Current Forecast
| Today | 05/20/2012 | 05/21/2012 |
|---|---|---|
 Partly Cloudy 77°/37° | Partly Cloudy 84°/48° |  Chance of a Thunderstorm 75°/55° |
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Hot Opener on Oneida Lake for Walleye
NYS Guide, David Versendy went out with a few pals for the opening of the New York walleye season and the action was smoking. They started at midnight, using a drift boat and prowled the sections near the hatchery at Constanstia. They threw stick baits into the rock piles and absolutely abused the fish. He said that between 2-4 am that fire tiger was the hot flavor and silver and black the rest of the time. Around 80-90 were caught and a nice batch were kept for medicinal needs (food), just a great night with the biggest fish being 23 inches. Oneida Lake walleyes are stocky bas@%&$#rds and are incredibly clean and tasty.
June in the Adirondacks
Now were starting to cook up here. There is an absolute explosion of life and activity up here. The insects are going crazy as they commence their brief life cycles, the eggs of the birds are now hatching coinciding perfectly with the hatches. 
Meals ready to eat are flying around at a steady pace and the fledglings are gorging on them.With the water temps now holding in the 60 degree range the trout are putting the feedbag on something fierce. This is magic time for a fly fisherman and being up here on one of our picturesque mountain streams will make up for all those crazy hours you put in or the insane commutes you endure each day. You can feel the stress evaporating away as you are enveloped by the positive ions emitted by the rushing waters. They claim on TV that a bracelet can do this also but I’m not buying it, like the song says ” ain’t nothing like the real thing baby”. These water temps combined with manageable water conditions in conjunction with golden yellow wild trout are the fantasies of a trout fisherman brought to life. 
New York is blessed with an incredible amount of recreational opportunities and in June they are all coming into play. Many of us avid fishermen fancy ourselves as pretty good golfers also to help further boost our overinflated egos. Well then I highly recommend a round at the Malone Country Club to let the air out of your balloon and serve you up a good sized slice of humble pie. Here we are in the middle of cow country, surrounded by venues that involve snow most of the year, trout streams stuffed with fish, biting insects the size of hummingbirds and here sits this 36 hole gem of a gold course. This is a Trent Jones/ Donald Ross design, built in 1909, that is a brute and will challenge even the most skilled golfer. How nice, trout fishing in the morning, 18 holes midday and back to the evening hatch. Life is good here in the mountains, come join us for a while.
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April in the Adirondacks
You have to be ready for a plethora of weather and water conditions here in this beautiful part of New York State. In April this is doubly so and this week is a perfect example of this. Monday 4/16 it was 80 degrees and this weekend the forecast is wet, raw with snow, possibly heavy. Most years there is a lot of snow in the deep mountain valleys well into May, last year into late June, this year none. I actually had to mow the lawn for the first time ever in April this year!
Even though this weekends weather will be more typical for this time of year I see this as an early year and if we get steady, intermittent rains it could be an amazing year for trout fishing. The beauty of my location here is that we are not only located right on what I feel is the best river for large wild trout but we are within an hours drive of a half dozen other major flows and many smaller streams that are almost as good. These rivers cover a wide spectrum of gradient and terrain with the result being that we can offer quality fishing opportunities no matter what Mother Nature has served up. I feel that this region of the state offers you a really good chance of catching a trophy freestone trout.
My friend Mark caught 4- 20 inch browns in a single day last year. Now I am not saying you are going to catch them like crazy in April but they are here and I seem to catch some of the biggest ones in this early part of the season. These big ones are coming off the winter period and know how to eat. The picture of Tom the dentist is a classic example of this. It was Easter weekend, snow was in the air, water temp was 41, air temp 39, I told him I had a savage attack just below the camp when I had arrived there the day before and that I thought he should throw one of Rich Garfields (flyfishtheadirondacks.com) sirloin streamers into that spot. I watched him chuck that sirloin for a few minutes and went back to camp work. Several minutes later I heard screaming and an epic battle was under way. Several minutes later he subdued one of the most impressive trout I have ever seen here. The fish was over 22 inches with an evil head and Hulk like overall body proportions, the fish reminded me of Mike Tyson. I had set up the camcorder ahead of time and captured most of the battle on film. As soon as I get the technology I will transfer it from 8mm to digital and post it on my you tube site,Papa Bear’s Youtube Channel, and show you this classic footage. 
Video and photography are huge part of our theme here at Adirondack Retreats and we do our best to capture you on film as you catch and release these beautiful fish, thus leaving you with a lasting memory to show your family and friends. To sum it up, each year is different, usually tough conditions, but it is great just to be out there and you never know. My 40 years of experience fishing here will be used to its maximum potential to help you succeed.
Lets Talk Turkey
An added bonus for a May trip to the northern region could be a nice gobbler to go with a 20 inch brown later in the morning. As I drive around up here I am noticing a thriving population of turkeys and they are big. With this being the northern edge of their range and the weather staying cooler much longer than in the southern parts of the state, they tend to mate a little later allowing for a chance to hunt them while they are still hot and looking. Another aspect is that the trout fishing tends to start to get good later in the morning and into the afternoon thus there is no need to run out the door and start fishing at first light. I love the fact that there is no rush to be on the water early to beat the hordes to the best spots, up here they are just exercising their arm. Thus if you have the energy after a day of fishing and evening of socializing and recanting the days tails and tales then turkeys are available. I don’t think a lot of people realize just how many birds there are up here and with the dairy farmers spreading manure all the time its like ringing the country buffet bell. Just another aspect of the region that might draw you up here.
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