I live near the Finger Lakes in western NY.... Due to the extreme depth of these lakes ( Seneca Lake is 600 feet deep) many of them do not generally freeze in the winter, allowing for some excellent open water winter fishing for trout, landlocked salmon, bass, pike ,pickerel and panfish... One of my favorite types of winter fishing is fishing for northern pike on Seneca lake with bucktail jigs...

Medium weight tackle works well...I use a 7 foot medium light graphite rod with an open faced reel and 10 pound test monofiliment..I like a limp line like Trilene XL for jigging... The lures are lead headed bucktail jigs in 1/4 to 1/2 oz. weights...Many colors work well , butI prefer black or brown...I also usually add a 4" or 5" black pork ripple rind ...Some guys use a plastic trailer, butI prefer the pork...

The technique is to drift parallel to shore in any where from 10 to 30 feet of water, and cast the jigs along submerged weed beds...Generally the outside edge of the weed bed is most productive for bigger fish... A slow, fairly steady swimming retrieve usually works best..

The fish really hammer those jigs....Fish average from 6 to 8 pounds, with enough fish in the double digits to make it interesting...

At present, I'm planning a trip Monday with a couple of friends..