Honeoye Lake

[bclark7b]

New to bass resource. Just thought I'd post and see if I get some replies. I wanna hit Honeoye lake in my canoe sometime next week. I have never fished it before so I was wondering if anyone has any tips on what to throw this time of year or where to go on the lake.

 

Thanks

[clayton86]

Scroll down in the NE forum I had a post not to long ago about honeoy lake and some others I. That area. Pretty sure there were some good tips in the thread

[clayton86]

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/122206-hemlock-conesious-or-silver-near-geneseo/#entry1346992

Second post in the thread

[rmcguirk]

Here's the post Clayton86 is referring to:  "Honeoye: Another option, though probably another 15 minutes past Hemlock/Canadice. If you simply want to catch fish, and lots of them, go here. Of all the lakes in that area, I've always had the best luck there, at least for numbers. There is an easy launch at the north west corner of the lake. The LM bass are not large but they are aggressive and eager. The best I've ever gotten there was under 3 lbs and I've fished it out of my yak probably 100 times over the years. However, I've had evenings there where I caught 30 fish between 6 and 8 and days there that I had to stop fishing because I flat ran out of soft plastics, even after I went to using halfs of worms, etc."

 

To expand a bit, the launch for car-top boats is on Sandy Bottom Rd., right next to Sandy Bottom Park.  Sandy Bottom Rd. is off West Lake Rd.  It is pretty easy to find.  It is technically closed to launching boats until Labor Day, but I've been launching there for years, along with plenty of other folks.  No one seems to mind, including the police, who I've chatted with while getting ready to launch there.  Just unload your gear quickly and park you car in the Sandy Bottom Park parking lot. 

 

Honestly, though I've fished it plenty, I don't think I've paddled more than a mile from the launch.  There's rarely been a need to do so.  If you get there early or late, paddle along the west shore to see if you can find them shallow.  I've had some pretty good success with top water presentations.  (As I said above, the bass there are generally pretty eager and will repeatedly strike top water.)  If that doesn't work, move out to the weedline.  Oddly, the weedline along the west shore is usually pretty dead for me, and I move to the weedline along the north shore.  It is usually around 10-12 feet.  Even if you don't have a depth finder, it should be pretty easy to spot.  If the weedline itself does not produce, try inside and outside it. 

 

If you end up fishing inside the weedline, your going to need a very, very weedless technique.  Though it is not something I've tried from my kayak, a punching-type of set up might be successful.   

 

I haven't been there yet this month, but I've had good luck with smaller soft plastics, both weighted and weightless.  Moving baits in those weeds are pretty tough, so unless I'm going a bit deeper, I don't generally bother.  The last time I was there, the jika rig was the way to go, along with small creature-type baits. 

 

I'm not sure how the recent cooler weather will have impacted the lake. 

 

If you have any specific questions, feel free to pm me. 

 

Rick

[Marty]

I generally don't fish Honeoye except in the spring. It has the most bass per acre of the 11 Finger Lakes. It is known for large numbers of smaller bass, but there are some big ones in there too. I've heard in the summer that they can be anywhere around the perimeter of the lake at the outside weed edges. Whatever you do this year, try and get there in the spring next year for some potentially fast fishing and the chance to get a big one.

 

Changing the subject, I see you're from Palmyra. If you fish Widewaters, would you let me know what's happening there, either via post or PM? Thanks.

[bclark7b]

Thank you all. This advice will definitely help when I can get out there. I'm hoping to get out there Tuesday or Wednesday. I'll update on what happened and probably have some more questions. Thanks again!