Lake George and a gem in the ‘Glen’

Just about everyone knows about Lake George. It is one of the state's more popular tourism and vacation areas, but I had often envisioned it as often being a summer destination primarily for downstate residents of the lower Hudson Valley. But I discovered last week that it's far more than that, especially in the spring and fall months.

Have you ever heard of a smaller sister lake to the south of George named Glen Lake? Neither had I. Last week this 320-acre dynamo played host to a contingent of media members from the New York State Outdoor Writers Association, Inc. (NYSOWA) during the group's annual Spring Safari. Glen Lake is perhaps the finest small lake for pure fishing fun that so few people, aside from the locals there, know about. Our base of operations and host site was the Glenmoore Lodge, a complex of large log cabins and a main lodge that sits tight against the eastern shore and allows a spectacular view of the entire lake and backdrop of mountains from its large deck.

This small gem of a fishery in the Town of Queensbury in Warren County, located about halfway between Glens Falls and Lake Geroge off NYS Rte. 9, is usually bypassed by visitors who are en route to Lake George or Lake Champlain. With a mean depth of less than 20 feet and its extensive shoreline weed and other shallow structure, it's about as perfect an ecosystem for the more popular warm water species as you'll ever encounter. Sunfish, crappie and bass proliferate in this habitat, and there are also chain pickerel and yellow perch. A pair of osprey have an active nest on the east end of the lake, offering wildlife viewers and photographers a wonderful opportunity.

The NYSOWA members had a circus catching the very abundant pre-spawn bluegills and crappie that were holding in the shallows near shore. Using tiny jigs suspended about two feet beneath small bobbers, we caught nearly 600 fish in just two days, with the bluegills running very large, up to three-quarters of a pound, and the crappie about the same or a bit larger. Panfish that size really make for a great fight on ultralight spinning gear. We kept perhaps a third of the total number we caught and enjoyed a delicious dinner of fresh fillets. The DEC annually stocks rainbow trout in the lake and trout of up to four pounds have been taken, but the main attraction is the panfish species and bass.