Lake Ann Fishing near Wilton, New York

• Overview

  The Saratoga County end of New York holds Lake Ann. This is pine and birch ground. A splashy cast here empties the swim; a quiet one owns it. Our Saratoga County list holds plenty of bigger water. Some 2.2 miles away sits Wilton, the nearest settlement. The big place round here is Albany, 39 miles distant. The line between counties passes nearby, which can change who manages the water.

• Where to Fish on Lake Ann

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Survey and observation records for Saratoga County include brown trout, pumpkinseed and white sucker. The county list is broader than any single water. At Lake Ann the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 69°F on average, January about 19°F. The season turns properly here, and fish follow it closely. Ice-out usually falls in early April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Expect the water usable from around early April until roughly mid December. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. It holds true on Lake Ann more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. The nearest mapped parking is half a mile away, so the last stretch is on foot. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Lake Bonita sits 0.8 miles off and takes the overflow. Treat Lake Ann as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.