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Bass Fishing Attempts: Sandy and Irondequoit


57pirate

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I fished out of I-Bay Thursday, and Sandy on Saturday, trying for bass. Basically I caught nothing. Water temperature was about 65 degrees Thurs. and 68 Sat. The weather was clear and sunny. I drifted with bass minnows from 35-40 FOW into 10 FOW, with drop-shot rigs and with 3-way rigs, and with 1 and 2 oz. sinkers. Nothing, except bites from gobies, stolen bait, or foul-hooked gobies. I put in 5 to 6 hours each day. I also tried a jig with a brown curly tail, and a minnow with a split-shot rig. Absolutely nothing. I tried spots that used to be great: off the bluffs East of Webster Park, off Shipbuilders. I tried spots that should be good: between Sandy and the pump house, and off Devil's Nose. Nothing doing. I'm wondering if the fishery has collapsed, if there's really anything to wonder about it, I think something very major may be history. Nobody else was trying for bass either day. The word must be out. Sorry about this. That's the bad news.

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I bass fish further east every weekend. The bays were crap for me this weekend, but the lake made up for it. It was more so quantity over quality though with most smallies in the 2lb range. They were hitting anything drop shotted - robo worms, live worms, those yamamoto drop shot minnows (can't remember the name..)

When in doubt, head east...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Edited by krux5506
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You have to go to Erie if you want to experience big lake bass fishing that you have had in the past. Small boat harbor, go in front of the windmills and have all you want.

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Not quite that easy on Erie lately. Fished Seneca shoals Friday and only managed 10 bass on the small side. A little later in the summer the deep water shoals and rock piles will load up. The two areas of Lake Ontario that still have bass are the fort Niagara drift out of the Niagara and also from around port bay east. Last year I discovered the upper Niagara. Liked it. A lot of bass and even a bonus 41" Muskie.

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I'm not the most experienced lake fisherman, but I don't think the Lake O smallie fishing is "dead"...I got easy double digits on Saturday until I couldn't stand the heat. There was also a tournament saturday possibly from outta town (not the Arcadia club tournament) and I was told from one of those guys that the biggest fish weighed in were smallies from the lake in the 4-5lb range. No wonder 10 bass boats right at 5:30 blasted into the lake.

This is also aside from my first early spring outtings this year. Smallies crushing crankbaits in the bays near shore. Most over 4lb, my biggest right at 5lb even. Again, I'm not the most experienced fisherman, and this is my first full season with my boat, primarily bass fishing. I don't have fancy electronics, just a cheap 2D sonar/GPS unit which I hardly use aside for depth/water temp.

Long story short, the smallies aren't all dead.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Lake Ontario United mobile app

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I'm guessing from the posts above that most of the folks experiencing better fishing are east, from Sodus and perhaps beyond. It also sounds like the fish are still relatively shallow. We used to fish Wautoma, but it's been a while, but I'd love to hit it again if the fishing improves. The past couple times were a complete bust.

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I'm going to give it a try out of Irondequoit tomorrow morning.....I'll let you all know if I have any luck. Would love to get my kids into some SMB like my Dad did for me when I was there age in the 90's. Unfortunatley no overly optimistic.

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The Smallmouth Fishing as we have known it is over. VHS disease 7 years ago and mass numbers of Gobies have devastated this fishery. Hope they can make some type of comeback. Very Sad!!!!!

It amazes me that the DEC has not dropped the creel limit back.  The population is super low yet you can still keep 5. 

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It amazes me that the DEC has not dropped the creel limit back. The population is super low yet you can still keep 5 & catch & release when there's on the nest.

Edited by pap
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I took part in a tournament out of Henderson harbor and the net result of our 4 boats was 4 bass. everyone we talked did very little. Each year the fishing has got worse,Gary

Was the tournament before or after the keep fish season or before the season. The guys did tournaments before season over at Chaumont Bay for years, now you have to work for them, and like stated above their really nice ones. My cousins father in law is a semi pro bass angler and my uncle were up last week and they had to work for them. Kitecs and cabin creeks real slow presentation. They worked the weeds but slid out to 30ft before the big boys started to hit.

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there are around 15 of us who have our own tournament at Henderson harbor every opening weekend and I can tell you that we caught about 5 bass in 3 days plus it was the same story in talking to fisherman in town some thing bad ass is going on. Gary

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  • 1 month later...

I'm not the most experienced lake fisherman, but I don't think the Lake O smallie fishing is "dead"...I got easy double digits on Saturday until I couldn't stand the heat. There was also a tournament saturday possibly from outta town (not the Arcadia club tournament) and I was told from one of those guys that the biggest fish weighed in were smallies from the lake in the 4-5lb range. No wonder 10 bass boats right at 5:30 blasted into the lake.

This is also aside from my first early spring outtings this year. Smallies crushing crankbaits in the bays near shore. Most over 4lb, my biggest right at 5lb even. Again, I'm not the most experienced fisherman, and this is my first full season with my boat, primarily bass fishing. I don't have fancy electronics, just a cheap 2D sonar/GPS unit which I hardly use aside for depth/water temp.

Long story short, the smallies aren't all dead.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Hey man,  Heading out today or Tomorrow for smallies. From Irondequoit  to hedges, any tips at all?

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