Dexter Lake Fishing Guide, Franklin County, New York

• Overview

  Set in Franklin County, New York, this is Dexter Lake. It lies 1,375 feet above sea level. Roughly 127 acres: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. The bank runs about 2.3 miles all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. The closest town, Malone, is 20 miles distant. Gloucester sits 74 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Dexter Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Fish documented in Franklin County include brook trout, white sucker and brown trout. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. Read Dexter Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 65°F at the top of summer and 13°F at the bottom of winter. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. Winter locks it down, and mid April brings it back. The water is typically free of ice between mid April and early December. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. Plan any trip to Dexter Lake around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Mapping records no facilities at all near this water. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Upper Goose Pond, 1.7 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Nothing here settles the position at Dexter Lake for certain.