Wednesday, February 28, 2018

February 27th, 2018

Here is a mid-week lake report.












This one is going to be a little different, mostly pictures, so everybody can see for themselves how good the lake is. I have to admit, this is the second best I’ve seen the lake all season.

The only bad spot I’ve seen is off the point of Griffis Road to the Sandbar off of Scout Island.

If you’re taking a wheeled vehicle from Wally’s to Lakeside make sure to go over the Sandbar on the Scout Island side - do not stay on the ice between the Sandbar and Griffis Road. Snowmobiles will have to stay on the ice because it’s bare dirt and rocks over the Sandbar, but they can skip over the open water no problem.

The way to avoid any of this is stay to the Broadalbin side of Scout Island (aka the main channel) and you won’t have to worry whether you’re on a snowmobile or wheeled vehicle, you’ll be fine.

We’ve got 20”-23” of ice and we haven’t lost the shoreline.

They’re releasing the water out of the lake starting today, so the water will not rise anymore, which is perfect. It’s going to be a great weekend on the lake. And it’s going to be a full moon. Fishing: Mostly bass today.


Tip of the Week:

Watch out for tip-ups this weekend.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

February 23rd, 2018

(Here’s the all important after the thaw lake report..)

Ice Report

The lake is actually in better shape than it was last week.
With the snow yesterday it's a little slushy but not bad at all.

The warm weather this week has melted the hard snow and flattened out the ruts.
There’s still 2’ of ice and the shorelines are fine.


As of 3pm on Friday the shore lines are fine, easy still driving on and off with wheeled vehicles pulling shanty’s. But there’s about 3” of snow so you can ride snowmobiles no problem, it’s just a little slushy.

There’s no new heaves, only the same ones we’ve had that run by Deer Island back to Lanzi’s and along the shore from Lanzi’s to Sunset Bay.

The water level is up about 1.5” but it will take another 2.5” to reck the ice on the shore, and this should not happen due to the cooler weather and the fact that they will be releasing more water starting tomorrow.

Fishing

has been above average, with 113 Walleye turned in last weekend (lot of them averaging between 19-21”.)
The Perch and Northern have been biting good and the Trout are coming on strong and have really picked up in size.
You can still access all your favorite bars and restaurants with no problem. The riding should be excellent tomorrow!

Tip of the Week:

If you’re out in a snowstorm at night, bring a compass.

Friday, February 16, 2018

February 15th, 2018

(This is Lou’s Lake Report as of Thursday afternoon.)

Ice Report:

The ice is good.
The shoreline is good.
The snow has settled down a lot. This means that there’s plenty of snow for snowmobiles, but 4-wheelers and side x sides can still make it around out there.
There is still 21”-24” of ice and most of the heaves have settled down except for those that run from Hudson River to Sunset Bay. But this is a large one, so you can see it really good and it mainly runs along the shoreline.

THE SNOW CONDITIONS:

With the warmer temperatures tonight, the snow conditions will change a little, but it’s supposed to cool down to noon Friday and get into the single digits friday night which should stiffen the snow up perfectly for all transportation types. The only downside will be it will be a very rough ride.




Photo by Paul Brady‎
via Great Sacandaga Lake Friends 

Fishing

Has slowed down considerably in the last few weeks, right now were in a mid-February lul, but the walleyes have been biting better for this time of year although their sizes are a bit on the small side.
However, we will a definitely know after Saturday.
The bigger Northerns have seemed to stop biting a bit, but the Perch are still running huge and abundant.

Tip of the Week

This week there’s two.
  1.  If you’re debating on bringing your 4-wheeler or snowmobile to the Walleye Challenge, you can make it on either but a snowmobile will definitely get you to weigh stations easier and faster.
  2.  You do not need a fishing license this weekend, whether you’re from out of state or in state. It’s NY State free fishing weekend!

Saturday, February 10, 2018

February 9th, 2018

Ice Report:

21-24” and smooth
i rode the entire lake last Saturday before the snow storms. A lot of the heaves have flattened out since then – now that the ice has gone back down. The lake has become very smooth except for a couple of the big ridges which are visible over by Lanzi’s on the Lake and Sin Clair Point and another one back by Bunker Hill/ HRBR. Other than that the lake is very smooth.
we had 2 snow storms since and got a perfect amount of snow. With the last one riding was good. 4- wheelers and side x sides could still get through.
Now we have 1 1/2 feet of snow on the ice. It’s jond of like riding s jet-ski on a snowmobile. It’s a lot of fun actually! We haven’t been able to do this for about 3 years!
Now, 4wheelers and side x sides are not able to get through unless you plow or have tracks.
As I am giving this report we already have a couple of inches of new snow and visibility is about0 as it is coming down hard! It should settle out Nicky with a bit of sunshine
Tgere is no slush under the snow which makes riding great!

Fishing

Walleye are running good and about 16-17”
They are hitting in the morning and after 4 in the afternoon, not much fitting the day.
Perch are really hitting well. Size is good.
Northerns Are running steady too. The fishing holes are awesome-above average.
Trout are coming a bit too.

Tip of the Week

Have a heated shield or else you are not going to be able to see where you are going.

Friday, February 2, 2018

February 2nd, 2018

Ice Report:

The lake level is back on its way down and the shorelines are tightening back up, and we finally got some snow on it.
This weekend, side X sides and 4-wheelers should have no problem getting on and off the ice. There is a general 21-inches of ice across the lake with just a little bit of snow that we received Thursday morning on the surface.
There’s two large heaves that run from in front of Lanzi’s on the Lake. One of them runs all the way to Paradise Point Road in Sunset Bay. The other runs down along the shore towards Big Franks (where it typically runs every year.) You can find ways over and around them, just take your time.North of Batchellerville Bridge, there’s about 16-inches of ice. The only issue is with all the moving of the water up and then back down, it’s created a lot of heaves. Some are up to 5-feet tall and very visible, while others are only 6-12 inches and hard to see. If you hit any of these in the wrong direction with speed, it will be like hitting a wall.
There’s a small new heave that formed Tuesday that runs from the point of Vanderburg Point Road towards Scout and then parallel to it by the rock pile that emerged in front of Wally’s bay. This is a new one, which is not typically there, you can easily cross – just watch your speed.
Another one that I’ve saw this week, was from Close’s Farm running out beyond Beacon Island. Again, it’s a small one and easily crossed as long as you’re not going to fast.
I’ve also heard reports of many small heaves on the way through the channel going towards Northampton. I haven’t personally seen these, so I don’t know much more than that.
There’s another one runs from Sinclair Point back to Fishhouse Road. Again this is a small one but it may grow as the level of the lake lowers.
The flattest ice that I have found is from north of Sinclair point to north beyond Batchellerville bridge.
The point to all this is there are many heaves that may form and disappear day to day, so if its been a few weeks since you rode a sled on it, it’s a whole different lake. Especially since they are going to lower the Sacandaga 3-feet over the next 3 weeks. As of now there’s enough snow to ride snowmobiles, but not enough to hinder wheeled vehicles either. There’s no problem getting to Lakeside, Wally’s, Lanzi’s, Sport Island Pub (just don’t go near the Northville bridge), Captain Nauti’s, Ponderosa Pines and Old Trail.

Fishing

Walleye are still biting but they have slowed down toward the end of the week.
Northerns have actually picked up a little, but there size still runs small, with only a few above 40” being caught. Perch are running very big in the 12-14” range.
Few trout have been caught this last week.

Tip of the Week

Slow down. You have a way bigger chance getting hurt hitting something, than you do falling through. Please be especially careful at night.