Trout Lake in St. Lawrence County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  St. Lawrence County, New York, is where Trout Lake sits. Elevation runs to 748 feet. About 368 acres, so local knowledge or a boat saves a lot of walking. There is roughly 5.7 miles of bank, more than one visit can cover properly. It ranks high for size among our St. Lawrence County listings. You are 9.9 miles from Gouverneur. Canton is 17 miles away, with Hannawa Falls at 22 miles. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Trout Lake

  Our records carry no depth, so judge it from the bank. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Fish documented in St. Lawrence County include rock bass, smallmouth bass, pumpkinseed, yellow perch and white sucker. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Read Trout Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 68°F; the cold one sits at 15°F. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Ice-out usually falls in mid April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Break-up sits around mid April on average, with the water closing again about early December. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. It holds true on Trout Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Part of this sits inside or beside Trout Lake State Forest, so read the notices. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. For a change of water, Cedar Lake is 1.1 miles distant. Rules at Trout Lake are worth checking on the day.