Welcome to the Forum, Ed. It's hard to tell from here in MN. but we do have a lot of members from the great state of NY. Hopefully, they will be along soon.

I can say best time for the brown trout is as soon as the ice clears off or 4/1 opener with herring. From the bank they stay in less then 10 foot of water. Put your herring out on a small float about 3-4 foot down and let um float around. I usually look for any inlet streams if not I’ll start on the side of the lake that’s getting the most sunshine. As brown trout will be looking for warmer water in the spring.