Got back yesterday from a week at Lake Abanakee.  This is a beautiful spot near Indian Lake that my wife and I spent an August week at for the last two years.  The lake looks like it should be loaded with bass, however, it is quite disappointing.  Last year I caught about 10 bass over the course of a week and this year about 6; 5 were LMB of which one was about 2# and the rest if weighed together would be 1# total.  The SMB was about 2#.  Tried all techniques in various depths of water and in various areas of the lake with little success.  I spoke with a local that lives on the lake and is quite a good fisherman, who said that the bass fishing this year was terrible.  Also talked to another guy on the lake that fished there frequently and he told me that the lake is not known for quantity but for quality (in other words - this lake is not good for bass but I am trying to convince one of us it is anyway).

The lake is loaded with perch, which could be easily caught with a small jig or panther martin spinner.  The perch were fun on light tackle.  The lake is also loaded with pike. I hooked into 2 pike while trying for perch, one was smaller which I landed and released and the other was huge and was on for about 10 seconds before it jumped and shook my tiny panther martin lure out when it hit the water.  I took a picture of the smaller pike that I landed on the first day of the trip.  I think we will be trying out a different ADK area for our August trip next year.  Looking forward to our trip to Blue Mountain in a few weeks as I know the fishing is much better in lakes around there.

Thanks for the report! I drive past Abanakee very frequently on my ventures through the Adirondacks and have always wanted to find a way to put my boat on it. It sure looks like a great fishing lake from the road, but this is the first actual firsthand report I've heard from Abanakee. The Adirondacks have so many great fishing lakes, but even the ones that aren't you can't go wrong with because of the scenery alone. Did you happen to see any loons out there?

3 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

Did you happen to see any loons out there?

Yes, there were a pair along with a younger one that we saw each day.  There is also a nesting pair of Osprey that are on a platform on the power line that runs along Big Brook Rd, on the bridge just past Jerry Savarie Rd..  These Osprey are very active and are continuously back and forth from the nest throughout the day.  They were there last year as well.

We also saw a pair of eagles one day and there were a pair of beavers that crossed in front of the place we were staying right before dark each night.

 

Here's a picture of the Osprey from last year, as well as one of the eagles from this year . The scenery is spectacular!

 

 

Very cool. Hopefully some day I'll get to fish it. I've heard there are purebred muskies in Abanakee but are extremely rare. Not sure how much truth there is to it.

Same experience in 2025.  Fished Abanakee for 10 hours from bottom to tip in my hobie kayak.  Overcast and cloudy weather.  Great lake for kayak fishing.  Sheltered from wind, no big motorboats, lots of rocks/weeds etc. It looks amazing, weeds, stumps, hanging trees, islands, and more bays and points than you can count. 

But I only caught 3 bass all day, 2 13" largemouth and a 15" smallie.  Nothing on ned rigs or senko worms.  Caught 2 of the bass trolling a jointed rapala.  You can see where the old river or canal was before it was dammed, and it is deeper there.   Looked good, nada.   

 

Talked to a local who said he does well with jigs on structure, and that there were three 4lb bass under the giant submerged tree in front of his house.  

 

Might have been post spawn, but the lake seemed really dead.  Only saw 1 fish chasing bait on the surface.