immediately. They may not be handled for any other purpose.
A person may not have in possession, or intentionally kill or injure fish other than the sizes specified and allowed for that species on a given water."

In simple terms: Make an attempt to try not to catch fish out of season. Just like we let the Walleye spawn in Rossie, it is important to do the same with other species, like bass. I admit to catching bass out of season but I try not to target them. Sometimes I will leave the area or switch lures and I will always reel the bass in gently and keep it in the water to take the hook out. While some of these fish may be in someone's frying pan later in June, I am very happy to leave them alone and let them spawn, just like we do with the Walleye in Rossie.

With regard to the DEC, I have been fortunate enough to work with them professionally on and off for almost twenty years. It is my impression that these are a very compassionate, dedicated group of individuals that take our environment and safety very seriously-often times more than we do. I have never had a bad experience with one and quite frankly, based on my experience, we need more of them on and around the lake even though I am a fan of smaller government.

So, if I see you fishing off my shoreline, we will probably chat because I have never caught a crappie or pike in that 600 +/- feet of shoreline ever, and I fish a lot in my 15' aluminum "sexy metal fishing thing". Lots of bass but not much else. If you want to know who I am, where I live or just to give me a hard time-PM me. I'll tell you. Hope everyone has a wonderful summer. Sparky

I feel like a broken record on this ....

Regardless of how you feel about the laws (or how effective and useful they are), they are still the law and should be followed. Period. End of story. Don't target bass before the season!!! It's not that complicated.

With that said, catching and releasing early bass doesn't have nearly the impact on the fishery as does the over-harvest and cooler stuffing that takes place all summer long.

I'd rather see guys in expensive bass boats releasing fish than seeing guys on the bank filling their buckets.

Is there any explanation as to why you can target to catch and release bass pre-season on certain waters and not others? How much harm it does to the bass and the spawn is something that can be endlessly debated. Other then maybe when I was a kid I have never had any urge to bass fish before the season and would probably prefer that no-one else did either. I do think the regulations should be be universal one way or another though.

ShaneO19 wrote:Is there any explanation as to why you can target to catch and release bass pre-season on certain waters and not others?

Yes! Because of lobbying by the Pro Bass Fishing Organizations. It furthers their goals.

The Laws pertaining to legal Bass Fishing are set up for reason - Fish Propagation and the proper maintainence of the Black Lake fishery. All fisherman should abide by the laws period. Out of State visitors should remember that our lake is good as it is due to proper conservation practices. Not all other states have the great fishery that NY provides but at the same time it doesn't mean that they can come here and do whatever. I am sure that if the DEC had more officers around there would be better law enforcement and fines would be issued. Once word gets out that this nonsense won't be tolerated things would change for the good. Buisinesses also can play an important part by reminding their guests of the law as it pertains to the various species of fish and Bass in particular. Life goes On.