Post by billbo on Apr 29, 2005 16:13:01 GMT -5
This is an article that was forwarded to me. There was no date so I have no idea when it was written but I would assume 50's-60's. I didn't receive it from Len Hartman, it was supposedly found at Musky.com
Good read.
As follows
Black Lake
From: Len Hartman
Courtesy of: Larry Ramsell © 2000 - All Rights Reserved
Black lake is in northern New York state and is probably the most under fished Muskie lake being overshadowed by the St. Lawrence River. Just twenty-five miles from the "Larry", Muskie fishermen prefer the river for their Muskie fishing. This lake is over twenty miles long and up to 1½ miles at its greatest width. This lake has produced several Muskie over forty pounds and walleye fishermen are constantly catching Muskie to twenty pounds while fishing the popular walleye producing holes.
Early season fishing offers the better fishing because once the weed beds appear you will have limited water to fish. The weed beds get so thick that walleye fishermen use a new method of catching walleye by jigging the open holes between the weeds. Some even carry a lawn rake and rake open a hole in the weeds and fish the new opening with great results. And, on occasion, they hook Muskie and big pike to 18 pounds. But few are landed because the walleye fishermen use 8 to 10 pound test line.
Black lake is just that, the water has a dark appearance until late fall when it clears up quite a bit because of the chilling water. A road crosses the lake near the middle and walleye fishermen catch their limit of them in short order. Here the water is open channel water and on occasion good Muskie are caught to thirty pounds. Early morning, late evening and night fishing produce best.
My first experience came one opening day when we fished for walleye. Catching the fish we wanted to eat we just kept on fishing throwing back one walleye after another along with an occasional pike. A good muskie surfaced and we quickly switched to heavier tackle and lures. Now muskie are closed until mid-June so it was strictly to test the waters so to speak.
Perhaps a thousand casts later switching from surface to under water lures Bets hit the first muskie an eighteen pounder which we beached and released. This muskie was full of roe. Casting another hour we would occasionally hook a big walleye and some respectable pike over ten pounds. Had one muskie follow up and that was it.
We had driven over one evening after the muskie opened to sample the waters. We started fishing an hour before dark and worked the channel on both sides of the bridge noting that weeds beds appeared all over the place and cut down the open fishing water.
A muskie broke the surface almost under the bridge so I cast a Dalton Special in the very spot he appeared. Three casts later I had a follow up. I figured the Muskie at twenty pounds plus. No hit. Next cast a Muskie hit my lure almost as soon as the lure started its trip back to shore. This was a 26 pounder. Looked a bit bigger than the first follow up.
All this time Bets was fishing the other side of the road and I went running when I hear her call for me. As I arrived she was in the process of wearing down a good size muskie. After she landed this muskie we figured it at 31 pounds. Before this catch she had landed two under ten pounds and had another follow up.
Darkness had overtaken us and the mosquitoes proved quite aggressive so we cut the nights fishing short catching another Muskie near twelve pounds.
Mid-August we decided to fish the lake using a boat to get to some of the open channel water up lake from the bridge. The lake widens out to its widest three miles above the bridge. Plenty of open water and many big rocks just inches above the surface. This meant many just inches under water so you traveled with caution.
Picking an area with channels in all directions, we sounded the water and found
the depth ran from a few feet to twenty at places. So surface lures were used. Tried them all and I finally hit pay dirt on a splashy tarpon plug made by Atom Mfg. Co Attleboro Mass. .Ordinarily this plug will sink right to the bottom with out a fast retrieve. Once you start cranking you keep the speed up to keep the lure running along the surface. The Muskie was a fifteen pounder.
Shortly after switching into another channel I hit another which turned out to be eleven pounds. Bets hooked one on her Atom splasher which weighed 14 pounds.
In a distant channel we saw a good Muskie break water and proceeded slowly to the area. Six casts later Bets hooked a good muskie that weighed 34 pounds. Now that’s a respectable muskie. And here we were fishing a lake with not another boat in sight. Only fishermen we saw were fishing down lake off the bridge.
Mid-September found us again on the lake only this time we decided to fish below the bridge because the wind was strong and the closer we fished the oncoming wind, the lower the waves. The water seemed a bit clearer and we could see our lure coming under water easier.
Going down one channel and drifting back another we figured this way we would be fishing undisturbed waters. Saw a Muskie surface but out of range and figure to fish toward him on the drift rather than go to him. Looking in all directions, we noted we were again the only boat on the water.
Had a follow up by a ten pounder soon to be followed by Bets hooking a 19 pounder. Next she hooked one twelve pounds. Finally, I hit one that weighed 28 pounds. By now we had drifted to the area where we sighted the earlier surfaced Muskie.
Two casts and I hooked a dandy. I had ten pound line on but he headed right into a weed bed and that was all she wrote. Had to be over thirty-five pounds from the width of its back as it surfaced.
Next channel produced a ten and twelve pounder. By now we were nearing one of the many stumps to be found in the lake. I switched to a black jitterbug and dropped it a foot from the stump. After allowing the lure to rest about fifteen seconds, I started the retrieve. The water exploded and my lure went sailing several feet into the air. He nozed the lure and as it hit the water he grabbed it and took off straight toward me and with me cranking wildly to take up the slack line.
This muskie had a big head and I figured him at forty pounds. Bets had to stop fishing and take over operation of the boat. He would make good hard runs and I knew if he headed into a weed bed it was all over. He enjoyed the fight and chose the channel to show his strength. The water in the channel, we found out later, was only eight feet deep so he stayed on the surface showing himself at least a dozen times but never jumped. After a bit over a half hour we boated the 4I¼ pound muskie. A beautiful dark colored muskie from the dark water he lived in.
Black lake is a great muskie lake and over the years when we fished it occasionally we only once saw a boat with two fishermen fishing for Muskie. They had boated two at 16 and 22 pounds The biggest fishing is for walleye with the open hole jigging being the method used to fish for them. Besides walleye, you catch bass, pike and respectable Muskie. It’s a tough lake to fish; weeds, rocks and sunken logs presenting a problem. But you will catch muskie if you care to earn them.
Good read.
As follows
Black Lake
From: Len Hartman
Courtesy of: Larry Ramsell © 2000 - All Rights Reserved
Black lake is in northern New York state and is probably the most under fished Muskie lake being overshadowed by the St. Lawrence River. Just twenty-five miles from the "Larry", Muskie fishermen prefer the river for their Muskie fishing. This lake is over twenty miles long and up to 1½ miles at its greatest width. This lake has produced several Muskie over forty pounds and walleye fishermen are constantly catching Muskie to twenty pounds while fishing the popular walleye producing holes.
Early season fishing offers the better fishing because once the weed beds appear you will have limited water to fish. The weed beds get so thick that walleye fishermen use a new method of catching walleye by jigging the open holes between the weeds. Some even carry a lawn rake and rake open a hole in the weeds and fish the new opening with great results. And, on occasion, they hook Muskie and big pike to 18 pounds. But few are landed because the walleye fishermen use 8 to 10 pound test line.
Black lake is just that, the water has a dark appearance until late fall when it clears up quite a bit because of the chilling water. A road crosses the lake near the middle and walleye fishermen catch their limit of them in short order. Here the water is open channel water and on occasion good Muskie are caught to thirty pounds. Early morning, late evening and night fishing produce best.
My first experience came one opening day when we fished for walleye. Catching the fish we wanted to eat we just kept on fishing throwing back one walleye after another along with an occasional pike. A good muskie surfaced and we quickly switched to heavier tackle and lures. Now muskie are closed until mid-June so it was strictly to test the waters so to speak.
Perhaps a thousand casts later switching from surface to under water lures Bets hit the first muskie an eighteen pounder which we beached and released. This muskie was full of roe. Casting another hour we would occasionally hook a big walleye and some respectable pike over ten pounds. Had one muskie follow up and that was it.
We had driven over one evening after the muskie opened to sample the waters. We started fishing an hour before dark and worked the channel on both sides of the bridge noting that weeds beds appeared all over the place and cut down the open fishing water.
A muskie broke the surface almost under the bridge so I cast a Dalton Special in the very spot he appeared. Three casts later I had a follow up. I figured the Muskie at twenty pounds plus. No hit. Next cast a Muskie hit my lure almost as soon as the lure started its trip back to shore. This was a 26 pounder. Looked a bit bigger than the first follow up.
All this time Bets was fishing the other side of the road and I went running when I hear her call for me. As I arrived she was in the process of wearing down a good size muskie. After she landed this muskie we figured it at 31 pounds. Before this catch she had landed two under ten pounds and had another follow up.
Darkness had overtaken us and the mosquitoes proved quite aggressive so we cut the nights fishing short catching another Muskie near twelve pounds.
Mid-August we decided to fish the lake using a boat to get to some of the open channel water up lake from the bridge. The lake widens out to its widest three miles above the bridge. Plenty of open water and many big rocks just inches above the surface. This meant many just inches under water so you traveled with caution.
Picking an area with channels in all directions, we sounded the water and found
the depth ran from a few feet to twenty at places. So surface lures were used. Tried them all and I finally hit pay dirt on a splashy tarpon plug made by Atom Mfg. Co Attleboro Mass. .Ordinarily this plug will sink right to the bottom with out a fast retrieve. Once you start cranking you keep the speed up to keep the lure running along the surface. The Muskie was a fifteen pounder.
Shortly after switching into another channel I hit another which turned out to be eleven pounds. Bets hooked one on her Atom splasher which weighed 14 pounds.
In a distant channel we saw a good Muskie break water and proceeded slowly to the area. Six casts later Bets hooked a good muskie that weighed 34 pounds. Now that’s a respectable muskie. And here we were fishing a lake with not another boat in sight. Only fishermen we saw were fishing down lake off the bridge.
Mid-September found us again on the lake only this time we decided to fish below the bridge because the wind was strong and the closer we fished the oncoming wind, the lower the waves. The water seemed a bit clearer and we could see our lure coming under water easier.
Going down one channel and drifting back another we figured this way we would be fishing undisturbed waters. Saw a Muskie surface but out of range and figure to fish toward him on the drift rather than go to him. Looking in all directions, we noted we were again the only boat on the water.
Had a follow up by a ten pounder soon to be followed by Bets hooking a 19 pounder. Next she hooked one twelve pounds. Finally, I hit one that weighed 28 pounds. By now we had drifted to the area where we sighted the earlier surfaced Muskie.
Two casts and I hooked a dandy. I had ten pound line on but he headed right into a weed bed and that was all she wrote. Had to be over thirty-five pounds from the width of its back as it surfaced.
Next channel produced a ten and twelve pounder. By now we were nearing one of the many stumps to be found in the lake. I switched to a black jitterbug and dropped it a foot from the stump. After allowing the lure to rest about fifteen seconds, I started the retrieve. The water exploded and my lure went sailing several feet into the air. He nozed the lure and as it hit the water he grabbed it and took off straight toward me and with me cranking wildly to take up the slack line.
This muskie had a big head and I figured him at forty pounds. Bets had to stop fishing and take over operation of the boat. He would make good hard runs and I knew if he headed into a weed bed it was all over. He enjoyed the fight and chose the channel to show his strength. The water in the channel, we found out later, was only eight feet deep so he stayed on the surface showing himself at least a dozen times but never jumped. After a bit over a half hour we boated the 4I¼ pound muskie. A beautiful dark colored muskie from the dark water he lived in.
Black lake is a great muskie lake and over the years when we fished it occasionally we only once saw a boat with two fishermen fishing for Muskie. They had boated two at 16 and 22 pounds The biggest fishing is for walleye with the open hole jigging being the method used to fish for them. Besides walleye, you catch bass, pike and respectable Muskie. It’s a tough lake to fish; weeds, rocks and sunken logs presenting a problem. But you will catch muskie if you care to earn them.