Hey man...
I lived in Claryville for two years (25mi north of Liberty) and had a struggle trying to find good BOATING water within a reasonable drive. Sure, plenty of trout streams, and the reservoirs close by were cool for shore fishing or using rowboats on the Neversink or Rondout.
But midsummer I wanted to rip around and chase bass at 30 mph or at least have a breeze on my bald head in August.
If you have a boat and can get out midweek, White Lake really isn't that bad. It's really close to Monticello (as is Swinging Bridge, as mentioned, if you want bigger water) But steer FAR, FAR away from there on weekends, it is the craziest place I have ever seen. I used to hear a lot of bashing of the White Lake fishery, but I actually tended to do pretty well there. I found some nice browns and plenty of N-I-C-E smallies.
Mountain Bait and Tackle in Liberty is a cool little shop and the guy is wicked helpful. I always liked to swing in and buy a Crocodile to two and hear the latest updates. They've got bait too.
Don't believe what you read about that lake- the fishing is worthwhile, you just need to work around days of heavy boat traffic on a very small lake. And the rental boats? Don't get me started... They are nuts.
All of these fish below came out of White Lake in 2007, the last summer I lived down there. The lake is really split in two, but the southern side is best, in my opinion. Evening trolling with conehead streamers was my favorite.
Real slow and as deep as you can get 'em for browns and smallies:
post edited by Neversink Jimmy - 2009/08/10 21:47:52