Long Pond in Monroe County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  This water sits in Monroe County, New York. It lies 243 feet above sea level. At 475 acres this is proper open water rather than a pond. The margin runs to about 4.2 miles in total. By surface area it heads our Monroe County listings. Hilton sits 5 miles from here and is the nearest stop. Then Greece, 5.5 miles, and Irondequoit, 7.8 miles. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Long Pond

  Depth here is unknown, so count the lead down before committing. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Public occurrence data for Monroe County names alewife, rainbow smelt, johnny darter and lake trout. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. Fish Long Pond to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about 24°F in January to roughly 71°F in July. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. Ice-out usually falls in late March, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about late March until roughly late December. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. The season on Long Pond rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. A carry of half a mile from the nearest parking is the price of fishing here. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Should this one be busy, Cranberry Pond is 0.7 miles off. Treat Long Pond as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.