Fishing Reports - Finger Lakes and Tributaries

[champy1013]

Fishing Reports for the Finger Lakes

[Brenda]

This doesn't really count as Finger Lakes fishing, but it seemed the best place to post this. Every spring, toward the end of April, the DEC stocks 3 of the ponds in the Finger Lakes National Forest with brook trout. It's strictly put & take because the brookies can't survive the temperatures that the ponds reach over the summer. The 3 ponds are Ballard, Foster and Potomac. The forest service requests that people not fish the Potomac Pond until after the youth derby, but after noon on May 10th that pond is a good one to hit because they also stock rainbows for the derby (very nice sized ones at that). The brookies are easy to catch and very tasty. It's just a nice relaxing way to spend a morning or evening. Foster Pond is my favorite pond in the forest and it doesn't get hit as hard because you have to hike in a short distance. I don't want to post the exact stocking date because people have been known to follow the stocking truck and sit on their fat asses and watch everyone work so they can be the first to fish (used to drive me crazy), but suffice it to say that the weekend of April 26-27 would be a good time to plan a trip.

[champy1013]

Stocking is slow so far it seems this year. Hit Nine Mile around the Marcellus area. Had a steady take of smaller trout on panther martin lures, more in the faster water. Bigger ones voraciously attacked a salted minnow bottom bounced in the deeper pools and rifts. Carpenter's Brook still really slow - some wild browns being caught (and released. It's the law) in Skaneateles Creek.