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At the Lumberjack getting breakfast on our way home 

 

3 days at Saranac Islands 

 

Did about 40 bass . A lot of dinks but a few nice largemouth up to 4# 

 

Also got about 8 pike up to 8# 

 

 Small Bass pro stico 3 and 4 " Sure thing Color  and watermelon red flake . The

 

#5 Mepps black/ gold for the pike .

 

 

Not the best fishing but for the whole package , it's hard to beat . Love seeing the mountain mist on the water at dawn and seeing the Sun come up over the mountains . The fresh air . The call of the loon as I sleep in my tent . Blueberry pancakes off my cast iron pan I had since I was a kid . 

 

I pride myself as being a multi faceted/ species angler . I can jig, cast a musky plug , throw a fly for steelhead or stream trout , or troll for salmon . And love it all,. 

 

 

It amazes me that I talked to a lot of,people from the western New York area that have never been to the ADK 

Mtns . You owe it to yourselves and your kids to experience it at least once . 

KIMG0818.jpg

Edited by HB2
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You had me until you said "tent".

At the Lumberjack getting breakfast on our way home 
 
3 days at Saranac Islands 
 
Did about 40 bass . A lot of dinks but a few nice largemouth up to 4# 
 
Also got about 8 pike up to 8# 
 
 Small Bass pro stico 3 and 4 " Sure thing Color  and watermelon red flake . The
 
#5 Mepps black/ gold for the pike .
 
 
Not the best fishing but for the whole package , it's hard to beat . Love seeing the mountain mist on the water at dawn and seeing the Sun come up over the mountains . The fresh air . The call of the loon as I sleep in my tent . Blueberry pancakes off my cast iron pan I had since I was a kid . 
 
I pride myself as being a multi faceted/ species angler . I can jig, cast a musky plug , throw a fly for steelhead or stream trout , or troll for salmon . And love it all,. 
 
 
It amazes me that I talked to a lot of,people from the western New York area that have never been to the ADK 
Mtns . You owe it to yourselves and your kids to experience it at least once . 
KIMG0818.thumb.jpg.908c30c04be5f908b82f09bbe71642a1.jpg


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Hey HB2,

I'm jealous. A trip to the Adirondacks is like going home to me. I couldn't agree with you more that there's nothing better than seeing the sun come up over those mountains and a summer mist on the water. And camping on the islands, man, that's the best. I'm kind of glad that some people don't like roughing it, otherwise it would get even more crowded. Twenty-five years ago, when my kids were in their early teens, we used to camp on the islands for a week every summer, then stretched it to ten days because everybody thought a week was too short. Now my kids are grown, with families of their own, but they still talk about those trips and how much fun they had. It's a state of mind you can't appreciate until you've tried it. It all really fits in with the quote from Henry David Thoreau- "Man fishes a lifetime before he realizes it's not the fish he's after".

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And how much did it cost . 

 

 

2 nights 50$ 

 

2 tanks of gas for the truck 125$ 

 

3 gallons for the boat . 12 $ 

 

 2 breakfast at the Lumberjack 45$ 

 

35 $ for a bottle of Black Fly  Bourbon made in the Keene valley at a,flea market  ( impulse buy ) .

 

Can't count the food as we cooked in camp and we would have to eat home . 

 

About 10 worms and 2 jigheads 5$ 

 

 

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We both forgot to mention sitting around the campfire at night, sky full of stars,yukkin' it up about any number of subjects, no traffic, no crowds- what else have I missed? And there's some great river fishing not too far away- the Saranac, the Ausable, the Raquette (for bass), travel a little farther there's the St. Regis, the Salmon (Franklin county), the Boquet- plus, about a hundred other lakes and ponds. But I digress.

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We've vacationed at the Saranac chain twice in the past three years and it's been a blast each time. Very different trips though. We do cottages rather than tenting, but with our kayaks we're always on new water exploring every day. And with the Lund at the dock in front of the cottage, it's easy to spend the first hour of the day lighting up smallmouth off the points and be back in times for coffee and flapjacks.

 

Our first trip was to a place on the channel between Lake Flower and Oseetah, which is right near the actual town of Saranac Lake. Our second trip was a place located 20 minutes up the dirt road on the East side of Upper Saranac Lake. We're heading to Placid at the end of this month for a short 3-day trip, too.

 

If anybody wants information or opinions on the Saranac region, don't hesitate to pm me. It's a fantastic place to visit.

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  • 1 month later...

I've been going to the Adirondacks for about 55 years.  I just returned from 2 weeks in a camp in Eagle Bay on the Fulton Chain.  I got three days back in the Moose River Plains, I would have gone in for the whole 2 weeks, but my wife's idea of roughing it anymore is when you can't get HBO on the cable.  It is so intoxicating and relaxing at the same time that, despite investing in a season Dark Side pass for Douglaston, for this year, I'll take a chance on missing the coho run to get at least three nights camping before early bear opens.  It is true that it is tragic so many WNYers have never seen the mountains, but seeing how crowded it is getting, maybe it's better to keep it under our hats!

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We got to spend two days hiking in the High Peaks area earlier this month, and that's all we have time for this summer. I missed fishing up there, for sure, but if you get on (and off) the trails early, it's like you have the place to yourself. Hot afternoons are better spent with a mug of something cold and a good view for people watching lol.

 

We are heading to Sequoia/King's Canyon next month for a week. If anybody has specific guidance, feel free to pm me. 

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You guys have me missing the mountains!  Spent a lot of summers driving back and forth every chance I had with my canoe and tent.  Had my son's birthday up there every year for a decade camping, hiking, and fishing.  No more canoes for me, but I better get my butt back up to chase those Tupper eyes at least!  Thanks for posting...puts things in perspective about what's important for me anyway 😉.  If anyone is a paddler do yourself a favor and do the Saranac river from Saranac lake to Franklin falls pond.... always caught smallies and pike in the river and jigged walleye in Franklin falls pond right below the permanent rapids.  Then camp at moose pond...just over the ridge from lake placid.  KNOW the rules though as the rangers take things seriously.  There was never anyone fishing just the odd canoe or kayak.

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The mountains care calling and I must go 

 

Headed back up next weekend to my Happy place up there . Boys weekend 

Good food and whiskey

 

And yes it sure do put things in perspective . 

 

You should go , as all should , even for a short trip . 

 

 

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On 7/9/2019 at 6:58 PM, nickihoyboy said:

Hey HB2,

I'm jealous. A trip to the Adirondacks is like going home to me. I couldn't agree with you more that there's nothing better than seeing the sun come up over those mountains and a summer mist on the water. And camping on the islands, man, that's the best. I'm kind of glad that some people don't like roughing it, otherwise it would get even more crowded. Twenty-five years ago, when my kids were in their early teens, we used to camp on the islands for a week every summer, then stretched it to ten days because everybody thought a week was too short. Now my kids are grown, with families of their own, but they still talk about those trips and how much fun they had. It's a state of mind you can't appreciate until you've tried it. It all really fits in with the quote from Henry David Thoreau- "Man fishes a lifetime before he realizes it's not the fish he's after".

never truer words spoken we as parents need to return our children to the outdoors away from this computer crap & enjoy what god has put on this earth

 

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5 hours ago, justtracytrolling said:

You guys have me missing the mountains!  Spent a lot of summers driving back and forth every chance I had with my canoe and tent.  Had my son's birthday up there every year for a decade camping, hiking, and fishing.  No more canoes for me, but I better get my butt back up to chase those Tupper eyes at least!  Thanks for posting...puts things in perspective about what's important for me anyway 😉.  If anyone is a paddler do yourself a favor and do the Saranac river from Saranac lake to Franklin falls pond.... always caught smallies and pike in the river and jigged walleye in Franklin falls pond right below the permanent rapids.  Then camp at moose pond...just over the ridge from lake placid.  KNOW the rules though as the rangers take things seriously.  There was never anyone fishing just the odd canoe or kayak.

Great trout fishing in the permanent rapids, too!  My wife and I honeymooned in Wilmington, and went back for a week for a few years after, and Francis Betters, who I had showed around the Salmon River, sent us over to the Saranac as an alternative to the West Branch.  Unfortunately, Franklin Falls Pond is one of the more mercury contaminated waters up there, a lot of the locals won't even fish it anymore.  The stretch between Franklin Falls Pond and Union Falls Pond, especially right below the Powerhouse used to be " the larder" for a lot of folks that lived around there.

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Wife and I do 3-4 canoe trips/year in the daks. May this year we spent 3 nights based out of fourth lake on Alger Island, July found us for 5 days on Forked Lake, late september we base out of Fish Creek Ponds with 2 side overnite trips back in planned with the canoe. Canoe campers for years, we've been all over up there. Our honeymoon was us and our lab in a leanto on 7th lake for 5 days. All our trips involve fishing.

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We never kept any fish out of Franklin falls pond due to the Mercury.  I sure love the area where the rapids meet the pond tho.  I never fished the rapids...in fact I usually emptied all the gear and ran the rapids empty.  I was on a very tight budget and couldn't afford to lose gear...not that I ever flipped the canoe but better safe than sorry.  I did the stretch of Hudson River heading into Harris lake without a paddlers map once and that was hairy...and absolutely no portages to get around white water I had no business being in with a kayak let alone my old canoe...barely got out of there with our lives.  Ended up breaking a gunwale, punching a hole in the bow, and had to rent a canoe to finish our trip.  Found out later looking at a paddlers map that section was only done by whitewater raft and 1 idiot that didn't do his homework!  Anyone ever do the boundary Waters canoe area in Minnesota?  

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This is one of the best reads on here in long time!! Congrats to all that have taken the time to see the wild wonders that the ADK'S have to offer. Ive been fishing the Oswegotchie river the last couple of years as we put a camp together on the paper mill properties. I dont see a person other than the guys who go with. Like mentioned so many waters to fish!!! 

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40 bass in 3 days is hard to believe. Next time post pictures. Fishing today is not nearly as good in the ADK as it was from what I know, that's why many people stopped going there. Acid rain killed alot of the fish in lakes years ago, from what I know. St. Lawrence had fared better, although the pike and muskies not so much. If you are older and have fished both you will probably know this.

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Many of the lakes and ponds that were classed as dead due to atmospheric deposition have come back since the Clean Air Act kicked in.  Brook Trout Lake was the poster child for acid rain, and it is supporting a self-sustaining population of Brook Trout, Indian Lake and Falls Pond in the West Canada Lakes Wilderness have fish again, and many of the ponds in the southern Five Ponds Wilderness that had been considered dead have been reported to be growing trout.  I've fished up there for better than 50 years, and the last 10 have been fine for fish anywhere I've gone.  Of course, I'm more interested in trout and landlocked salmon, and there isn't much fishing in the St Lawrence area except over in the Indian River Lakes for those fish.

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2 hours ago, fishlover said:

40 bass in 3 days is hard to believe. Next time post pictures. Fishing today is not nearly as good in the ADK as it was from what I know, that's why many people stopped going there. Acid rain killed alot of the fish in lakes years ago, from what I know. St. Lawrence had fared better, although the pike and muskies not so much. If you are older and have fished both you will probably know this.

 Really ?  You caught me , you caught the HB . Sounds like you are calling me a liar . I don't think 40 bass in say 16  hrs fishing is  " unbelievable " to someone who goes a lot and knows his way around a fishing rod . And a lot of them were not that big . 

 

 

If you think the fishing in the ADKs is not as,good as it use to be  Maybe you need to brush up on your FUNDAMENTALS .I can't imagine how good it was back then . Wish I was there .

 

 I am going to my Happy spot up there this weekend and hear a lot from other campers there are no fish in the lake . 

I have landed many big pike up to 20# and lots of bass up to 6# . 

 

I don't post a lot of pics because I don't take a lot of pics of fish,  . I figure most on here have seen a bass or pike before . Unless it's a memorable fish . 

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