Fishin With Phil

Sounds like a fun day Jeff. I'm thinkin about tryin the river again. I hear it's bad to eat the fish in the river. I'm thinkin the fish above the falls would be ok. Is this true? Havn't tried walleye yet and I sure wanna. Phil

I don't know what is uglier. The fish or the dude holdin it... Nice fish Bos. It's always good when the fish is so big you can only fit half of it in the frame. I bet you thought you had a pig walleye for a minute. Too bad about the lack of walleyes. Phil

I kept lookin for them. I saw some potentials in the distance but could not see the white head or tail. Such beautiful animals, I can't wait to see one again. I look forward to catchin more pickeral. Like their cousins, they are scrappy fighters. Freshwater I would have to agree with you. I like catchin Calico bass in Southern California. They fight really hard! But not the jumpers smallies are, if that's good or bad... Thanks Waylander. I enjoy readin posts with pictures and wish more people would include them... Even though we all have seen millions of pictures of bass, I still enjoy seein the pics. I ask questions because I am new to this NY thing and don't know a whole lot. I learned a lot from reading other posts on this site. I think I am on a lucky streak and fear when it will end... As much as I miss the saltwater fishin in So Cal, I sure can get used to this great freshwater fishin here. I will miss it when I move back... Phil

Arrived to a windy Hemlock in the afternoon. Launched from the North and trolled South with a shad rap into the wind along the West shore. Quickly picked up my first ever chain pickeral. Opted out of taking a pic because he got the second treble around into his gills and I wanted him to swim immediatly. He flopped around right after gettin in the kayak and unhooked all but one hook. He was a little bloody, but swam off strong. Pretty cool fish. Got to the big point and started workin it. It was pretty tough with the strong wind but managed to work a decent drift. Got hit hard in 12' and hooked a nice smallmouth. Boy did he fight well. Splashed on the surface a few times and made some good runs. For a few minutes we were at a stalemate as he was playing tug-a-war with my quickly drifitng yak. Finally got tired and into the net. Check out how he was hooked! Somehow managed to bring him in through a little piece of tissue on the outside of his mouth. That was exciting. In my life I have only fished for smallmouths a few times when we would travel to lake siskiyou. They are a blast. A little bit downlake I hooked up again. This largemouth came easily into the kayak with little fight. What a difference from the smallie! Good sized fish though. I'm thinkin since the water is still pretty cold, it has more of a negative effect on the largies than the smallies? The fish were not on the beds. The water felt pretty cold. Nice to fish in such clear water. What a beautiful lake! After catchin those fish so fast I thought I was going to have a great afternoon. Wrong! I only got one hit the whole rest of the day. I tried shallow, deep, medium, jigs, cranks, topwater, rapalas, but nothin. Oh well. Still a great day. Phil

Sounds like a good night!

PM Sent

OK I'm all set to go there Thursday afternoon till dark. You free Gator? Phil

Girlfriend got out of work early so we spent the day together. I tried to somehow make it a fishin trip without her gettin mad. Settled with a hike at Hemlock. A few casts off the shore here and there. First time there. Beautiful lake. Need to bring the kayak. Walked out into the lake on a fallen tree. Got this guy. Not easy to land at the end of a tree on light tackle. Lucky the hook was in good. I hear the lake has nice smallies. I want to catch some. Any tips? Phil

Great pictures. I gotta check that place out. Did you do any fishin? Phil

Yeah that would be fun. I will have to buy some lights once I get a job. School just ended and the financial aid checks went with it. Phil

Looks like I'm going to have to design a lighting system for my kayak so I can fish at night.

Nice smallie! What did he hit?

Fished Honeoye Thursday afternoon searchin for eyes. Didn't get any but got about 20 of these little bass... Fun on light tackle, but I wished they were bigger. Does anyone ever get big bass outta there? Anyone getttin any eyes outta there? Phil

Check out the bass, walleye, pike forum Any Luck thread for the report. Phil

Yeah it was me Nitro. I think I trolled past you guys by the cattails. I was in search of walleye most of the day. Paddled all over the bay but no bites. I switched to bass and pike with only a small Laregmouth to show for it. Just before callin it a day I hook up somethin big. It ended up being a trout. I am super lucky to get him in as he broke my net and straightened my hook. When I got him onboard he was slimy and jumpin all over my kayak. I did not have a club to smack him with so I put him under my legs. He was squimin like crazy under me for a long time. I thought about givin him the knife but due to the proximity of the fish and my balls, I opted against it. I just kept him there the whole paddle back to my car. He finally quit movin and I gave him the clip. He ended up being 19'' and 3lbs 2 oz. Not the kind I was lookin for, but I'll take it! Next time give me a shout, Phil

Just wonderin how everyone did openin day. Any pictures? I did not have a chance to go out yet but will be fishin in I-Bay tommorow mornin in my kayak. I'll let you know how I do. Phil

I have been castin it out and workin it on the bottom. I've had luck with bass on a swimmin retrieve. So far this year I've caught pike, walleye, bass and sheepshead all on the same jig. Oh year firetiger color since i've been fishin murky water. I think the key is the scent. The powerbait scent smells pretty bad... But I'm afraid once the season opens my luck will change... See ya out there, Phil

The canal.

I am new to walleye fishin, but I know what I will be throwin. The last three times out fishin for bass I have caught walleye on my 3'' powebait grub with a 1/4 oz. jighead. I used this lure years ago as a kid and nailed a lot of bass on it when I traveled accross the country with my folks. I tried it again and its been nice. I can't wait to try eatin this fish for the first time...

I sure hope so Bob. Actually the waterline is so low with my fat butt in that thing that it isn't hard to just grab'em and pull'em in...

Yes I made it through. Had a great time playin in the snow and ice. Only got out a couple times on the ice... Going to have to do it way more next winter. Here is my first ice fish. Here is my kayak setup... Finally went out in it for the first time this year. Can't wait till the opener. You'll probably see me on I Bay this year. Phil

I caught this pike while fishin for bass in the canal. Notice all the bloodspots on him. I thought maybe parasites, but someone told me stress from winter causes it. Doesn't sound as beat up, or as big, as your fish, but it's interesting. He fought hard and swam off when I released him so I assume he's not too bad.

Yeah it was awesome. Not a bad size either. I thought it was a good size bass for a while. I had him headin in towards me and saw him as he turned around and saw the white spot on the tail. Then I knew! Snapped a quick pic on my phone but am unsure how to upload it. I heard they don'y fight too well, but this one did. It was a lot of fun on a light rod. I am definatly lookin forward to gettin some more. Hopefully in the size that you seem to get a lot. Phil

Scratch that last post. I finally caught a walleye yesterday in the canal. I WAS NOT TARGETING THEM AND IT WAS IMMEDIATLY RELEASED! Also caught a sheephead, a pike and a smallmouth all in under an hour on a 3" grub all released. Can't wait for finals to end so I can get out on the water more. Phil