Summer of Denise... 4 lb 9 oz. Her new record.
Old Glory at Black Lake
Opening day of Bass season.
Black Lake, Tavern Island
Islands of Black Lake
2012 proved to be our best year yet at Black Lake. We had it all. Nice warm weather, great fishing and great fun. It was also the year of the drought. We saw very little rain for the year and record low lake levels. That didn't seem to slow down the bass at all. In total, we caught 670 bass for the season. 31 of those were over 3 pounds. 11 were over 4 pounds. A new record for us! Lunker of the year was 4 lbs 10 oz and the Lady Lunker was 4 lbs 9 oz. Every fish caught was released back to the lake. Early in the season we did very well catching a bunch of fat bass in "The Cut". In June, the first two weeks of bass season always produce the highest catch rate. July was a good month with several 4 pounders. At times the "Devils Graveyard" was producing quite well. But you had to be there at the right time day. August was also a productive month. Normally in August we don't catch many, but this year was an exception. We caught our biggest lunkers in Augest. Lonesome Bay and Upper Deep Bay had good action if you know where to go. Jennies Island was difficult this year with all the thick weeds. Behind Jennies, is Watch Island which was nearly unfishable due to the thick weeds. Not to mention the low water level also made it difficult navigating. Fishing south of "The Narrows" didn't produce much this year. We caught some real nice lunkers near Conger Island. This year we saw HAB's (harmful algae blooms) on Black Lake. The DEC posted warnings to avoid these blooms. There was an extended period of time the lake looked like pea soup. This is attributed to the drought this year and low water level. But the bass sure didn't seem to mind. I caught my biggest bass in some pretty bad looking green water. The lake did start to clear up in late September. September fishing was decent but we didn't do too well in the Dash for Cash. We finished 28th place with 8.09 lbs. I guess it's not too bad considering there were 144 teams. Every year we try to crack the top 20, but there are a lot of great fisherman to compete against. In October we began to wind down on fishing and only got out to fish three times. The last day of fishing (the 13th) we did manage to catch 12 bass. Top 3 weighed 10 lbs 7oz.. That would have been good for 5th place in the dash for cash. It was a good day to end the year. All and all we had a lot of fun this year. Hoping next year brings more fun and BIG BASS!!! Until next time folks... Fish On!
