Little Ampersand Pond near Saranac Lake: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  The Essex County end of New York holds Little Ampersand Pond. It sits at 1,588 feet above sea level. This is a pocket water of some 15 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. Head to Saranac Lake, 5 miles away, for anything you forgot. Lake Placid is 9.2 miles away, with North Elba at 11 miles. The boundary is near enough that local access rules are worth double-checking.

• Where to Fish on Little Ampersand Pond

  Nothing in our records gives a depth for this one. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Across Essex County, recorded fish include brown trout, brook trout, white sucker, pumpkinseed and yellow perch. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Little Ampersand Pond gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 65°F; by January the average is down near 14°F. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. Ice-out usually falls in mid April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Break-up near mid April, freeze-up near early December: that is the shape of an average year. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. The season on Little Ampersand Pond follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. For a change of water, Little Pine Pond is 0.8 miles distant. None of that is settled for Little Ampersand Pond in what we hold.