The  lake's   promoters  adver- tise, "Black Lake is a fisherman's paradise". In truth, neither statement about this St. Lawrence River Valley lake is an exaggeration.
    Black Lake's twenty mile length contains prime fish habitat, including massive bays, expansive weedbeds, various size islands, midlake shoals, rocky points, and rocky shorelines. Populations of warmwater gamefish and panfish utilize these structures, and anglers who are in the know about fish location experience fish filled outings throughout the open water season. Those who fish the wrong location, however, will return with an empty stringer.
    To illustrate the importance of location, consider these two examples. On my first ever, open-water outing on the lake, I worked a variety of artificials along rocky shorelines and islands hoping to catch some of Black Lake's famous bass. My late July trip went fishless since at that time of the year the bass were holding off mid-lake shoals, off rocky points, along drop-offs, or in heavy weed cover in the case of some largemouths. In contrast to that July disappointment, last October Tom Fishel, my son Matt, and I casted spinnerbaits to rocky shorelines one afternoon. Several hours of fishing resulted in two dozen largemouths being boated and released. Knowledge of seasonal location keyed the success of that early fall outing.
    Whether you plan on fishing Black Lake or not, understanding fish location on that body of water might help you to seasonally locate fish on your home waters.
    Black lake is best known for its largemouth bass fishing. When the season opens on the third Saturday in June, largemouths can be taken in the lake's numerous shallow water bays. Both live bait and artificials produce equally well in the four-to-six foot depths of the bays. Although any artificial produces early summer catches, plastic worms are the preferred offering.
    From late July through August, catching bucketmouths gets a little tougher as the water warms to the low eighties and the lake sees increased boating and angling pressure. Summer locations consist primarily of heavy weedcover or deep water along midlake shoals, island dropoffs, and rocky points. Fifteen feet is considered deep water in Black Lake. Anglers who concentrate their efforts during the early and late hours of the day will have the most success. Live crabs are by far the best summer bait, but plastic worms, spinnerbaits, and crankbaits will take fish if worked deeply enough.
    Fall brings Black Lake its best largemouth fishing when limits of three pound bass are commonly taken along midlake shoals, rocky points, and the rocky shorelines of islands and the mainland. Live minnows produce extremely well as do the jig and pig, deep running spinnerbaits, and crankbaits. For fall largemouths, fish your offering slowly and think rock.
    In addition to its high num- bers of largemouths, Black Lake contains a thriving smallmouth population, and smallies can be caught from opening day until November 30. In June and early July an angler's best bet is to seek out rocky points where smallies are very catchable. Shallow running crankbaits commonly produce catches of twelve to fifteen inch bronze- backs from the schools of early summer bass that congregate on the lake's many rocky points.

    Midsummer smallies become more difficult to catch as the fish move to midlake structures. By using a lake chart and depth finder, anglers can locate midlake shoals in the southern half of Black Lake and then mark them with marker buoys. During low-light conditions, smallmouths move onto the shoals to feed. Otherwise the fish stay in deep water adjacent to the shoals. Undoubtedly the best bait in July and August is live crabs. Those who prefer fishing artificials should work deep diving crankbaits which imitate crayfish.
    Like largemouth fishing, small- mouth fishing peaks during the fall months, particularly October. As the lake water cools, bronzebacks spend more time on top of the midlake shoals rather than in the nearby deep water so they are more accessible at this time. Minnows replace crabs as the best live bait, and in the artificial category shallow running crank- baits replace mid summer's deep divers. Perhaps the top fall producer is the jig and pig. Smallmouths run large in the fall when the average size is sixteen inches.
    Lure color can be a factor when fishing for either large or smallmouths. Black Lake anglers follow several guidelines when selecting lure color. For shallow running lures use natural colors which imitate the lake's crappies, perch and bluegills. Green and brown work well for deep running lures. For clear water conditions lean towards brighter colors. Blue or blue with a little red is a local favorite. For dark conditions use the traditional black or brown.
    Despite the excellent sport- fishing for bass that exists on Black Lake, half of the lake's anglers don't even pursue this gamefish. Instead they seek out the incredible populations of yellow perch, crappies, and blue gills. Since panfish thrive throughout the lake, under- standing seasonal location is not as critical for panfish as it is for bass. However, knowledge of location will definitely improve the catch on any panfish outing.
    Yellowperch can literally be taken anywhere in the lake in late spring and through the summer. Since there are so many small perch, the most successful anglers constantly move until they locate schools of table sized fish. In the fall, perch concentrate just off the lake's rocky points.
    Black Lake's crappie popu- lation is very strong, and fisheries biologists predict a cyclic peak in two years. In late April and early May crappies migrate to the lake's marshy bays. During the spawning period of late May and early June, papermouths congregate on rocky points. During the summer, crappies disperse throughout the lake and anglers locate fish as they do schools of perch by constantly drifting and moving. Fall crappies move to midlake shoals and other rockpiles.
    Blue gills seem to be more plentiful than crappies on the lake, and anglers find them easier to catch. Like crappies, blue gills move into bays and other marshy areas in late April through May where they remain until spawning is over in mid June. Throughout the summer, blue gills school near weedlines, rock piles and othe structures. Although blue gill fish- ing is good throughout most of the year, fall fishing is generally slow.
    Black Lake's panfishermen invariably hook into incidental gamefish. Imagine battling a five pound largemouth or a ten pound northern pike on light panfishing tackle. Or how about one of the lake's huge catfish which average twelve pounds.