bluecordfishermen 
For those who are not familiar with the term Indian Summer, Its a warm spell that follows the first frost. The forecast predicted great weather for the weekend with temperatures above 80F. Everyone with a boat was planning on the last trip to the lake. I was no different.
I researched the best lake to take a crack at and my google results pointed to Black Lake. Its “narrow” and long (over twenty miles) but shallow by local terms with an average of 8 feet. Many nearby lakes go as deep as 90 feet. Black Lake had all the makings of a final stop for the kayak season.
SO MUCH FOR INTERNET RESEARCH
Got an early start but the boat launch I wanted was no longer open to the public. Who knew google maps could be wrong. There are other launch sites but they are on the other side of the long lake. That ate up valuable morning fishing time. In defense of my research, the fishermen at the state boat launch on the West Shore told me where I wanted based on my research was exactly where I needed to go, but that was on the East shore. They recommended that I find my way to where the Indian River empties into the lake. These fellas caught over 350 crappie over the last week at the mouth of the Indian River. Well that was at least 15 miles away from the State Boat ramp.
Just to review, Black Lake is huge. There are marinas that are as big as any I saw in DC on the Potomac. Crossing the Lake in a kayak was not a smart move with the amount of traffic by large fishing and pleasure boats. That was not the biggest problem.
The wind was picking up speed and the waves on the lake got bigger by the hour. I thought if I hugged the shore line, I could give it a go. I gave it my best shot for 90 minutes and decided this was nuts. I did fish but mainly just paddled into the wind. I used the cover of a few coves but even those were rough. Getting out of a cove into open water was pretty gamey. A couple I met later in the day told me the nice lady got sea sick and did not have a good morning in her sea kayak. Yes, a sea kayak in a lake and she still got sick. By the time I decided to turn with the wind and head back to the ramp, it was surfing, not kayaking. In all honesty, I was not comfortable in the chop on the water. I kept thinking about the kayak sinking at Toledo Bend.
Made back to the ramp and waited my turn to get out in the shallows (foot deep). The big boats were having major problems lining up with their trailers because of the wind. I hung out and played life guard. This was a busy boat launch. New York state did a first rate job on this ramp. It was the biggest I’ve ever launched from but there was no beach to get out of the lake. Time to punt.
WHAT NEXT SKIPPER?
Its hard to give up on an Indian Summer day. I drove south back towards Fort Drum to think and get closer to Lakes that were smaller and had more coves to protect me from the wind. I stopped in the town of Redwood when I saw half a dozen utility boom trucks parked at Felders Gas Station and noticed the deli sign. I did a u-turn at the end of town and got lunch. My blinding flash of the obvious was that the boom truck drivers working on a Saturday would know how to get a good lunch. There were a bunch of pole climbers and locals ordering lunch. I got a Cheese Steak with all the good stuff thrown in. The wait was worth it. This place makes their own bread. I drove to look for the close by lakes and stopped at Millsite Lake. Ate on the tailgate and took a nap. Woke up and the winds were kicking but because its a much smaller lake the waves were not like surf.https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/87697.html
All of these lakes are natural. No Dams. Lakes in this region support a heavy population of panfish. These make for big healthy bass and pike. Millsite falls right into that pattern. I knew I had a few hours before the bass would come in from the deep water to feed on the panfish. I tried catching sunnies with my fly rod. I estimate I caught over 30 but only a few of decent size. Not many get to be big because of the Pike and Bass.
After getting bored fly fishing for sunnies, I would chuck out a crank bait or mister twister. I rotated between fly fishing and crank bait chucking. At 2:30 in the middle of the afternoon, I hooked into something big using an orange/yellow mister twister. I thought it was a 25 inch or bigger pike, but I was wrong. I caught a very muscular large mouth bass that was about 14 inches and 2 pounds. This guy pulled the kayak until he dove deep for the vegetation and doubled my rod over. He tired and I was able to get him in the Kayak for a quick picture. He still had lots of life in him. Below you can see he flipped right when I took the picture.
Like other lakes in the area, getting a bass or pike on a lure is tough because they have access to so much panfish to feast on. Plenty of live food is a challenge to compete against. This diet makes for very healthy game fish. The rest of the day was zip for bass. In these lakes the ratio I catch is 2 pike for every bass. Not on this day. I was able to be in the shallows at twilight but no luck. I did get to watch the moon rise over the lake (phone died well before sunset). Someone on the far shore was playing Led Zepplin’s Stairway to Heaven. The cabin below is a typical rustic, lake get-a-way.
I saved the best for last. Millsite became my favorite Lake near Fort Drum. I can only hope for a second Indian Summer for Columbus Day Weekend.