Heart Lake in Essex County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Heart Lake lies in Essex County, in New York. The surface lies 2,149 feet up. With some 27 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Compared with other New York water on our list, it sits high. North Elba is the closest town at 4.3 miles. Beyond it, Lake Placid at 6.7 miles and Saranac Lake at 13 miles. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Heart Lake

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Essex County records list brown trout, brook trout, white sucker and pumpkinseed among the fish reported. The county list is broader than any single water. Fish Heart Lake to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 14°F to 63°F. The year splits cleanly: hard water, then open water. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Averages suggest open water from about late April through to roughly late November. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. Expect Heart Lake to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. Loj Parking gives parking half a mile away. A pier or jetty stands 170 yards away, which helps on a crowded bank. A camping area sits within half a mile of here. A picnic site half a mile off makes this workable with family in tow. Toilets show in mapping about half a mile away. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Avalanche Lake, 3.4 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. For Heart Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.