TROUT WATCH
I stopped by Upper Lake in Yaphank at lunchtime on Tuesday. There I found Louie Morales and Joe Fornabaio scoring well with a mix of chunky rainbow and brown trout up to 12 inches.
“I was here yesterday using night crawlers and caught nothing,” revealed Morales. “Today, I’m using wax worms and the fish are biting much better. The wax worms work really well - but you’ve got to put them on a tiny, size eight, beak-style hook.”
West Lake in Patchogue, Sayville Mill Pond, Argyle Lake in Babylon and North Twin Lake in Wantagh have also offered solid trout action with the wax worms out-producing night crawlers and spinners at each location.
Anglers casting the long wand at Connetqout River State Park Preserve, in Oakdale, continue to pick away at ‘bows and brookies. Black Woolly Buggers have been the most productive pattern with catches best on the upper beats.
With a warming trend forecast for the remainder of the week, expect surface hatches to develop on local lakes and ponds. Blue Dunn dry flies produce when that happens on calm days toward the end of April and into early May. Size 16 white Variants (early morning to match hatches of Miller flies) and green-crystal Caddis Larvae patterns are also smart selections, according to Warren Ray at Parkwood Outfitters in Bohemia (www.parkwoodoutfitters.com). Ray has used the latter pattern to score consistently in recent days at Belmont Lake and Southards Pond.
PANFISH BITE SET TO BEGIN
Panfish fans should find bluegills and assorted sunfish sliding into the shallows over the next few days. Sunny coves and southern shores are where the action builds first on most lakes and ponds. Wax worms, meal worms and two-inch segments of night crawler, positioned 14 – 16 inches beneath a float, are traditional early season offerings.
On Tuesday, I spied a mourning cloak butterfly laying eggs on a willow branch at Swan Pond in Calverton. This is a large, brown butterfly with gold trim along the edges of its wings. The undersides of the wings sport a wood chip pattern while the top is dark-chocolate brown with rich, purple spots.
These butterflies hibernate through the winter months and reemerge just as the crappie bite begins to build. If you know of any crappie honey-holes (no pun intended,) now is the time to check them out.
Locally, Forge Pond in Riverhead, Artist Lake in Middle Island and the Twin Ponds in Wantagh, are crappie fishing hot spots – but some freshwater diehards prefer to trek upstate to Croton and Swinging Bridge reservoirs. A free New York City Public Access Permit is required to fish these reservoirs (http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/31426.html).