What has happened to Black Lake?

[JimmyHouston]

Me and group of friends have been coming up to Black Lake for over 30 years. Over the past 5-6 years we have noticed the fishing really drop off.

In years past, we would complain, oh another 20 inch pike because we would catch so many of them, now you might go an entire weekend catching only 10-15 pike amongst 6 guys? Anyone noticing this also?

Rumor has it the Amish are cleaning house, catching the fish and taking them home for food? Probably a wild claim, but thought I’d share.

Any thoughts on the drop off, or do we all just suck at fishing? Much obliged on feedback.
Jimmy Houston

[football71]

ASK YOURSELF HOW MANY TIMES YOUVE SEEN THE AMISH LINED UP IN THE BAYS IN BLACK LAKE IM SURE THEY ARENT THE ONES WITH ALL THE PONTOON BOATS AND GIANT BOBBERS WITH 4 TO 10 GUYS ON THEM IVE BEEN IN CAMP AND SEEN BOATS ALL THE WAY AROUND ME CLEANING NORTHERNS AT THE CLEANING STATIONS MAYBE ITS TIME TO START PRACTICING CATCH AND RELEASE ON THE NORTHERNS FOR A FEW YRS AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS BASS FISHING IS STILL GREAT AND NOONE KEEPS THEM I WATCHED THE AMISH FISHING FROM THE BRIDGE ONE DAY THROWING CRAPPES BACK ONE AFTER ANOTHER WHILE THE BOAT NEXT TO THEM KEPT EVERY FISH THEY CAUGHT MUST BE THE MEASURE STICK IS DIFFERENT JUSY SAYIN

[TeamToothy]

I’ve seen more stringers of bass come out of Black than I care to count. The cityiots from NY beat the lake up hard as they act like they’ve never seen a fish before every time they catch one. I got into it with a bunch of drunk ones a few years back about releasing a nice bas I caught from a dock, they wanted it and felt I was a fool for releasing it. I don’t think the locals have a tremendous impact as much as the tourists who believe they’re entitled to take what they want cuz they buy a license. Plus some people deliberately kill pike and bowfin (durr, they eat the bass,doy durr) since they’re too stupid to realize that these fish do no harm to the population but those same people sure do.
It’s a shame that some people are that greedy to stuff their freezers with such finite resources.
That said May is tricky at Black. June seems to always be better and fishing was quite good last year. Will you be up there this weekend or coming week?
Reach out if so.

[snakedoc]

I agree with the fact that to many people are killing to many of the big spawners as well as
a lot of small and even illegal fish. I have tried many many times to get DCS into slot limits
or make the lake a catch & release but too no avail. in my 30+ years of fishing BL I have killed
maybe a half dozen bass. there are still a lot of nice bass there but not the numbers there used to be.

[football71]

ITS DEFINATLY NOT THE AMISH IVE NEVER SEEN THEM LINED UP ON PONTOON BOATS IN ALL THE BAYS FOR THE MONTH OF MAY WITH GIANT BOBBERS IM ALWAYS SEEING THE GUYS IN THE CAMPS AROUND ME BRINGING IN THEIR CATCHES OF PIKE AND CLEANING THEM THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE CATCH AND RELEASE OF THEM LIKE THE BASS THERE ARE ALOT OF CAMP DERBYS THAT TAKE A TOLL ON THE PIKE AS WELL IVE ALSO BEEN FISHING WHILE WATCHING THE AMISH THROWING BACK UNDER SIZE CRAPPIES WHILE THE BOAT NEXT TO ME THROWS ALL THE ONES THEY CATCH RIGHT IN THE BUCKET HARD TO BELEIVE ONE IS CATCHING SMALLS WHILE THE OTHER IS CATCHING KEEPERS

[GuidedBassTrips]

It's not the activities of the other anglers that is hurting this lake. Yes black lake gets fished a lot and does get abused. But that has been going on a long time here and this lake would have been fished out years ago. It is incredibly resilient.

Unfortunately its located in a poor farming county and in need of big picture environmental work. And nobody knows where that money is going to come from.

Yes I agree the fishing has changed and the DEC needs to change some regulations. But the environmental issues are much bigger than keeping anglers in line. Just like environmental changes pushed out the walleye the pike could be next. Bluegill and bass dominate because this lake fits their choice of habitat. But their future existence is also in jeopardy if this lake doesn't start getting some serious management.

So if anybody has any ideas on how to raise millions not thousands for this lake, please contact the Black Lake Association.

[CadillacAl]

I think slot limits would really be beneficial to this fishery but would take a decent amount of law enforcement coverage.

I’ve been going to Black Lake for 16 years and although we catch an occasional big bass the vast majority are 14-14 3/4 inches. They’re nice and healthy and fun to catch but it’s nice to get bigger ones too.

I think if a 12-14 inch slot and limit of 3 per day was put in place it would really improve the fishing and especially fish quality.

It’s still my favorite place in the world to be and I can’t wait to get there this year.

[cxp138]

Just a thought and observation. Started fishing black lake about 7 years ago. When you left you felt like KVD. Fishing has since declined but June 2020 I noticed the millfoil was out of control especially in the main channel. Came back in September and it was 95% gone?? I always thought they said it was hard to eradicate and had to be pulled by hand? Coincidentally September fishing took a huge dip compared to June. June 2021 rolls around and vegetation levels are way down and fishing still super tough. Just wondering did they do a herbicide kill that has damaged the ecosystem. I've seen it before in other lakes with the same consequences. Not trying to start a conspiracy just asking for thoughts. This drop in production to me was much more sudden than others are describing. We come up with a group of semi-pro bass guys in late June and they had to work hard to catch bass, so i'm not buying the Amish excuse, no way they are pulling a limit of bass with their bamboo poles. Hope it gets better as everyone i know that comes to black lake annually are looking for other destinations and the local economy will surely suffer.

[492VS]

Not sure what all the gloom and doom is all about. I have a place on the lake and fishing has been outstanding the last two years. Why just yesterday in 12 minutes put 15 pounds on the scales with 4 fish. Y’all need to find better rock piles, not weed beds. Weed beds come and go over the years and I learned that lesson many moons ago saying the lake sucked. If you want to go back and fish the same lure and same area year after year don’t bank on it being a weed bed.

[492VS]

Last Saturday we boated 4 over 4 lbs, one close to 4, One 3 lber and a few 15-16 inches. All in 4 hrs. Week was actually pretty decent. The bass we’re hitting big lures.

[hawrebelo]

indeed I have noticed it also