Trout Lake in Lewis County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Trout Lake belongs to Lewis County, New York. Land around it is rolling bush. With some 36 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Roughly 1.0 miles of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. Carthage is the closest place, 21 miles off. Lowville lies 21 miles off, West Carthage another 21 miles. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Trout Lake

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Across Lewis County, recorded fish include white sucker, brown trout and pumpkinseed. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. Fish Trout Lake to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about 15°F and July at about 66°F, the water has a wide range to work through. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. Ice-out usually falls in mid April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. The lid tends to go about mid April and return around early December. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. The season on Trout Lake follows the weather closely.

• 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. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Should this one be busy, Rock Pond is 0.4 miles off. Where Trout Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.