Fishing at Long Pond, Franklin County, New York

• Overview

  Look for Long Pond in Franklin County, New York. The water sits 1,257 feet up. At about 33 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The bank runs about 1.3 miles all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. Nearest town is Malone, 17 miles off. After that come Fort Covington Hamlet at 22 miles and Hannawa Falls at 23 miles. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Long Pond

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. 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. County-wide records name brook trout, white sucker, brown trout and yellow perch. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. Long Pond responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 65°F for July and 13°F for January. Fishing here follows the temperature more than the calendar. Winter locks it down, and mid April brings it back. The lid tends to go about mid April and return around early December. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. At Long Pond the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. No built facilities appear in mapping around this water. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Season dates differ by species, so read the table. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. The nearest alternative is Grass Pond, 0.4 miles out. Ask locally about Long Pond if anything is unclear.