bluecordfishermen 
Back in June, my first venture off Fort Drum after the quarantine was to Hyde Lake. After comparing notes, Hyde Lake was a pretty good trip in June fishing for Pike. For directions to Hyde Lake, check out the link below.
DRIVING TO HYDE LAKE
I forgot how concealed the sign for the public launch was. I almost drove by it. Its a country dirt road to a launch that has a concrete ramp. It is small in comparison to other public access launches but its a great spot.
11 OCT 2020
I drove back from Wilkes-Barre following a hike at Ricketts Glen. For my Texas friends imagine the colors of Lost Maples State Park in Bandera County stretched out over 250 miles along I-81. It was an Autumn Day out of a travel guide book. Once I got north of Syracuse, the temperature dropped and the winds picked up. I did a quick unloading go bags and loaded the kayak and made it to the lake around 4:30pm. When I stepped into the water, it was cold. The air temperature was below 55F.
I fought the winds for 45 minutes without any luck fishing for small mouth along the rocky east shore. The waves were driven out of the North, but tolerable. I moved to the weed bed near the launch looking for calm water and found it near the launch.
EVENING FEEDING TIME
After 20 minutes, I got my first small bass under 10 inches. I took two small bass on a top water popper. My luck had suddenly changed. I changed to a mister twister and it became one of those evenings you always hope to enjoy. The fish got bigger. None were massive (12-13 inches) but the evening feeding was right on time. In total, I got six bass in the boat in about 45 minutes.
I did lose a big pike. He followed the mister twister to within 10 feet of the kayak and struck. That pike broke the 8 pound test after doubling my rod over. Large Northern Pike are common in Hyde Lake. She totally caught me by surprise. It happened in a flash. She was the one I was chasing.
PACKING UP
As evening was quickly bringing in the shadows, the temperature was dropping like a rock. It was cold enough that when I stepped out of the kayak, the water warmed my feet. I changed to boots and did the load up drill. When I plugged in the iphone before pulling out of the boat launch, some how it jumped to random song mode and leading off was the Outlaws: “Green Grass and High Tides Forever”. Pretty Good Night to end a weekend after the hike with grand daughters in Ricketts Glen. https://bluecordfishermen.com/ricketts-glen/#more-1257
