Fishing Stink Lake in Herkimer County, New York

• Overview

  Stink Lake lies in Herkimer County, in New York. It stands 1,955 feet above sea level. Surface area runs to about 14 acres — small enough to read in one session. Compared with other New York water on our list, it sits high. You are 28 miles from Boonville. Beyond it, Lowville at 36 miles and Dolgeville at 37 miles. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Stink Lake

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Public occurrence data for Herkimer County names white sucker, yellow perch, brook trout and brown bullhead. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. At Stink Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about 13°F in January to roughly 64°F in July. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Hard water holds through the cold months, breaking up near late April. In an average year the thaw lands around late April and the freeze near early December. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. Stink Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. No made access appears within a short radius, so plan to park on a verge and walk. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Cross Pond, 1.9 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Check the position at Stink Lake before loading the car.