General Trout Fishing Question

[WNYakker]

Hello,

I have a question about trout fishing.....We have fished a popular trout pond in the northern ADK’s the last 3 years on the weekend following Memorial Day weekend.....Two years ago and last year, the fishing was pretty good with many fish caught every day.....We camped on the pond each time and were joined almost every day by other fisherman doing day trips.....I was there this past weekend (same weekend as last 2 years) and the fishing pretty much sucked.....I had the whole pond to myself the entire trip and did not really see any other fishermen that were serious about it.....Any idea why the fishing was no good this year and why nobody else was fishing there? The only thing I can say I noticed is that the water felt very cold compared to the last 2 years.....Is the fishing behind schedule this year due to the wet and cool weather we have had so far this year?

Just trying to figure out what was wrong this trip.....

Phil

[gmorin71]

could be a number of things. If you were joined by other fishermen, then I would assume it is probably a well known place. If you were getting into decent fish, that could draw people and result in some over fishing. I have seen 2 of my favorite ponds become essentially worthless because people just won't leave it the hell alone and stop killing fish out of them.

That is a possibility, but it is more likely that you just didn't get into them. the fishing schedule was a bit off, but there's no issue with it now so you should've been fine. sometimes thats just the way it goes.

[St.Regis]

Sounds like you might have been there when the pond was going through its spring turnover. That can be tough fishing during that period.

[vtpaws]

It’s been so cool the water temp is still quite low. From what I have read and experienced, the optimum water temp for active trout feeding is 55-65. They just don’t move around as much in cold water - and insects that you imitate with dry flies are not present at those temps. So nymphs and streamers are best bet but even with those it’s slow.
A friend is up in blue ribbon trout water in NH this week and he said fishing has been super slow. He said water temp was 42 degrees.
I am interested in reading other thoughts.

[webby459]

^I think it may just be the cool weather, heavy melt and late ice out. I'm not a very good angler and haven't even been out fishing for trout yet, but even fishing a week or so ago in spots that would normally yield nice bass or pan fish the results were skunky.

[adkfishing]

Water temps / levels are definitely a few weeks behind normal conditions this year up in the Adirondacks.

[WNYakker]

Thank you all for your replies!!! I figured it was most likely due to the colder water temps.....It was really noticeable that the water was cold....Even while paddling any little breeze was quite cool as it moved across the colder water.....

Phil

[ewthielking]

Ice out was late this year. One can ‘kind of’ gauge when ice-out will occur, by watching web cameras on the internet. Late May is about right though, normally.

In Ontario (Due WNW of Lake Placid), Ice Out in Algonquin Park is published and tracked (it heralds the spring opening of remote camping/canoe season). For those who don’t live in the Capital District, it’s another good resource for planning.

Vegetable Gardens in Hamilton County will be sparce this year.


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