Friday, December 15, 2017

December 15th, 2017


Photo by Carla Kolbe

Lake Temperature:


As I give this report, it is 7 degrees in Mayfield, and with these temperatures we should make a couple inches of ice each day. Mayfield and Northville Lakes have been froze over for a week now. 

Ice Report:


Mayfield Lake has 4" of ice on it as of this morning. 

Sacandaga Lake looks like it froze over last night completely, but not quite sure about the middle. 

The bays of Sacandaga have been froze for 4-5 days now. But from Sinclair point all the way north past the Northville bridge has been frozen the longest. In front of sport island pub is about 3.5" of ice.  

Die-hard fishermen should be able to go out and fish in front of sport island pub and for the less brave, Mayfield and Northville lakes should be pretty safe this weekend. There's about 4-5" of snow across the area with no snow on the ice. The fishing should be excellent as it always is with first ice. 


Water Level:


Water levels are perfect for this time of year so we should have no radical ice movement barring any rainstorms. 

There's not much else to report until thicker ice but with looking at the extended forecast my prediction is we will be riding the sacandaga relatively safely in 2 weeks.  

TIP OF THE WEEK: 


For the old-schoolers, clean the carbs on your sled before you ride. For the rest of us, gotta love EFI.

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

August 22, 2018

Photo taken this week by Joanne Passero

Water Temperature:

is 78 Degrees at the surface
77 at 20 feet down


Lake Level:

Sorry for the 2 month delay in reporting, but there was not much change in July and the first part of August that was worth reporting. other than the water temperature actually reached 80 degrees at the end of July for 4 days!

The Lake level is EXACTLY where it is supposed to be for this time of year, which means...

Most of the Trap Islands are still under water
There is a descent amount of Island at Sand Island, but nowhere near as much as last year.

The SW end of Scout Island is at perfect level to pull up your boat right now (IF you have a permit)

I would only attempt to go through stump ally with a PONTOON. Even then ..... As there is only 2-3 feet of water.

BUT there are plenty of places to pull up in the sand IF you come in from the Northampton side.

The sand bar is starting to show pretty well at the Northampton Campground. That is a pretty descent spot to pull up.

Also all the Marinas still have plenty of water INCLUDING Lakeside and Wally's.

And remember Ponderosa Pines has courtesy docks and now so does Placid Pines, and there is plenty of calm water at both including Captain Nauti's. 

Start to pay special attention to the hazard and navigation buoys in the next couple weeks as new hazards begin to appear. But it is not as important as in past years as the water isn't as low.


Fishing:

Small Walleyes in abundance, but have slowed a bit this past week
Small-Mouth Bass are hitting Good
Decent sized Perch
Northerns have been spotty
Trout - the guys that know what they are doing have been doing well.


Tip of the Week:

Stay off Yacht Island without a permit!


Look Out Next week for our VIDEO lake report (Second EVER)

Get Your 2018 Visit Sacandaga Calendar Here:

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Thursday, June 22, 2017

June 22nd, 2017

Water Temperature:

66 Degrees at the surface,
58 Degrees about 15 feet down.


Water Level:

The level is down about 2 feet from the last Lake Report on June 6th. This makes the Lake ideal for boating.

Stump Ally has plenty of water and if the lake continues at this rate it should be good until August 1st or so.

There is a little more sand at Sand Island to the South East Side, but still lacking on the side towards Scout Island and the Broadalbin Boat launch.

There are not a lot of sandy spots to pull up on right now. The Sand bar at Northampton Campgrounds is still under water BUT most of the campsites are not! Only a few are closed due to flooding.

All docks - marinas and personal should be at a pretty good level.

This is a good time to explore beyond some of the bays. If you go up the river past Lakeside Tavern towards route 30 by the sand pit there were quite a few boats ties together last weekend.

If your boat isn't too tall to go under the Northville Bridge, you can go up the river a few miles. If you have a Cuddy under 20-22 feet you can probably make it almost to the bridges in Hope.

These are great spots - so take advantage of this water level while you can!

All marinas are fully accessible - even the slips close to shore have about 7 feet of water.

Although this is opposite of last year, given all the rain we have had in the last month, it is amazing that the lake is not as high as it could be!

Fishing:

Walleye: are good but small 15" - 17"

Northerns: are slowing down a bit

Browns: are pretty good for people trolling fast enough

Tip of the Week: 

DO NOT LEAVE WORMS IN YOUR COOLER - if you aren't coming back until next week! You will NOT like what you find!As a matter of fact, just throw the cooler away!

(Coolers available at Gordon's Ship Store)

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

June 6th, 2017

Water Temperature:

62 Degrees at the surface
58 Degrees at 20 feet down


Water Level:

In spite of all the rain not much has changed since the last lake report. The lake level is actually down about 6 inches. They have been doing a good job of regulating the lake level and the gates have been wide open.

So to recap - lats of water for safe travel - not very much beach.

Fishing:

The fishing is much better than the last lake report!

  • Walleye have been really good
  • Northerns never really took off, There have been quite a few at around 30 inches
  • Bass have been good - but you cannot keep them until Father's Day weekend.

Tip of the Week:

Check the battery in your bilge! It has been working overtime!



Friday, May 19, 2017

May 19th 2017

Water Temperature:

60 Degrees at the Surface at Gordon's Marine

Lake Level:

The Lake was almost at Spill level last week but had dropped about 2 feet since then. It is at 768 which means it will be at a perfect level for BOATING by Memorial Day Weekend.

As far as boating you can go just about anywhere you want to go including stump ally! The traps are under water.Most of the Sandbars are underwater as well.

Deer island is a danger at the moment, so be careful there.

There is not much beach at the moment, but there are some spots on Sand Island.

All the courtesy docks are in and the water is at a nice level to enjoy them.
We are right on track for this time of year - but about 3 feet higher than last year - so keep that in mind.

This is a good time of Year to Explore! Pontoons can make it up to Kenyetto and Rout 30 at Sunset Bay. Up River you can make it almost to the second bridge crossing - which is really the town of Hope!


Fishing:

Walleye: are Biting!!! The shallows are good for gigging and trolling

Northerns: a few big ones have been caught but they are slower than years past.

Trout: are Biting!!1 The Lake was just stocked 3 weeks ago and there were some really bug ones this year!

Overall - Fishing is Average.

Tip of the Week:

Make sure you put your plug in your boat AND make sure your battery is charged!

Friday, March 17, 2017

March 17th, 2017

Water Temperature:

is below 32 as the lake is frozen

Ice Report:

The Lake is frozen and it looks good because of all the snow that has just fallen - BUT STAY OFF THE LAKE.
The water has come up about 8' and the snow is covering up all the bad spots where there is only an inch or so of ice.

The snow is labor intensive for your machine. Best case scenario is you blow a belt, worst case you will blow your engine. If this happens and you are in a bad spot, your machine will definitely go in the lake, but even in a safer spot, no one is going to want to be out there to help you!

The good news is that they are grooming the trails. Mayfield Lake is good and they are crossing Caroga and Canada Lakes.

Fishing:

Closed March 15th, and it is difficult to give an accurate report as no one was really out there the last couple of weeks due to the conditions.
BUT they were biting really good at the end of February.

Tip of the Week:

We were given a gift this last week so get your skis and your snowshoes back out! Enjoy this last little bit of Winter. Ride your sled!

I am predicting 3 weeks before the ice is out!

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Walleye Challenge Cancelled

As good as winter started out a month ago, I never thought we would have had to worry about making a decision on weather we would have the contest or not.
It's with great disappointment that I am writing this email canceling the walleye challenge. Especially since we have 10 to 12 inches of ice which is plenty thick enough.
The problem isn't the thickness of the ice this year, it is its instability. The water froze good and early this year, but the water level was very low, and with the recent thaw and rain, it raised the water level. This in turn shifted and fractured the ice, which caused ridges and splits to form all across the ice. In a lot of areas where we have never seen them form before. We found a lot of ice breaks to be running parallel to each other 50 to 100 feet apart which I have personally never seen before.
The trouble is these areas are impassable by 4 wheeler or side by side's (which some people have found out the hard way) recently. Snowmobiles do have the ability to skip across them, but about 90% of ice fisherman don't use snowmobile's they use 4 wheelers or side by sides. So essentially these fractures in the ice have quarantined fisherman to different areas of the lake.
But because of the nature of the walleye challenge and so many people coming from out of the area not familiar with our lake. You have to be able to go from one side of the lake to the other and from any end of the lake to any weigh station as soon you catch a fish. In my opinion you can not safely do this at this time especially with above freezing weather and more rain in the forecast this week.
These areas are only going to become worse and not refreeze in the upcoming week this is why we have decided to cancel the walleye challenge.
With that being said, this spring we will be discussing moving the date a couple weeks later to maybe insure better ice since we have had to cancel 2 years in a row and I do not want to again.
Everything will be given away by random draw at Lanzi's on the Lake starting at noon on January 28th.