Got a chance to go out with my buddy Arthur for some night fishing on Kensico. It was a new experience for me and I think I may be doing it a lot more. The weather was incredibly pleasant and for me, the full moon made it easy to see what was going on. We did think the bright moon may have slowed down some of the fishing, making the fish hide a litle more. We did catch some great fish anyway.
    Arthur had the numbers and size with about 12 fish total including a 4lb smallmouth. His Muskie Jitterbug oversized topwater lure was his bread and butter for the night. Fish could not resist it. I had some luck with a LuckyCraft Sammie topwater lure to start out with then got a couple on a buzzbait.
    Look for more of a report in the forums. 

Had a great day on the water with my buddy, Tom. He's more of a trout guy then me and I was anxious to learn about targeting them at Kensico Reservoir. He was a great guide and helped me catch my very first lake trout. Check the forums for a more complete report and video links.

    There's always a debate and a certain secrecy on forums about what NYC Reservoirs are the best to fish. They're all excellent. They may have different qualities but pick one and work it over and you'll find great fishing.

    The DEP will let you know where spots are available to have a boat placed on a reservoir. For instance, Kensico has just closed it's last mooring areas and has no open spots. This is for a few reasons. Not only is it in lower Westchester, making it easy to reach by a lot of New Yorkers but the tornado last year closed Area 4. The boats from Area 4 ended up being slotted into the other few areas left.

    You'd have to ask about the other reservoirs but each seems to have some open spots. My first year of fishing I asked about Cross River, Amawalk, East Croton, East Branch, West Branch, and other spots and was told by some of the veteran anglers on other forums that they weren't good spots. They are, they all are. Name a reservoir and there's quality fish to be had.

    Just be respectful of other boaters and make sure not to block access paths and launch areas.  Keep the area clean, give a friendly hello to other boaters and have fun.

The family had a great day today at Nannahagen Park in Pleasantville. The kids all got to fish and some won prizes. All participants got a bunch of freebies. The lake was stocked with a variety of fish, the best being some nice sized trout. The organizers did a great job with the event.

Don't forget to click on the link for Kids-Fishing to see what derbies may be in your area. 

Got to bring Dominic (Unionbass in the forums) out for his first trip on Kensico Reservoir. We had a great time trying out our new gear and trying for some fish. Our only successes were a couple of fish on a Lucky Craft Live Pointer in coves with about 8 feet of water. The first was a smallmouth about 1 and  a half pounds. The second was a nice largemouth weighing 2 lbs 14 oz.

Luckily we always consider it a success to be out there rowing, casting, and telling stories.  We expect better results with more time on the water.

I've been noticing an increase in members on our forums. That's great! The more reports and tips we can share, the better we'll all do out there. The action this season is just starting to pick up.

I've read posts recently about the lake trout  and brown trout out of Kensico and where to go for smallmouth action.  Thanks to all who participate.

Well the boating season will start on April 1st, as long as there's no ice on the reservoirs. My friend and I had a couple of boats to move from Kensico Reservoir to 2 different ones so we headed to Mahopac and the DEP.
Anytime you move a boat from one reservoir to another (or put a boat on the reservoir initially) it has to be steam cleaned at the DEP office in Mahopac. This is done basically to protect the waters from cross contamination. The DEP makes sure we don't accidentally bring a bacteria or other life form to a different body of water. It's rare that that would happen but I appreciate how they automatically steam clean things to make sure.

Just a quick note on purchasing a rod in a sporting goods store or bait & tackle shop. My friend and I went to checkout fishing gear at a store this weekend and they had a lot of nice deals and quality gear. We checked the G. Loomis rods even though I new they were out of my budget.. We wanted to feel what all the quality produced.

One particular rod had a bunch of nicks in the top 6 inches of the blank before the tip. This was probably due to being handled roughly in the store. We, of course, were careful. It just struck us that this was out for sale and the nicks may be missed by someone less discerning.

If you are buying a rod, check every inch of it, before purchasing.