Catskills - Brown Trout and Smallmouth Bass - May 30, 2014 and May 1, 2014

I hit Walton Lake in Orange County, NY last weekend in pursuit of brown trout. It was my first time fishing this 110 acre pond. Although small in size, the lake is deep with plenty of 60' flats on the bottom to sustain holdover trout that grow to good sizes with an alewife forage base. This is a good combination for a little lake although it is fished heavily.

The drive is a little more than an hour from the Throgs Neck Bridge to this lake which is located in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains. 

I launched early morning with several boats from the state launch. Some of these boats were targeting browns, while others were targeting largemouth and smallmouth bass. In any event, it was a bit crowded at the launch, and on the lake as well. So, if you are looking for solitude, you won't find it here.

I launched around 6:30 am and noticed a substantial amount of small trout rising - these were dimples and you could tell that they were small fish. I believe that they were taking midges,. After crossing the lake, I worked a breakline that dropped to about 30', and worked this area trolling two leadcore rods, and one spinning. I consistently marked trout 20', but also found some marks closer to the surface as well.

For the outing, I worked the 30' - 35' breaklines around the lake, and found them holding near a somewhat large basin where I had consistent action. My tally for the day was 5 trout and 3 smallmouths, with my two biggest trout being 17" and 18". All of my trout were silvery holdovers and fat from eating alewives.

My smallmouths were between 16" and almost 20". The 20" qualifies for a NYS Catch and Release Angler Achievement Award. These smallmouths weren't targeted but instead caught as byproduct while trolling for trout in open water. I find more and more that browns and smallmouths have similar temperature preferences and often find them schooling together in the thermocline during the summer.

I marked lots of alewives on this lake moving from the surface down to 21' in big pods throughout the lake. Lots of fishable areas in this lake and to find the fish, your best bet is marking alewives, which tend to move all around the lake. For this reason, good sonar is important here. Action slowed as the morning progressed and I stopped around noon.

I returned a week later for similar action. This time, only one smallmouth but three nice trout instead with the largest being about 18".  The water temperature was 72 degrees and it was a bright day with no wind. This made for a tough bite. I found the trout mostly at 28' trolling spoons and leadcore. This time, the trout were holding over 35' - 40' with some in the open deeper water as well.