Fishing at Black Pond, Essex County, New York

• Overview

  Out in Essex County, New York, sits Black Pond. Everything around it is pine and birch. About 5 acres of surface, which puts the far bank inside easy sight. On size it sits at the modest end of our Essex County list. The nearest place of any size is North Elba, 17 miles away. Further out sit Lake Placid (19 miles) and Tupper Lake (20 miles). One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Black Pond

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Open biodiversity records for Essex County list brown trout, brook trout, white sucker, pumpkinseed and yellow perch. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. The near bank of Black Pond is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 63°F and January near 13°F. A hard winter is normal, and the thaw brings a strong few weeks. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Climate figures give an open season running late April to late November. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. On Black Pond the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. Mapping is blank for access, so scout the approach before committing the car. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. Ward Pond, 1.1 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. The position on Black Pond is worth confirming on the day.