Cranberry Pond Fishing in Rensselaer County, New York

• Overview

  Cranberry Pond falls in Rensselaer County, part of New York. The surface lies 1,654 feet up. At 20 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. Some 6.2 miles away sits Cropseyville, the nearest settlement. Poestenkill lies 7.5 miles off, Averill Park another 9.7 miles. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Cranberry Pond

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Public occurrence data for Rensselaer County names brown trout, common carp and pumpkinseed. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. On Cranberry Pond that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 67°F at the top of summer and 19°F at the bottom of winter. Four clear seasons, with a proper winter at one end. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about early April. Break-up near early April, freeze-up near mid December: that is the shape of an average year. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. That shapes the year on Cranberry Pond.

• Tackle & Baits

  Ownership and access are not documented in what we hold. Nothing built is recorded close to the bank here. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Failing this one, try South Long Pond, 0.8 miles away. Confirm before you fish Cranberry Pond.