Was looking on the Ny map the other day looking for new lakes, seen two smaller lakes in central New York . Lamoke an waneta lakes anyone out there ever fished these lakes before and what do you think of them.

A long-long time ago, I used to work at the scout camp on Waneta. Never caught a crappie, but never targeted them either. I hear folks talk about those lakes from time to time and always hear that the fishing is good, but usually they're talking pike or bass or muskies.

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Fish on!!!

I pulled some nice slabs out of Lamoka in the middle of last summer. I was targeting perch with 1 ½ inch tubes in about 20 feet of water and must have bumped into a school of passing crappie! 3 eleven and twelve inchers in about 10 minutes and then gone. They are in there someplace.
Folks back at the launch ramp told stories of the channel between the lakes being full of them during the spawn. Elbow room on the small bank area would be tight though.

As I remember it... that sounds like a great area to get them in the spring. Is there still a gravel launch ramp there? We used to portage canoes across the road for overnights on mosquito island (AKA Red Bank).

Man, thinking about Waneta Lake brings back a LOT of memories! I remember they used to have a bluegrass festival every summer in Tyrone.

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Fish on!!!

There are a couple of nice concrete ramps and docks there now, one for each lake, but you still can't get from one lake to other without trailering over the roadway. There is talk of raising the roadway and allowing boat traffic from lake to lake but that’s a ways off and will certainly change the fishing. As it is now there is a steel grate blocking anything from swimming from Lamoka upstream to Waneta so the crappie get stuck in the

stuck in the channel.
And Red Bluff is still a nice stop for lunch and stretch your legs – especially if you’re in a kayak!

Thanks alot fellow crappie fisherman for the info, Just might give it at try this year,
I have a few days off the end of May, letyou know how I do

I’m starting to formulate a plan for spending Saturday on Lamoka chasing those big perch I hear about in there. Got 4 dozen minnow, rainy forecast….
If the crappie are not in the channel yet then they should be in the deeper water near the island. I’ll bet on water temp being upper 50s to low 60s in the channel right now.

Well the water temps were in the low 60’s ! Fished the channel after wandering all around Lamoka, used a 1/32 with a tube on 4 pound test. Caught bass, bluegill, pickerel and perch – no crappie! Current was pushing from Lamoka to Waneta and the connecting culvert wasn’t blocked so I let the current carry me under the road and onto the Waneta side of the channel. I did a fairly good job of clearing out the accumulated spider webs but I may have missed a few.
So much for my theory of crappie moving upstream and being trapped by the culvert. Its not blocked and its not upstream. Things you learn when you get off your sofa and actually go there!

Joe, you worked at one of the best spots on the lake. My buddy had a cottage right next to the scout camp and we would catch upwards of 100 a day fishing the floats just north of the camp. We had a cottage on Lamoka and it too has a lot of crappie. early spring fish the island next to the channel leading to the south end. The whole southern shore of the lake proper is good for crappie. The perch in Lamoka are not huge but decent sized and they are scattered. Try the channel leading from the south shore to bradford. You will catch a ton of pickerel fishing for the pannies but thats part of the game especially on Lamoka. Definately two Lakes you will want to visit if coming from PA.