I was raised in Rochester, (Gates). I haven't fished crappie in NY in over 40 years, but when I was a kid we used to go to Henderson Harbor, well back into the harbor, when the ice got thick enough, and we caught some of the biggest crappie. I believe that the locals called them strawberry bass; never heard that term except around Lake Ontario. In the summer, we also caught huge small mouth bass using soft shell crabs. I now fish crappie every chance I get here in eastern NC, but not through any ice. I was out last Friday and it was 78 degrees, water Temp. was 50. We have had some cold weather lately, in the upper 20's, but normally days are in the upper 40's, or higher; I can live with that, but upstate NY winters are too much.

I wish you good luck on the crappie. If you ever travel south on I-95, give me a holler, and I'll take you out for some cypress creek crappie fishing; you may even get to see an alligator up close. B-