Any Luck In Upstate Ny?

[bclark7b]

Went out to the reservoir near my house for three hours today. It's a giant mud puddle currently. Threw a chatterbait around every log and lay down I could find. Caught 24 in three hours the majority were in the 3lb range with a bunch of 2 and 4lbs mixed in. one just broke 5 at 5-2. 

[rmcguirk]

Got out for about 3 hours on Conesus today. Only had four bites. First was a 2lb LM, second was a pretty good pike. Stupid me, forgot to check my line, and the next bite meant I lost that jerkbait. The fourth bite was on a trap, and didn't land it. All bites were in 7 feet or less. 

 

Water temp never got above 47.5 and it was as dirty as I've ever seen it. 

 

Tomorrow's supposed to be sunnier and warmer. 

[clayton86]

Hit honeoye today from 9-130 I boated seriously around 80 bass all 2-4lbs. A lot of the 2-3 lb bass were hitting square bills and the bigger ones all were choking down a siebert outdoors fogy with a kietech trailer. It was a blast to say the least. We then jumped to conesus and in the 4 hours spent there my parter boated one large mouth on a crank and I got 2 smallies and a northern on a lipless. 

[ww2farmer]

Silver was a bit of a grind this afternoon. I fished from noon-5 or so, and caught 7 (4 LM, 3 SM). They only good thing about the day, is that save for one lone 14" smallmouth, the rest were all 4+ lbers. My best 5 were a 4-13 (SM), 4-10 (LM), 4-8 (LM) 4-5(LM) and a 4-3 (SM)

 

If I am going to struggle for 7 bites all afternoon, at least the ones I got were worth struggling for.

[rmcguirk]

Got out again on Conesus for about four hours --10:30-2:30.  Weather was much, much nicer.  Fishing was still pretty tough.  Managed four bass, two LM and two SM.  Biggest was a 3.5lb LM.  Also boated three pike, one of which was a stud.  

I did a bit more exploring today.  Some parts of the lake were just a bit cloudy--about three feet visibility.  Other parts were chocolate milk--less than one foot visibility.  I've never seen it so cloudy.  

Lots of boats out, especially on the north end.  From what I could see, nobody was doing particularly well.  

[ww2farmer]

Fell behind on my reports due to job hunting but here is the jist of them.....or at least what I remember.

 

Fished yesterday afternoon and it was terrible. 3 small keeper largemouth were all I could put in the boat.

 

Fished this afternoon and it was pretty good. I fished from noon-4:30 or so, and caught 15. One lone 14" smallmouth while looking for them, and bailed on that after an hour or so. Hit largemouth spots for the next couple hours and kinda grinded my way to a hog fest. I only caught 14 largemouth, but my best 5 were a 5-11, 5-4, 5-1, 4-13, and a 4-4. Then promptly at 3:45 or so they shut down. I made several more passes, and several presentation changes...but that was all she wrote.  My next trip will be Sunday with @bclark7b for our annual trip, and then early next week  I have an evening after work trip with @nosdog2

[ww2farmer]

Fished Sat. afternoon for a couple hours poking around in spots I wanted to take @bclark7b to on our trip today. It was kind of a grind but I managed to put about 8 good fish (all largemouth) in the boat. Only hung one on the scale that went 5-4, a couple more were 4+, and the rest were solid 2.5 3lb fish.

 

Met @bclark7b at 6:30 AM this morning and froze our butts off in a stiff north wind, sleety rain, and 40 degree temps.

 

I told him to not expect much today from the get go....past exp. on Silver in conditions like this and a gut feeling told me it would be a grind today. 

 

We made one pass in the area I caught some good ones in yesterday and did OK. We each caught a handful of bass on the first pass, and Ben caught a pike, and nothing much after that. I checked on some more stuff and it was dead. So we went looking for smallmouth. That was dead. Being cold, and wet we headed in for a bite to eat and to warm up a little. After that we looked for some more smallmouth, and once again, found nothing but a pike willing to bite.

 

We headed back to the area we caught them on the first pass in the morning, and we each caught a few more decent ones. No hogs, but Ben got a solid mid to upper 3lber.

 

Instead of making a 2nd pass in that area, we left , and went to another similar area a mile or so away. Right off the bat in there I stick a mid to upper 3lb fish, and then we go a long long time without a bite. We decided to grind it out in this area for a good while as  the weather was warming,  it's a little bit of a chore getting in there and I usually don't like to leave, and come back, and repeat the hassle of going back there if I can avoid it.

 

Pass #2 was pretty decent, I got an upper 4lb fish pushing 5lbs, another solid upper 3 to 4lber, and one more 2.75lber. On pass #3 Ben got a solid 3+lber. We make several more pass, but nothing happens. They are just slow and not in the mood today.

 

We leave this area and head to the area that was dead this morning, and it seemed dead again. Just as I was about to bail on it, I stick a 5-10. So that keeps us glued to that spot for another little while, but that was it. We ended the day where we started in the morning, but other than one more 2lber it was pretty uneventful. 

 

While some decent size was put in the boat today...this was by far the slowest outing @bclark7b have had in our 3-4 years now of doing this. At least I had a camera man for once to take a picture of the daily hog......the fish...not me LOL

[Scorchx1245]

Went to Coneus lake last Friday and hammered them. We t digging for largemouth and caught 2 decent 4lbsers but we're elusive, then went real shallow say 2 to 3 feet and hammered the smallies. Range from dinks to 4 to 5 lbsers. Was a great day. Was even doubling up at some points 

[ww2farmer]

I haven't been falling behind in my reports, I just haven't been going fishing much because of this awful early March like weather.

 

I get out of work around 5pm at my new job, some days a little earlier, some later, and am off all day on Thursday's, Sat. Afternoons, and all day Sunday. So I have had plenty of time, but I have  had no ambition to go after work, or on any of my days off............because of weather.

 

Well I did go out for a few hours mid day today, and it was NOT on fire. 10+ degree drop in water temps since Ben and I fished. I managed a handful of pike, and 3 largemouth in my 3-4 hour jaunt today. Looks like I am going to skip this weekend too. I have seen this TV show before, and know this lake will NOT turn around,or turn on until a steady warming spell. 

[RichF]

Any of you Finger Lakes guys know if Otisco Lake is green fish or brown fish dominated?  I have to imagine it fishes similar to the other Fingers since they're all basically laid out the same.  

[J Francho]

24 minutes ago, RichF said:

Any of you Finger Lakes guys know if Otisco Lake is green fish or brown fish dominated?  I have to imagine it fishes similar to the other Fingers since they're all basically laid out the same.  

 

It's a top tiger musky lake, so there are many 20"+ bass - both green and brown.

[RichF]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

 

It's a top tiger musky lake, so there are many 20"+ bass - both green and brown.

 

I heard about the Tigers.  Hopefully they steer clear of my baits this weekend.  That's good to know.  I don't always like having the option of both species to be honest.  It can make my head spin trying to decide on which one to target!  Since I'm more of a green guy, that's where my focus will be.  

 

Another question...does any grass grow south of the causeway?  I've read that it's shallow and muddy but didn't see anything about the veg.  

[J Francho]

Weed growth is extremely variable the past few years.  I haven't been there in years, so I couldn't say.  We've had a ton of rain, so that changes things too.

[RichF]

Yeah I got to imagine the crazy high water levels up there will jack things up a bit.  Guess I'll find out Saturday. 

[Subaqua Adinterim]

Went to Hemlock yesterday; fished about 5 hours from noon - 6, taking a break for lunch and to stretch out.  Was a little windy with wind gusts, so stayed close to shore.  Caught 7 small ones ranging from 1/2# to 1#.  All LMB.  Caught one somewhat larger one, approximately 2#.  All were caught on shakey head rig using Gary Y mini craw.  Had numerous hits on the weightless T rig worm but they must have been small because I couldn't get a hook set on them.  First time out this year, so all was good even though I didn't catch too many.  Picture of biggest one below.

[Scorchx1245]

Cayuga Saturday any of you guys gonna show? Launching out of union springs 

[Hurricane]

8 hours ago, Scorchx1245 said:

Cayuga Saturday any of you guys gonna show? Launching out of union springs 

 

I am heading there in a couple weekends.... Let me know how you do...

[ww2farmer]

Lack of reports is because there is nothing to report on.

 

Oh..............I have been fishing a bunch BUT

 

Silver is in the WORST spring funk I have seen in 30 years, and I am not sure what's going on. Grass is green and healthy, water temps are  pretty stable, water is clear and clean.............it's like everything is gone.

 

Places and locations that have held bass for 30 years this time of year are void of life. Other areas that hold bass in the summer/fall/winter are dead, and the only place I can see any signs of life on my electronics are in 30+ feet of water, glued to the bottom, smack dab in the middle of the lake....And I have tried fishing for these fish with nothing to show for it.

 

I have been SKUNKED 6 out of my last 8 trips, and when I am not getting skunked all I am catching are random small males off the few beds I can find. Often miles apart. I have fished every thing I know...grass, docks, wood, rock, points, on the bank, offshore, power fished, finesse fished, I can barely even catch a few rock bass right now. I don't know what's going on. 

[Subaqua Adinterim]

Farmer - thanks for the update.  It has definitely been a strange spring; the rain has been extraordinary, maybe that has thrown things off. Went out last week expecting big things, however, things were slow on one of the smaller finger lakes that I usually do well on at this time of year.

Hopefully things will pick up soon.  I look forward to your reports as you are a great source of what to expect in our area of the state.

[ww2farmer]

I can tell you what I didn't expect....6 total skunkings in the last 3 weeks. I haven't been totally  skunked 6 times combined in probably the last 20 years. Now, once or twice a year or so, I'll not catch a bass...usually very very early, like the day of/after ice out, or very late in the season just before ice up, but generally get some pike/perch/etc...to keep me interested. I have not been skunked in May...............I think EVER.

 

I can only blame the weather for so long....and in the end, it's just an excuse. Something else is going on at this lake, something head scratching....like I said...in 30 years I have never seen this. Other lakes nearby are not this bad right now.

 

It would be one thing if I had an idea and was like "OH, there doing this now, because of x,y,z reasons" but when it's thrown you a (hopefully) once in a generation curve ball, I have no clue on how to deal with it.

[rmcguirk]

Well, gotta say, this makes me feel better--meaning at least I'm not the only one. Due to family issues and a boat issue, in May I only got out last Saturday and then again today on Conesus. Last Saturday, got skunked for about five hours. Skunked in May!  Awful. Had high hopes for today. Went the first 5 hours with nothing. I saw one guy locked in on beds with his power poles pull a few, but I don't have those and bed fishing doesn't work well in my rig. 

 

Finally, in the last half hour, I finally pulled one smallie. Typical Conesus Lake 2 pounder, but she fought like a demon. 

 

I sure hope the season turns around soon, as it has not started well at all. 

[Scorchx1245]

On Friday, May 26, 2017 at 1:37 PM, Chris. said:

 

I am heading there in a couple weekends.... Let me know how you do...

Best 5 fish 20lbs probably. Caught 40 plus pike/pickeral.

[RichF]

On 5/24/2017 at 0:53 PM, J Francho said:

 

It's a top tiger musky lake, so there are many 20"+ bass - both green and brown.

 

Well...didn't learn a whole lot except there is at least one 20" largemouth, one 20" smallmouth, and a tiger musky.  That's pretty much all I caught out there Saturday. lol

[J Francho]

Ugh.  It's pretty topsy turvy over here too.  Tough to figure out.

[NYWayfarer]

I fished the Hudson River past exit 18 on the Northway with my Father in-law Sunday. Out on the water at 6am.

 

Fishing was slow to start. First bite was at 9:20am, a big Chain Pickerel which shook the hook at the boat before we could net it.

 

First fish was caught at 9:35am and we stayed out until 2:30pm. Total of 10 fish caught, 9 Smallmouth Bass and 1 Chain Pickerel.

 

We fished the same area last year and had days where we caught anywhere from 20 to 50 fish a trip. I am hoping the action will pick up in the weeks to come.