Some people fish just for the fun of it, to pass time and get outside, but for other people, it is a lifetime sport. There are different ways to catch fish, especially in our area in Allegany County. Ice fishing, fly fishing, trolling and just fishing with a plain pole are some common ways of fishing.

Fishing season in New York state opens up in the spring and goes all the way through until late fall. Some fish even have an all year season, like bluegill and sunfish. The season for the most popular fish, like Lake trout and small/ largemouth bass, goes from April first through October fifteenth. northern pike, walleye,and pickerel go from the first saturday in May through March fifteenth. Around this part of Allegany County, these fish can be fished for in Cuba and Rushford lake, Rockville and Allen lake, and the Genesee River (NYSDEC).

A method of fishing that is a bit more challenging but also more prefered to some fishermen is fly fishing. A fly fishing pole is a long flexible rod that has a thick line on it that floats on the water. Instead of using a regular hook with bait on it, with a fly fishing rod, you use a fly. A fly can be made from colored feathers or thread that is wrapped around a small hook. Casting a fly rod is much more different than casting a regular pole, and you can not cast as far. To cast a fly rod, you have to let some of the line out of your reel and whip it around back and forth in the air like a lasso. When you have enough line to cast, you can throw it out onto the water. Once the fly is on the water, start pulling it in slowly and make it look like a live fly on the water (Wicki). Fly fishing can be done anywhere where there are a lot of bugs on the water’s surface. If there are a lot of bugs around, that is what the fish will be looking for. They will be looking on top of the water when they are hungry. Some people like fly fishing in the Genesee river, but for me, I like to go to a lake or pond where the water is deep.

Fishing in the winter can also be a fun sport. Ice fishing can take place anywhere up north with a lake or pond that is frozen over. When going ice fishing, checking the thickness of the ice is very important. The ice is supposed to be at least four inches thick to walk on or seven to twelve inches thick to drive on. Ice fishing requires different equipment than regular fishing does. The two popular places around here for ice fishing are Cuba and Rushford Lake. These places are more common because the lakes are much bigger than the other lakes in this area. To drill the hole into the ice, you need a special tool called an auger, which is either powered with a motor or a crank that you turn with your hand. Once you have a hole drilled, you can set up some kind of hut up over the hole to keep the cold and wind away. The fishing poles used for ice fishing are much shorter than the regular ones. This is because you do not need to cast the line to fish. All you need to do is drop your line through the hole in the ice and let the bait hang in the water. Most people don’t prefer to use fake lures to ice fish because fish aren’t going to be as attracted to it as they would be to live bait. Most fisherman that I have talked to said that salted minnows work the best for ice fishing. You can also use life worms or grubs if you can still find live ones in the winter.

Fishing is really different for everyone. Some people are going to like different bodies of waters to use different methods of fishing. It really all depends on what fits you the best. I have not yet tried ice fishing but it is definitely something that I’d be up for to try. I want to try ice fishing because it would be a challenge, but I think I would also enjoy being on the ice for a day. My favorite method of going fishing is taking the boat to Allen Lake and fishing for bass for a day.

Works Cited

New York. FISHING (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

Wikipedia contributors, ‘Ice fishing’, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 24

      February 2017, 13:58 UTC, [accessed 1 March 2017]