reerok

So it sounds like a bit of shallow and slow fishing even with the cooling water? My buddy drives the boat and fishes fast so I'll make the most of each dock. But he likes to stay on the outside weed edges and throw spinnerbaits to the edge and wind it back. If that holds true this trip any thoughts for how to fish the outside weed edges? Throw a worm/senko/cut-tail into the weeds? Your old back boat drop shot trick? Thanks J!

Any tips for fishing Conesus this time of year? Heading out Friday for the day. Do buzzbaits work over the weeds? Worms around docks? Jerkbaits on the outside weedlines and drop offs? Drop Shot on the drop offs? What's produced for you in this time of year? -Nathan

A stingy Conesus day after the rain and cold front. The DS trick picked up the only fish of the day, a chunky little 2 lb. Thanks for the tips and I look forward to fishing this lake more. Hopefully I'll bump into you out there some day.

He's a giver! Haha. He really is one of the most generous humans I know so I think he just likes to give his friends and family the room on the front. Thanks for your idea. I will give the DS a shot if we fish the deep weeds.

Awesome idea! To confuse the situation further, he controls from the back of his Ranger with the remote dongle (no foot pedals). For some reason he likes fishing off the back. But I guess your idea could still work from the front of the boat. I'll just have to retrieve rapidly so the long line doesn't slip beneath him and/or the boat. I could use casting gear with a higher retrieve rate and heavier weight to get down to depth quicker...

And he's just as happy catching pickerel as bass so it works great for him. I'll just try to keep up by hitting high percentage spots as he zooms us past them.

Unfortunately I won't be in charge of the boat. And my buddy insists on fishing fast only. He covers water with a spinnerbait 98% of the time no matter the conditions. I probably can convince him to steer us to the outside weed edges but slowing down is pretty much off the table.

Then I'll have to hit them in the head with the heavy tungsten!

The docks just north of that point are where I picked up both bass, one a 3.5lber. I'll look a bit deeper along the outside weed edge. Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler and wet so I'm guessing the fish may be a bit funny. On that lake with not a lot of structure I assume they lock down in the healthy weeds?

Hi J, I got to fish Conesus last week for a few hours during the bluebird skies and lovely stable warm weather. I was expecting a strong fishing day but it was stingy. Fishing through the slimy, broken up weeds and grass was tricky. The few green bass I picked up came off of docks with TRigged cut tail worm. I'm heading back tomorrow (weather permitting) - should I be fishing the deep weed edges instead? Thanks from the 585, reerok

Those are some nice, fat largemouth! Is that what you typically target on Honoeye? I just sold my Tracker when I moved to Rochester so I'm land based too. I have a friend with the big Ranger. It's definitely big enough to fish 3 out of so I'll see if he'd be open to having you join us. You know the lakes better than me so it would be equally beneficial! Hopefully the high, muddy water doesn't kill the fishing this weekend. I'll break out some thumping spinner baits and loud rattle jerk baits and see. -Nathan

Hey J, I've been following your posts for years and didn't realize you're a fellow 585er! I'm excited to be in smallmouth heaven. We were aiming for Conesus and possibly Seneca but I may steer us towards Honeoye instead. Let me know if you ever want to geek out on fishing. I have a garage full of bass gear that's ready to get some use. Thanks! -Nathan

Hello fellow Bass-heads, I just moved to Rochester, NY and am excited to get on the water a few days this coming weekend. Does anyone have any reports on which of the Finger Lakes are fishing well at present? I know the water is really high right now due to all the rain. Are any of the lakes in better shape than others? We have a 21 ft Ranger and are willing to drive wherever to get to good productive water. Thanks for your input! -reerok

My home lake has typical clarity of about 1'. Drop shot is easily my most productive presentation and I'm targeting largemouth only in a manner similar to what you're describing - weed lines and also rocky banks. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me either for all of the reasons you've mentioned but it simply works. And better than anything else on this body of water. I do use scent so that likely helps. In your situation I'd be super excited to try it.

True. But not the MEGA imaging version, right?