Fishing guide omits Montgomery County

PHOTOGRAPHER: Edward Munger Jr.

If some stranger from out of state took a look at the map in the new I Fish New York Guide to Freshwater Fishing, they probably wouldn’t bother planning a trip to Montgomery County.

The statewide map is dotted with little fish symbols identifying places staff from the state Department of Environmental Conservation recommend people try fishing.

But those little fish symbols only pinpoint lakes and ponds, not rivers or streams, leaving the Montgomery County part of the map looking like it doesn’t have any fish.

Local places with a fish symbol on the map include Collins and Mariaville lakes in Schenectady County, West Caroga and Peck lakes in Fulton County, the Schoharie Reservoir in Schoharie County along with Ballston Lake and an outline for public fishing access along the Kayaderosseras Creek in Saratoga County.

The lack of any highlights for fishing opportunities is a surprise to some who live and work in Montgomery County, which is split in half by roughly 63 miles of the Mohawk River and features another 16 miles of the Schoharie Creek.

The map makers did mention the Mohawk River in a chart on the back of the map, identifying “multiple counties” as places where the state’s second-biggest river offers smallmouth and largemouth bass, sunfish, yellow perch, crappies, tiger muskies, northern pike, walleyes and carp.

But overall, the map doesn’t mention Montgomery County, other than to identify it among the other counties on the geographical map.

“That’s funny,” said Montgomery County Board of Supervisors Chairman Shayne Walters, who didn’t really think it was too funny.

The county recently fixed up the Burtonsville fishing access site along the Schoharie Creek, he said, a place that gets plenty of action among anglers.

It still needs some post-flood damage repairs, but Walters said there are numerous places people can go fishing in the county.

“We have tons of ponds that have fish in them; we have small creeks all over and the tributaries into the Mohawk that have fish in them,” Walters said, noting that there’s an annual fishing derby run by the Schoharie River Center.

The county’s economic development department just took over tourism promotion in 2011 and it’s just starting to build some momentum to draw people for outdoor recreation, said county economic development specialist Crystal Ricciuti.

Angling in Montgomery County got its television debut last year when Captain Nate Laskiewicz took on the Mohawk River for a day of smallmouth bass fishing on the Lakes Region Fishing Show.

And the fishing derby held by the Burtonville-based Schoharie River Center marked the first outdoor activity to take advantage of the county’s tourism grant program last year, Ricciuti said.

“As we move forward, we certainly want to promote outdoor activities. Promoting activities along the river has been identified as one of our focuses, and it’s certainly something that we’re going to try to put a bigger push on,” Ricciuti said.

The county tourism website details a variety of outdoor opportunities at www.visitmontgomerycountyny.com.

Tanya Towne, who opened up the new Sportsman’s Den outdoors supply shop in Fort Plain in September, said folks in the area know there’s fishing opportunities in Montgomery County.

But in terms of drawing people to the county, the map might add something to point that out, she said.

“If you’re not from the area, you might not assume it,” said Towne, who is selling lures and bait and other fishing tackle, as well as supplies for hunting and other outdoors activities.

New York state holds a bounty of fishing sites that include streams and rivers, but identifying all of these would have left the map simply covered with little fish symbols, DEC Region 4 spokesman Rick Georgeson said.

“The Mohawk is an outstanding fishery, one that the DEC has invested quite a bit in recently,” Georgeson said.

The DEC upgraded fishing access sites at Freemans Bridge in Schenectady and sites on the river in Nelliston and in Amsterdam, both in Montgomery County, Georgeson said.

Information on New York fishing and details on how to get a free Guide to Freshwater Fishing can be found on the DEC website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/fishing.html.