Fishing at Bum Pond, Hamilton County, New York

• Overview

  Out in Hamilton County, New York, sits Bum Pond. It lies 1,742 feet above sea level. With some 39 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Roughly 1.5 miles of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. Nearest town is Tupper Lake, 18 miles off. Then Saranac Lake, 35 miles, and Lake Placid, 39 miles. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Bum Pond

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Open biodiversity records for Hamilton County list lake trout, brook trout, yellow perch and smallmouth bass. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. Fish Bum Pond to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 64°F and January reads 13°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near late April. Averages suggest open water from about late April through to roughly early December. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. Bum Pond runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. No made access is recorded, so a short walk in is the likely arrangement. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Season dates differ by species, so read the table. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Should this one be busy, Louie Pond is 1.5 miles off. Ask locally about Bum Pond if anything is unclear.