Finders Keepers

Thanks for the congrats everyone!! Gator - The perch are pretty much scattered everywhere and have not congregated in the shallows yet. However all of the really big ones I have caught have been out deep (20+ fow). Hindsight, I should have fished over by Shaker Heights/Third Creek on Sunday to try to ice a walleye and take all three categories!! But there was the chance that my fish from Saturday wouldn't hold, and I had them dialed in, so I figured I should try for larger pike and perch. If I have a banner first day next time I may try to target the walleye on the second day...

Well, today was interesting to say the least! Ventured out on the ice at o'dark thirty this morning and tried to find my honey hole from yesterday by flashlight. Unfortunately the wind over night had lightly blown the snow so that everything looked the same. So I took my best guess and drilled my first hole at 6:05 am. I set-up a NW-SE spread with the tip-ups and firgured once it got light I could re-evaluate my position and move if necessary. Once it got light I realized I had set-up a bit north and east of yesterday's fish fest (in the middle of the islands east of the tip of Newark). I decided to wait a bit before moving to see how my current position would pan out. In the meantime some other guys set-up in my previous area, so I had to stay put. Over the next hour a TON of people flooded onto the ice. From set-up until 9am is was slooooow: I only caught a couple 12" perch and one 6 lb northern. So I decided to start moving my tip-ups. My thinking was that all the noise and traffic from the crowd (all south, west, and north of me) either had the fish hunkered down or pushed to the east. So I decided to re-orient my spread east-west and spread east of my position. I then started to get action on the easternmost tip-ups, so over the course of the day I slowly kept moving my spread further south and east. Ended the day at 2:30 and was 5 for 14 on pike and had iced around 25 or so perch. Largest pike today was 9.5 lbs and I kept one perch to weigh-in that tipped the scales to 1.3 lbs. The pike were strange today as they were just sitting under the hole after tripping the tip-ups... I had one HUGE pike on that continually circled the hole the entire time I fought it, and I wondered what in the world it was doing. I soon found out that it knew by doing just that, the line was sliding along the ice at the base of the hole. On about the 10th time up to the hole, the line caught on the ice, the fish did two big head skakes and was gone as the line cut on the ice. I never saw the fish, but it was smart and it felt BIG... Back at Abe's I was pleasantly surprised to see that both of my fish were still on top and there was only 45 minutes left for weigh-in. With 20 minutes to go an angler came in and said he had a big perch to weigh in.... But it was only 1.6 lbs. Phew! 4pm came around and no more weigh-ins!! I took 1st in both Pike and Perch divisions!! Yee-haw! Take a look in the upcoming publications of the Fingerlakes Times for tourny pics. Now I can look forward to the next tournament in March!!

Hey Jr - Sodus is HOT with the perch this year. Good luck!

Hey Hank! I had them dialed in right today, we'll have to see if the same program will work tomorrow! Have you gotten out on Port Bay at all?

Thanks Tom!

All I can say for today is... WOW!!! Fantastic weather, fantastic fishing, what more could you ask for? Started the day a little later than I had planned due to the check-in for the tourny, which turned out not to really be a check in of any kind. Anyway, got on the ice at 6:40 and hiked to "the spot" by around 7:20 or so. I started by targeting the perch and before I could set the second line, the first one went off and yielded a decent 12" keeper. I then proceeded to engage in a slow pick at 'em through 9am, but I hadn't gotten any lunkers, and the two pike lines I set hadn't moved. Finally, at 9:30 one of the pike rigs went off and after a sort fight, I iced a HUGE 14" perch! That slob had sucked down a rather large shiner! Now I had a derby fish!! Soon thereafter the pike lines started firing and by noon I had iced 5 pike (3, 6, 8, 9.5, 10.1 lbs) and a 2 to 3 lb bass. Here is a pic of the first 4 pike in my livewell before I let the smaller ones go: I also picked up another monster perch, but not quite as big as the first. At this point I was down to 5 shiners left, all half beaten or dead. So I put them down anyway to see if I could get one to go. I had quite a few false releases, probably from perch pecking at them! So I didn't do too much more after noon. I called it quits at 2pm so that I could make sure I made weigh-in. The pike tipped the scales to 10.1 lbs and currently holds first place. The largest perch tipped the scales to 1.8 lbs and also holds first place. The other perch weighed in at 1.3 lbs. There was only one other pike entered (6.3 lbs) and two perch (1.6 and 1.3 lbs). I'm not counting on any winnings yet, as tomorrow is still another whole day, but I'm feeling pretty good! I'm hoping to hit the ice a little earlier tomorrow and will be targeting the northerns right from the get-go! Let's see if I can find that 16+ lb northern....

Hey Jr - Yeah, it was one of those fantastic days. I hope I have the same luck this weekend for the tourny!! Here are a few pics I shot last night before and while the slaughter was underway... Ya gotta love the sight of a heap o' perch filets!!! Mmmmm...

Today turned out to be the best day to date for me on the ice. I got on the ice about 7:30 and headed to one of my friend's favorite spots and right from the first line in the water I began icing some really nice jacks. Things slowed up a bit between 9 and 11, but then they turned back on until I'd had enough of the wind around 2:30. It wasn't long before I was throwing back anything under 12"! Ended the day with 33 keepers (25 were in the pound+ category) and 5 bass around 2-3 lbs each. No pike today. I'll try to post pics tomorrow if I can get them off of my phone... I'm taking the day off tomorrow to relax and recoop. Good luck to all those who are fishing the tourny this weekend! NOTE: When I left I noticed that the wind was ripping open water through the center of the bay. Be careful if your thinking of heading to the deeper waters!!!

Where abouts did he ice that one, over in front of Third Creek off Shaker Heights?

Got out at first light and set up in 6 - 12 fow off the NE corner of Eagle Island. It was a slow steady pick at 'em and I ended with around 30 or so keepers, with a few in the pound+ size. I also caught a 3 lb bass and two 5-6 lb pike. Called it a day at 1pm. Will be out tomorrow for a full day if the weather isn't too nasty.

Sounds good! Thanks for the reports fellas!! Hopefully the weather won't be too bad the next couple days...

Looking to go out tomorrow and wondering where to try. I'm thinking maybe along the east side in the shallows, as per Scurry's report. But it would be great to know if anyone has gotten into them anywhere else!

I think I would feel safe driving my truck out to that fishing spot!

I'm just curious: anyone targeting pike or walleye on Sodus? If so, anyone having any luck? Or is everyone just going for the perch?

I heard from some others that were out yesterday that they nailed them good in the cove North of Eagle Island, so I thought I'd give it a shot today since I have never fished there. I thought it would be fairly shallow, but to my surprise it was a good 12-14' deep. Seems like the perch have been on the move lately - you just have to hit it in the right spot at the right time.

Thanks Hank! That's the one I'm talkin' about. However, they have not updated their Rules and Regs page yet to reflect the cancelling of the January round. Also, I was told on the phone that registration is only $20/person/round and not $50 as stated on the website (it might be $50 if you're going for the Grand Angler Award). Let's hope the ice sticks around for both rounds! Now I just need to figure out where to catch some BIG walleye....

Got out today at 7am and started at the NE corner of Eagle Island. Got a few around 10" but no lunkers. At 9am headed into the cove NW of Eagle Island and worked that area for a little over an hour with little action. I was joined by my buddy with a snow mobile and we decided to treck across the bay to the NW side of Leroy Island. There we managed a slow steady pick at 'em with some around 13". Ended the day at 2:30 and had around 45 in the bucket. Not bad, but still haven't gotten into the lunker perch yet!! Josh - I haven't heard of the Bayside Tourney. I don't know if I will be making that one as I have no experience on Iron. Bay. The one I am referring to is the one being hosted on Sodus Bay by the Sodus Point Lodge (I just got off the phone with them) that runs 2 weekends: Feb. 21/22, and March 14/15. They were going to run a round this coming weekend, but a large group they were counting on can't make it. $20/person to enter each round, Grand Angler Award (~$1,000 over both rounds), each round: First place cash prize each division (currently $700), Second Place (currently $450), Third place (currently $250). The more people that enter, the higher the cash prizes.

Hey Jr - I haven't heard much from Port Bay, but I know Sodus has been pretty good once you find them. I'll be out tomorrow and will post a report.

How did people do on Sodus this weekend? I'm looking to take a buddy of mine out tomorrow and I'm wondering where's the best place to go? Anyone getting much off the old coal trussle?? Also, does anyone know the details of the tourney that starts next weekend? Cost to register, prize structure, places to weigh in and their times, etc.? Thanks!

I'll be heading out on Monday - Let us know how you guys do over the weekend!!

I was wondering if I could get some help/tips on fishing for walleye in Sodus - I'd like to try to get a handle on them before the upcoming tourny. I'm a newby to the walleye, so any help would be greatly appreciated: location(s), lures, presentations, time of day, etc. Also, are those that are fishing for way out in the deep waters in the middle of the bay fishing for walleye? Just curious... Thanks in advance for any help!

Fished Sodus Saturday from 7am until about 3pm with a friend of mine and we left with 60 perch in the 10 - 15" range. We fished the NE corner of Eagle Island in about 10-12 feet of water using Swedish Pimples tipped with minnows. Fluorescent orange seemed to work best. We also managed to haul a 3 lb bass and 10 lb pike through the ice as well. Definitely a decent day on the ice!

Was out on Port Bay at the south end with my dad and one of my friends looking for pike. My friend hooked into a real good one on our shallowest tip-up over about 2.5 ft of water - had run out all of the line on the reel and the tip-up was slammed against the side of the ice by the time we got to it! After a good 20 minutes or so of give and take, it finally came under the hole and we quickly realized it wasn't going to fit through the 8" hole! Chopped it bigger with the spud and after another 15 minutes or so he hauled an 18 lb salmonid onto the ice! I still don't know what kind of species it was: real bright pink on the sides (like a pink salmon), but not a steelhead (stout with a BIG girth and large tail) or a brownie (no spots). I've got a pic somewhere that I should throw on here to see if anyone knows what it was. Anyway, that's the oddest thing I've had come through the ice...

I'm looking to get out this weekend for some perch action and was wondering if anyone was having any luck yet out on Sodus or Port Bay?

Hey Allan - I'm a teacher at heart, so if I can help you put more fish on the deck, that's ok with me!! I don't know if I'll be able to get out again this year or not - I was hoping to get out tomorrow, but a couple things came up and it sounds like it might be a bit choppy out there (my dad's not one for anything over 2 footers). Good luck if you get out, and try running super slow if nothing's biting at the normal speeds. I'll send you a PM with my contact info so we can hook up next year!