Slimy Hooks

Does make a lot of sense about people with limited time being more inclined to keeping whatever they can take a knife too...will not condone anyone for taking smaller perch but keeping 6" fish unless gut-hooked is pretty rediculous...

Crappies are quite entertaining to fish for, seldom do and they are all given away...am with your buddy on the mushiness...tried eating one a week ago and couldn't do it...

Got nothing against bass, used to fish smallmouths during the "hedges" hay day on the lake but that went down the crapper...largemouth's were a nuisance to me last summer grabbing stickbaits before the walleyes had a chance but didn't mind seeing 4-6 pounders at midnight...had a buddy that was into bass fishing and used to go frequently and joined him on those evening conesus lake tournies...flipping is awesome, and loved setting the hook as hard as possible...

Am hopeful that the perch fishing isn't on the way out and the best is yet to come...most people seem to think it hasn't really started yet...

Steady pick for the most part with flurries and lulls...morning was best...

Have been reading about the demise of Seneca, can't personally attest to that since have only been fishing there for 2 years...have heard a lot of good about Canandaigua this fall and spring...

Personally 9-10" fish are perfect for eating...while it is nice to catch the big ones, they don't seem to taste as good and just have more meat...could just be my pallet, I think crappies taste terrible after-all...

Hard topic of what's best to keep...there's people that won't keep a perch over 11" as they say these are the breeders and represent the smallest population percentage...

Then there's the guys that love 7-9" fish as they are the best eating and represent the largest population percentage...while we do need fish to grow for future purposes, what's better, keeping fish that lay the most eggs and make up the smallest part of the population, or taking fish from the largest population percentage???

Those 5-7" fish still reproduce and lay a lot of eggs...

Usually only fish perch in the fall on Irondequoit Bay and my first trip or two, will keep 8" fish...relatives/friends take all that is caught and hardly eat any myself but after they get a bunch, become much pickier about what is killed...some days I'll set a 10" minimum and actually measure them and if you see little perch in my bucket, it's because they swallowed the hook...

Guess it comes down to personal preference and doing what the individual feels best...

Although I haven't tried them, they would certainly work...

As a kid casting off piers for Browns, used to see one person in particular that would fly fish and cast streamers and strip them in...

Have seen him catch fish on more then one occasion...maybe you can start a new trend!!! Hard to give up the sticks/spoons for a streamer fly though, but maybe on a slow day in clear water it would be worth a shot...

Slow morning, steady afternoon but enough fish for a few meals...

Males were milking and gave a few females a squeeze and eggs were coming out...hate to say/think we could be on the downhill side of the perch action, been enjoying it greatly but time tells all...

Yep,,,surely is a blast catching lake run fish on ultra-lights!!!

Quite a few times have brought a 5' ultra-light to target steelhead/Browns in un-mentionable "ditch" creeks when I used to enjoy fishing them...something different and a new challenge...

Need to catch a steelhead on a dry fly, just about the last way I haven't caught one yet...single/double handed fly rods, bottom-bouncing, float-fishing, planer board with plugs, spoons/spinners, lake trolling, pier casting, ice fishing...not much left for a new experience and still love chasing them...

Another slow morning, was better then yesterday mornin as far as keepers go but nothing spectacular...

Half the people say it's done, the other half say it's early...not positive...last week males were leaving white residue in my bucket, although have yet to see a spawned out fish...maybe those three days after ice out were early arrivals with the warm weather, as the fishing in regards to quantity/quality hasn't been matched since...

Try to make fishing for stocked Browns challenging...toss little stick-baits, spinners, use dry flies things like that...it's still pretty easy but makes it more of a challenge...havent fished oatka before, usually various places in irondequoit and have caught a few steelhead on a ultra-light with 4 pound in the process...

13 hour shift complete, kill count 26 while throwing back a ungodly amount of 5-8 inch fish when a school finally came around...so hard to leave, keep saying any minute a school of big ones is going to arrive...

Wish there was something good to report but all I heard was slow and a lot of small fish...your the king of cranberry today bondouley!!! You were right, it was wicked cold this morning, ice on the guides for hours...

See what happens tomorrow, tried walking further from the lot then I'd ever fished for something different...back to the usual haunts next time...hopefully better days ahead!!!

Congrats!!! Doesn't matter to me what size you keep, although my kill count woulda been a lot higher taking home the smaller ones in your pic...

Nail tail/spike combo has been better then minnows, although emeralds took all the bigger fish...

Thankfully there was no skim ice, was a thought driving this morning...haven't made a body count yet, still torturing myself on the pond currently, going on 12 hours...

Body count won't be high, maybe have 20, only had one at 10 this morning and listening to the guys around me and on the way to the lot, it was 1-3 a person from the people that were hear at first light and departed by noon...

Trout fishing is starting to sound better but will be seeing a lot of them when April rolls around and back to the 1st mating gig so am going to do the perch thing for a while longer...irondequoit is starting to sound better and better...

If they were all keepers, would be more then pleased and the three caught while trying to type this message would equal one nice keeper...

Catching those stocked Browns is a lot of fun and look foreward to fishin them every year!!!

Very slow morning today...bite picked up in the afternoon but hard to find a keeper...starting to see a fair amount of walleye activity on the shore-line as well...hoping this cold front has them off, and will be back to good fishing with quality fish soon...

9's and 11's are typically the most used sizes...in colored up water have a preference for broken backed baits as they vibrate and displace more water then a straight stick, allowing the fish to find them easier...

Typically run and catch more fish on straight stick's but there's a time for jointed lures...if fish are aggressive they will pounce on jointed lures even in clear water, and prefer jointed baits if targeting coho/steelies as they usually are more aggressive then Browns...

As mentioned, since there is a tendency to use jointed baits in dirtier waters, the colors reflect this...fire tiger, GFR, perch, and chartreuse bleeding shiner being my favored colors...

If the water is on the clearer side, as mentioned in another post use natural colors...black/silver, black/gold, brown trout, being a few good ones...am not positive if they make a purpledescent in jointed but that is a good clear water lure...

Your welcome ontherise, happy you had a fun day on the water!!! Don't be spreading rumors about me being "alright" though, I'm a terrible person...😈

Was very surprised how few people were there during the drive by around 11, almost went home to grab bait and layer up but not today...

Straight up Michigan crickets for me...wait for a pod to roll on by, pick out the biggest one and "gently" toss the 2 ounce cricket...yank as hard as you can and duck incase you miss...my best walleye tactic!!! 😉...

Best spots are standing in thick bush's and reeds so no one can really see what's going on, and stash the fish in the brush...if a cop shows up and asks why those fish are there just tell them "it was like that when I got here"...don't leave'em all in your car, hiding them gives you plausible deniability and they aren't in your possession yet...

Gotta work once in a while...

Wait a second, was that a "yup", you did get that doll??? Lol...Yep, you surely have a unique sense of humor Scott...have made me laugh many times being within hearing distance...

Lol, Scott...you think that's creepy??? Some of the things I've seen you post makes me wonder about ya, but realize your just screwing around...example, you ever get that used blow up doll you were talking about??? I'm joking, no offense...

Maybe it's just me but didn't realize the "creepiness" at all but am kind of a oblivious person...

Apologie accepted...🤔

ðŸ‘ðŸ»...🎣...

Never try to insult anyone ontherise, unless they are obviously doing the same to me...just see ya as a ball buster and for all I know your the nicest person on the planet...you have more friends then me, no doubt as I'm a pretty reclusive person...

Lol, samajm...not so sure about that,,,very well could be true as those ponds receive a lot of people fishing that aren't "into" fishing like us...

That is a tank of a walleye!!! appears to be a egg laden hen caught during the season closure...always really cool seeing them near shore doing what they do and some are huge like the one you caught...guessing the real big ones go back to the lake, as the ones we catch during the open season are never the size of what is seen in early spring...

Lol,,,that type of posts seems to truly exemplify the type of person you are and on a rare occasion add a informative/helpful post...

Will accept that as who you are though...have a good day!!!

Very wise and true statement, and it time the student will become the master...hopefully anyway...

Great fishing to you!!!

Today's St. Patrick's day??? Lol, thank you, and same to you!!!

Have no clue if we ever met before but I'm sure we have seen each other out on the water somewhere...

Certainly are large specimens out there...imagine if some guy caught a perch like the one in the above photo at cranberry??? Bet he be saying it was 20", lol...

Knowing your quarry and there habits is key to effectively targeting and catching your desired species...

Hands on methods of fishing are my favorites, as much as I love to troll and half the year, that's how I make a living, you don't feel a bite just look for one, or hear a drag...

Never got as far as bending hooks to just feel a bite, but understand where your coming from...try slowly swinging a spoon in the genny, when you get a bite it'll blow your mind...

Will let ya know if backup is needed, highly doubt it, will just take what's coming and cope...if ya want to fish, you know how to get a hold of me...Russell was great, learned a lot about steelhead behavior and how to be proficient at catching highly pressured fish, in vodka clear water...steam off the water was pretty cool, made it hard to see the float at times though...

Pair of 2+ pounders over 15"...yeah, i don't like my face either, kinda stuck with that...no clue how to turn the pic around...

Have read about that young ladies perch...absolute trophy!!!

Have three fish from Seneca legitamitly measured at over 15" and all over two pounds weighed on tournament grade scales, verified and documented...doubt I'll ever see a 16" perch and have seen one that maybe, possibly and perhaps was that big...

People keep throwing there sh!t in my face about this and that and 17"-19" perch out of the ponds...of-course i just go along with it, I'm sure most don't believe anything out of my mouth or typed...oh well...

True, am blaming these winds bringing in our cold front for the less then stellar bite...kind-a-sorta thought the bite was going to be good, as they bit til dark last night...shows what I know, nothing...

Always bundle up, even for 50-60 degree days when on the water this time of year...3 pairs of fleece pants then jeans, 3-4 sweatshirts and a outer shell jacket...being cold sucks and try hard to avoid that...