Fishing the Adirondacks
 True
or False:
There are no fish left in the Adirondacks due to acid rain.
FALSE! And to the contrary of that popularly held belief, many
Adirondack and Tug Hill waters are teeming with breeding poulations of Brook, Brown, Lake
and Rainbow Trout. Many lakes and ponds have outstanding Bass fishing and in some of the
bigger lakes you'll find Walleyes, Northern Pike, Muskies, Splake and even landlocked
Salmon. Many a remote mountain pond will reward you with a pan full of delicious
Brook Trout and on occaision you'll catch a trophy like the ones pictured here. There's no
better way to top off top off a bushwacking adventure then with a memorable battle
and a delicious shore dinner. That's a female Brook Trout I caught and that's my cousin's
son Kyle (bottom of the page) with two beautiful males caught in late July, 05. Both
locations were off the beaten path and required substantial hikes or portages to get
there. The DEC website can give you a hint where to go by looking at the stocking information by
county. Most of the places they stock they have been stocking for many years and that
means that there are plenty of older and bigger fish and usually healthy breeding
populations. |
Now, I'm not saying that acid rain is not a problem. Acid rain -- mostly from
outside our state -- has had a devistating effect, particularly on areas in higher
elevations where many lakes are still so acidic that they cannot support any healthy fish
populations (here's more on fish populations and acid rain.) What
I'm saying is that, from my experience, fishing appears to be improving and there are
plenty of places that you can wet a line and catch fish. Sometimes, lots of fish.
Sometimes BIG fish. (For more acid rain information see our advocacy
links page)Trout Species in the Adirondacks
The colorful Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis, pictured at the top and bottom of this
page) is the official New York State fish and along with Lake Trout (Salvelinus
namaycush) are the only truely native trout to New York State. That's right, both
Brown and Rainbow Trout are non-native species that were introduced to New York Sate in
the late 1800's.
The picture to the right is a nice Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) I caught on the
last day of the season in 2004 and below is a Rainbow (Salmo gairdnerii) I took out of the
same hole on the same day!
So, next time the fishing bug bites you, go to the mountains, hop in your canoe or
bushwhack to a spot you always wanted to fish and give it a try. Bring a backpacking
stove, a skillet and some butter and you might be in for a great surprise.
Here's my rustic Trout recipe. What
are you waitng for... GO FISH! |
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