Saratoga Lake Crappies

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eagleed
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2007/03/23 09:25:01 (permalink)

Saratoga Lake Crappies

Don't give up on the ice fishing season just yet!  Now is the best time for crappie fishing on Saratoga Lake, especially off Fitch Road in the weed beds.  Small jigs tipped with Mr. Twister soft baits in green/yellow are dynamite.

Eagle Ed
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    HookLineSinker
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    RE: Saratoga Lake Crappies 2007/03/29 13:04:45 (permalink)
    Hey Ed, long time. How much ice do you have up there? I just took a ride down to the Mohawk. All ice gone, and I'm thinking about taking my boat out this weekend.

    Ballston Lake has a nice spot for crappies as well. It's on the far north end of the lake. I'm planning on dropping some crappie attractor houses down to make for some even better fishing.
    #2
    backin79
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    RE: Saratoga Lake Crappies 2007/03/30 20:49:04 (permalink)
    hey , thought i'd drop in one more time on the ice fishing forum before switching to salmon river or other nys fishing forum. Trout season opener will be too high most streams but i'm going to try finding open spooning water by me in the parks resies. i know you guys must still have ice but i would use extreme caution as the weather warms. Ed hope all is well with the mrs. and to you and hook maybe someday we will fish the same stretch! try dragging off the ice along open shoreline blue/silver 3/16 to 1/4 crocs using a 6 ft light medium g-loomis with a 1000 shimano stradic or better spooled with 6lbtest fireline. worked for me for years. good luck
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    HookLineSinker
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    RE: Saratoga Lake Crappies 2007/03/31 19:36:08 (permalink)
    Excellent Back. I've got 2 row boats wasting space in my garage. Which NYC resies in the Catskills do you recommend? I'm thinking Ashokan (because that's the closest to me), and Pepacton or Rondout for the monster trout.

    And yes, I've got my arsenal of blue/silver crocs ready to drag off the ice. Probably try it up at Lake George when possible.
    #4
    New York Yank
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    RE: Saratoga Lake Crappies 2007/04/01 22:03:02 (permalink)
    Blue & Silver crocs? OK you guys got me on this one.  I don't know of this method... I am pretty sure a croc is just a little icefishing spoon with a hook dangling from a chain.  Let me in on it will ya? Give me a reason to drag some hardwater stuff back out.
    Hook, I wish i had your problem of excess boats laying around... if it was me, I'd take Pepacton because of it's proximity to some dynamite trout streams. I have heard of monster browns there, but I don't have a boat to lay in the woods all year at some NYC reservoir I might fish once or twice all year. I know the reasoning for that rule, but it still sucks.
    #5
    HookLineSinker
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    RE: Saratoga Lake Crappies 2007/04/02 14:39:11 (permalink)
    Yeah Yank, they are the spoons you are thinking of. They cast a mile, and it's always been a tradition of mine to cast them from shore, onto the ice, and drag them to open water. 
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    backin79
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    RE: Saratoga Lake Crappies 2007/04/02 16:25:24 (permalink)
    yes hook especially with 6lb. fireline.. just use a quality barrel and a flourocarbon leader of the same test.. listen i been doing this for well over 25 yrs. been on all the upper catskill city waters.. pepacton is nice but i would if i were you put a boat or even both on the ashokan..one the upper basin and one the lower because that impoundment will do well all summer with many more warm water species. the other lakes are only good early for big smelly lake trout like roundout.. even the big browns i let go cause they taste like mud. i guess it is a combination of what they feed on( oily alwewives) know down here as sawbellies. I just can not believe how expensive nys gasoline prices are! here in nj 2.50 upstate it is almost 3 bucks a gallon! i doubt very much i will afford the luxuary of visiting all my favorite fishing spots. Wish alternative energy fuels were now available.. i need a stron truck not these little dinky foldup compacts!..lol.. i will vote hillary if that is what it takes to rid these oil family people running our country into the dirt. Yes if you ever go to pepacton fish the coves .. go to al's bait tackle below the dam for crocs.  also ashokan is hot too early for trout.. plus you get a chance at taking the illusive monster walleyes that are caught on occasions. For you people close to capital district, i would recommend ashokan and it has beauitful headwaters to enjoy as well. Esopus creek use to be real good 20+ years ago but not anymore.. just stockies and rare to catch runners because of exploitation and heavy flooding.. and the dec not watching over the poor native fish. That shandaken tunnel is washed out with chemicals and that impacted the esopus over the years too. Sad i seen this all happen. but i still enjoy it all. good luck.. this opener was still frozen and the streams very ice cold. Give it at least three more weeks before starting the season. Be sure to apply for a city water permit as you probably already know.
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    backin79
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    RE: Saratoga Lake Crappies 2007/04/02 16:42:23 (permalink)
    by the way hook, they all have those monster browns. I caught my biggest native rainbow in the lower shokan 9 and a quarter lb roe on a sawbelly off my jon boat in the 70ft channel middle from the frying pan to weir intake about 45ft down about 20yrs ago. catch others close that size and 10lb browns too. not many walleye even the better good old days.. probably much less walleye nowadays as the rumors go. but it is a pretty mt resie hard to beat as for scenery.From my experience, it is a matter of timing when to fish these impoundments. Alot of factors to consider first and foremost is surface temperature..time of day barameter moon phase water color flooding rainy sunny cold front warm front wind fog etc. thermocline and knowing the water you fish.. where the fish move along during the seasons. But they all have big fish in the teens. good luck
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    backin79
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    RE: Saratoga Lake Crappies 2007/04/02 16:54:49 (permalink)
    this fishing is certainly not for everyone. on average if you get two monsters per visit in early spring ,you are doing above avg. later in may and early june your odds in a boat increase you chance for success because you can find the thermocline. this year i'm actually considering an electric thermometer. debating those lightweight telescopic finders but like something to backpack .. when carrying paddles bait down shokan boat paths are usually long trails, you really want stay light and go real compact with equipment. instead of carrying a heavy ball/mini downrigger.. this yr. i may buy directional dipsie divers for trolling flutters. when alone i like trolling lures especially early spring..later in may and june like drifting bait.
    post edited by backin79 - 2007/04/02 16:59:05
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    backin79
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    RE: Saratoga Lake Crappies 2007/04/02 17:12:02 (permalink)
    i almost forgot to mention hook, you have nice fish in lake george and i always wanted to try that smelt shore bonanza.When the smelt are chased by monster salmonoids along the shoals..that must be fast action! also ausable river in champlain offers nice landlocks.. troll nightcrawlers early as i remembered once a bunch of us did a riverlodge thing and the landlocks were avg 3 to 4 lbers. we caught a half dozen. so you have quality nearby either way!
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    HookLineSinker
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    RE: Saratoga Lake Crappies 2007/04/08 21:05:37 (permalink)
    Thanks for all the tips Back. I really miss living in Westchester. I knew most of the resies there like the back of my hand. But I'm excited for the challenge of learning new waters. The Ashokan and Pepacton are so massive, it's hard to tell where to even begin. But I will try Ashokan as it's the closest to me. I doubt I'll do anything on Lake George with a dinky rowboat. I can see getting bounced around by waterskiers, jetskiers, etc. I'm still saving up for an inexpensive motorized boat. I'll probably hire a charter on Great Sacandaga for a day, just for kicks.

    And I know what you mean about the browns tasting muddy. I don't bring any browns or lakers home anymore. Maybe if I land a 15lb+, I'll put it on the wall.
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