ADK Fishing Report – ‘Lotsa Trees’ / ‘Undisclosed’ / ‘Sesamoid’ Ponds – 8Oct – 12Oct1

Made the end of season trip to the Adirondacks to chase fall Brook Trout. Due to dreary weather, stayed in Glen’s Falls / Queensbury vs. camping. Thursday was a rain day, so processed videos and pictures from each day’s trip. This is only my 2nd trip with the new 12-1/2 ft Hornbeck canoe, so am transitioning from float tube fishing to fly fishing out of a canoe.

Summary as follows:

Day 1: ‘Lotsa Trees’ Pond

• I picked ‘Lotsa Trees’ Pond as 1) it’s a little more work to get to than the other area ponds and 2) the 1986 ALS survey showed it to be a Brook Trout monoculture.
• This was a significant first, for me, as it involved crossing a water body to get to another water body that I wanted to fish. Not something one can do in a float tube.
• Arrived at ‘Beaver’s Lake’ around 8:30 am. Wasn’t sure where I could park and put in, so ended up going in at the carry across from ‘Thin’ Pond. This involved crossing ‘Beaver’s’ Lake and paddling down the western shoreline to find the western-most finger bay. Took me about 30 minutes to make the paddle and found the carry trail to ‘Lotsa Trees’ Pond.
• Trolled around the pond using my standard rig: an intermediate fly line and 3 flies…..A.P. Emerger (top fly) followed by a Denny’s Olive Peacock Callibaetis Nymph, and a sz.12 Maroon Simi-Seal Leech as the point fly.
• Great action…..not so great at catching. I caught and released 8 Brook Trout in approx. 5 hours of fishing. These were mostly 11-13 inches (pics follow). I missed and/or lost probably twice that many fish.
• Just after lunch I was completing a pass which put me real close to the shore by a point on the south side of the pond. I made a hard turn which pulled the flies up and had a good grab. It didn’t take long to realize I was into a big fish. He was able to pull the canoe around’ for a few minutes before I lost him.
• Fish were located in 10-17 ft of water just off the shoal on the northwest corner of the pond and also close along the west shoreline.
• Its about 1.3 miles from the ‘Thin’ Pond carry put-in, down ‘Beaver’s’ Lake to the ‘Lotsa Trees’ Pond carry. On the paddle out, I spotted what looked to be trail and a put-in on the southern end of the lake which would be a much shorter paddle.
• About an hour into the drive back to Glen’s Falls, I developed excruciating pain in the middle part of my back. At first, I wondered if I was having a heart attack. Then realized it was a muscle cramp from all the day’s paddling. Several motorists passing by were treated to a sight of me pulling on a post at the Balfour Lake parking area to stretch out the cramped muscle.

Day 2: ‘Undisclosed’ Pond – High Peaks area

• When I fish the Adirondacks, I always make a trip here. It has heritage Brook Trout and I’ve never been skunked here.
• Weather-wise, this was the best day of the trip with great scenery from the fall foliage. The mountains looked like they were on fire.
• There is a first time for everything and I was skunked here…..not even a strike.
• I trolled the same 3 flies from the day before with the intermediate line. Later, I switched over to a Type 3 sinking line, trolling 3 flies, to probe the bottom. I was shocked at my lack of success.

Day 3: ‘Sesamoid’ Pond – Saranac Lakes Area

• Parked at - and made the carry in - from the gate at the head of a DEC truck trail. The foot trail turn off, to the pond, is not marked, but, I took my first right and arrived at the pond in short order.
• I was initially alone. Around 10:30 or 11 am, another guy showed up pulling a loaded Sportpal 55 canoe in. He was trolling a Wabler.
• Using the intermediate line and my standard 3 flies set up, I ended up catching and releasing 11 Brook Trout in about 6-1/2 hours. As usual, I missed and/or lost several more. Most of the fish were 11-12 inches with a few nosing 13 inches.
• The vast majority of the fish were hooked on the north and northeast side of the pond where the depth transitions from about 11 feet to 20 feet. A couple were hooked as I was crossing the center of the pond.
• It appears the pond is capable of growing big fish, but, I suspect the bigger ones are harvested due to the pond’s (relative) ease of access. Still, it’s a good place to go.
• I reluctantly left around 4 pm. I’d seen a few rises as the afternoon wore on and felt the fish were just getting started.

Lunch Break






Day 5: ‘Lotsa Trees’ Pond

• I’d thought about some other options for my final day, near Saranac Lake, but decided to go back to the ‘Beaver’s’ Lake area and revisit ‘Lotsa Trees’ Pond.
• This time, I went further down the road and parked at the ‘Farrier’ Pond parking area. I then took a foot path which put me at yet another carry put-in on the south side of ‘Beaver’s’ Lake. This ended up reducing the paddle to the ‘Lotsa Trees’ Pond carry point down to 10 minutes or so.
• I was at the pond and ready to fish by 9:30 am, but waited due to unexpected rain and wind. A front had passed through and it was a good 25F cooler than the day before, so, I didn’t know how the pond would fish.
• Well, it fished just fine….it was red-hot for about the first hour or so, then slowed down, but was still pretty fair. I caught and released 10 Brook Trout in about 5 hours of fishing. Again, missed and/or lost several more. (I hooked and lost or missed what would have been my 11th fish four times!) Again, everything was in the 11-13 inch range
• I had caught and released 7 by lunch. Immediately after lunch, I resumed trolling at the edge of some leaf litter on the west shore and hooked one on the Olive Peacock Callibaetis Nymph and, as I was getting him towards the boat; a second Brookie grabbed the mini-leech. I actually managed to get them both into the net.

This is what a fall Brook Trout should look like!



Lunch Break


Two Brook Trout on one cast




The Paddle Out Across the South End of 'Beaver's Lake'


So that’s the summary. There are videos posted on my Youtube page, here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeR...DYYWz03zDowuPA
Mark