Pine Lake Fishing near Liberty, New York

• Overview

  Pine Lake sits in Sullivan County, out in New York. Height above sea level is 1,191 feet. Small at around 11 acres: two anglers spread out cover most of it. Our Sullivan County list holds plenty of bigger water. For supplies, Liberty is 12 miles out. Further out sit Livingston Manor (14 miles) and Monticello (14 miles). Rules can differ a short way off, since the county line is near.

• Where to Fish on Pine Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. County-wide records name brown trout, brook trout, smallmouth bass and white sucker. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. The near bank of Pine Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 68°F in July and bottom out at 22°F in January. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around early April. From about early April to around mid December, expect open water on the long-run figures. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. It sets the rhythm of the year at Pine Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Kazens Pond, 1.4 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Rules at Pine Lake are worth checking on the day.