armymedic3

Hey everyone. After years of toying with the notion I just pulled the trigger and bought a cabin in Richland. I want to begin fishing Onieda. Never been on it. But from what Ive seen in my research is that it is the place to go for walleyes. Having only caught 5...yes 5 in my lifetime of 38 years. Fished hard for them in PA last 4 years and put a lot of time in. It seems to be the one fish that always eludes me or that I suck fishing for. Looking to change that with a fresh start. I have a 18ft open bow converted to a fishing boat. I have a 140 Johnson on it and that is it for the moment since my trolling motor died. My question to the group is what would you pick for the most popular/effective way to fish for walleye. Trolling, drifting, run and gun. Im torn for this year if I should buy a kicker or a new trolling motor with the gps. Or maybe I dont need either. I don't know. I see youtube videos of guys out in the middle of the day jigging with drift bags and catching them left and right.Never been much of a trolling kind of guy but if that is the ticket so be it. Ill be doing more spring fishing than fall. Maybe winter before the ice comes. Any help or PM's welcome. Also if anyone could recommend a charter Captain or maybe a guy in the know on here that wants to go fishing in the spring let me know..

I have a navionics chip and xi5 with pinpoint gps linked to the lowrance. I myself am a night walleye guy and my boat lights up like ebbets field. If you think I might have better luck with that and the navionics is good enough to avoid taking off the prop might be better to leave the smallies alone. Ive never heard of a spectacular walleye bite in August. The time to catch them is almost over in pa. If I can hook up to 3 or 4 a night that might be a plan...

I have a lowrance gen3 with, gps, and mapping. Is that enough to be safe. Its not enough in my local river.

1000 islands/Lake Ontario Been reading lots of posts from last year. I'm looking to take a family fishing trip in mid August (no choice). Been looking at 1000 islands. Looks tough to fish with the boat traffic and current. And from the sound of it you really have to put your time in to have any success at all. Is this really the case? I have no aspirations of catching trophy fish or 50 fish a day, but if its relatively easy to pick off some perch and smallies I think my boys and wife would enjoy it. Or anything else that's active that time of year. We have never been there. Should I pull the trigger and book a place or look elsewhere? Tight Lines....

Thanks again guys. I wasnt expecting so much help. It seems to me from what everyone is saying the way to fish around lake O is to trailer the boat and follow the reports instead of sticking with one port and putting all the eggs in one basket. I was looking at reports from last year during June and numerous charter capt websites. Seems like June is a transition month for the fish. Browns and Smallies are moving out. Largies are moving in. Salmon are who the hell knows. And that all depends on the weather and the temps and the baitfish. I had no idea the Lake was that complicated. I thought there was more of a pattern. I like all the options on the east end. Seems like a lot of protected places to fish..I figure something should be somewhere fairly close. Enough to keep the kids happy anyway so its easier to get them up at the crack of dawn. Seems like Mexico is the place to fish deep for trout and salmon. From the map the backwaters in that area are scarce and the fishing seems to vary greatly year to year. I always feel I am making the wrong choice of area to fish and when I get there everyone will say "no fish here there all at the other end of the lake". I guess that is just how it goes. Thanks again guys. Ill keep my eyes on this post.

Wow, thanks for all the responses guys. I am from eastern PA. Its a 4 hour drive to Pulaski that would be the closest to me. Im not really worried about the drive if driving to a different area of the Lake puts me on the fish. Mid June is there a port that tends to be hot? Im also worried about when it blows I still want to have good options for smallies and panfish which is probably where we will fish the most. Final Flight mentioned every month but June. Is it a bad time? Im just trying to give us the best chance to catch some fish and give us a place to go year after year.

Hello everyone, Been reading post after post on this site. Lots of great information. I am from PA looking to start fishing Lake Ontario and surrounding region. I fished Lake Ontario with my grandfather 20 years ago out of the salmon river. We fished the mouth of the river and caught more smallmouth than I could count. We caught Pike in the estuary...and when we fished the lake on calm days we caught browns, sheepshead, and a steelie in for good measure and we could still see the shore. I believe it was June when we were there. I want to take my kids in my 17ft bowrider with a 145 Johnson and kicker. Its got a pretty high freeboard, but I wouldnt go out in anything over 1-2. My grandfathers was a 16ft with a 50hp on it and we felt safe on calm days. The first thing I want to do is book a trip in middle to late June (no choice for timing due to work). My plan is to book a charter and start to learn how to fish the Lake, pick up some gear and try it out for the week. Then start rigging my boat with what I need to fish as time goes on. I need to start with using the best home port for my boat. My boat is small for the lake so I want to be in an area that gives me the best options to change gears and have success in more protected areas if it blows. I also would like to be not too far from productive trolling to minimize long runs if weather kicks up unexpectedly. I have been looking at Henderson Bay but Ive seen some comments that it is a dead sea and the fish are few and far between. I have no idea how long the run is to get out to good trolling waters. Bill Saiff charters has come up on my radar because of youtube videos and not sure of his rep. Maybe someone here has some tips for me to get me started in my research. Id be open to other Lakes too but Im thinking the Big O has the best fishery. Took the family to Black Lake a couple years ago and the fishing was pretty awful even with the guide. Tight lines Mike