panfisher

Well I did ok....but got some funky news when texting holiday greetings to old friends. Their house burned to the ground Christmas morning. They got out ok with their twin grown sons. But house and home of 20+ years a total loss, including vehicles. They'll be alright after lots of settling down. They narrowly missed it all (lives). Really puts things into perspectives.....

OK thanx for that info. It's on the list of different new (to me) places to check out in the future.....

The reservoirs from Fine up through newton falls have lots of eyes. Not big, but have had some good days. 10-15 a day before noon for an hour drive is not bad for me. Slip bobbers and Lindy rigging is a nice change from trolling every now and then too

Pete.... do you mean the res's north of rt 3 between Star and Cranberry....including Chaumont pond? And along the Oswegatchie river?

Yes yes....Ho Ho.....yawn....Santa's gettin' tired now. Get that stuff under the trees and hit back to the sack soon. Merry Christmas to all the LOU ers and to everyone. To all, even if, for whatever reasons, they cannot directly at the present time indulge and enjoy it.....Merry Christmas!!!!     

Yes! And a Happier New Year!!      

Beautiful baby!   

Nice mount Zack!!   I was hoping youd post a pic of the mount as soon as I saw the pic last year.  I too wish we had more quality walleye lakes and also feel there is PLENTY of trout water. 

Ive never fished Hemlock, but I spend as much time on Otisco as anyone and its very rare that an angler not targeting walleye catches 1.  Our 5th wheel is close to the launch giving me an excellent opportunity to talk to other anglers and many come see me too and if my memory serves correct I remember 3 incidental catches last season out of EVERY person I talked to.   Furthermore, even those who target walleye on Otisco dont catch many even though a few of us have little trouble catching a couple.  On top of that the guys that know what they are doing arent talking or participating in the diary program.   Ill bet there is more walleye in there than you think.  Think about Owasco, it hasnt been stocked in many years and walleye are rare if you ask around, but for those of us who passionately target them they can be targeted at certain times with relative ease even with low numbers of fish. If you spend enough time out there at night you might be surprised, and  by night I dont just mean after dark,  I mean after midnight.  This is not to say I havent done well after dark, at dusk, or even in the light.  Im not saying we dont need more stockings or more fish, just that no matter how many you put in it wont be easy to catch them with the bait densities found in most finger lakes.  If you fish for walleye in places without a huge bait source, rivers, oneida, etc, you will catch them easily and accidentaly.  If walleyes were easy to target they would call it bass fishing or even trout fishing!!!!!!!!!!!!

I often fish without any targeting anything in particular. Just to see what is first hitting. I know that some things will often always be hitting in any given body of water. Almost always that will be black bass (sunfish.....really). But sometimes in the same place and same techniques I can hang scads of 'eyes. Usually smaller ones. But good eaters. Legal size and numbers of course. Sometimes northerns will be going nuts. And lakers too, especially in the fingers. Been a good year for many with the sheepies while trying for others. But for consistency for any specie, even panfish, nothing beats experienced, hard won and worked for targeting. Helps to know too, that said fish even exists in the waters....

1dogshy...... Beeeaaaauuutiful baby!!        It is do good to hear of and know that our rivers are still growing and producing near record and record size fish of any kind. And despite any esox haters (some states require decapitation of said esocidae and reporting and surrendering the caught pike family member to authorities.....ignorance to me, but maybe they know things I don't... ), you won't forget that one! And Ronix....right on with those conclusions and points well made.

Nice work cpt. Jones! You deserve a record of some kind of fish!      At least a musky....

Or maybe this one? or these guys>? Real nice mess of perch though

Sk8man....Yessir buddy!   Those are some really nice finger lakes (I assume) sized jacks. But I think dehond56 has been taken wrong....He is describing the 12-14 inch increase in the belt lines after all those nice perch were dined on    Just whetting the appetite for this ice season......

Yeah.....but here's the real secret. It's not where.....but HOW.....The where is only the smallest part of the how...

Zackblain.....NNNnniiiiiiccccee!! I've fished Hemlock a few times down the years, but did not realize they have nice 'eyes until reading of them here in LOU. I still like Honeoye, but Hemlock is bigger and more beautiful, being a reservoir. Is there any known evidence of natural reproduction of the walleye at Hemlock? Are there only holdovers from old stockings...? I'm sure the lake could handle a few fingerling 'eyes a year without massive stockings. Any studies (post stockings) of walleyes there? Perhaps I should contact DEC. And I think like Sk8man the boat and motor limits (and launching limits) might keep pressure down even if the walleye bite there got better. Nice fish!       

mostlymuskies.....Yahoo for U! Really goin' after them. I like that. Those muskies in the pics for the weekend look healthy. The guys who caught em looked cold and tired (sleepy).....

You and your feats of muskie greatness live on!    Saw you and your pal's triumph (lucky as it was.... ) in ON The Water magazine. How notorious....   Those pics and the story rock!

Fished from 445 till 545.caught 3 keepers16 17 21.and lost a pig.wind was BRUTAL yet again.but when you limit out it.. felt like a tropical breeze with my toes in the sand instead of standing in waist water with breakers crashing over my head

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Nniiiiiiiiccee!.....All the way around...

same bait as perch.saw another boat had one also

John1947.....When you say you were fishing "bling" I think artificials. When you say bait I think naturals. Care to tell what that pike fell for?       Yeah those guys in the 12 footer sound pretty gutsy. Not as bad though, maybe, as the guys who will target going out in thunderstorms to catch fish

Great pics and keep 'em comin'.... :yes:

john1947.....12lb. pike? Nnniiiccce!   On the same baits as the perch? It must have been really hungry. What were you using for lures.....spinners with bait.....?

Hey man....congratulations for the new outdoorsman!! That sucker...... .......ridiculous!       BTW, those shots from Stony Island remind me of the great times out of Ray's Bay and Henderson Harbor we used to enjoy! Have not been there in a bit but those shots make me want to get back up there!

Great reports larry, thanks for the updates and pictures!

mostlymuskies......Ditto Larry. And from your reports I have the answer to my question on the readiness of musky to feed at night...

OK. Here's the obvious query......where the hell did U catch those 'eyes? If from one of the larger waters, what area?

Jim(1fish2fish).....OK...allrighty then!

My sentiments are echoed by the other previous condolences. I know your family and friends had a great life with Ben. His spirit will continue to be in good places forever....

I didn't think they would be in the lake due to lack of structure, can you catch them in the lake all summer?

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In the summer and early fall if it is a warm long summer, I've picked them up and seen good schools in the shallows in the entrances to bays and creeks. As Sea-IV says, they do also scatter all around in the main lake as we often can pick one up while trolling for salmonids....often not much bigger than the lures! Have seen these moving small schools, 10-20 or so perch, swimming in the shallow weeds when launching out of places like Bear crk, Pultenyville and near where Blind Sodus and other bays and creeks enter out to the main lake. The actual fishing for them is often just a lark to kill some time while waiting for others to move from the launch ramp. Once, in front of Bear Creek we actually spent about an hour targeting these perch with small grub tailed jigs. Picked up a good stringer of about 20 nice perch....no dinks, no jacks, all about the same size. This was site fishing, following the schools...at times they seemed to be following us. Then we went out to get smallies. This was 5 years ago. Also catch them similarly in the channel coming into the Genny, Irondequoit and Sodus.....

Never fished Otisco at all, but pretty good perch can be caught in all the other fingers. I also include Silver. Not officially a finger lake, but I won't be up on charges for calling it one... .. Haven't tried it for many years but Conesus used to have great jacks in it that were not tricky to catch. In softwater season, simply drifting in 6-20fow over weedy areas (north and south ends of any r good) will pick up a variety of fish which usually means some perch. Use any kind of worm or small minnows or leeches. Or jigs with grub tails or almost any other soft plastic type works. With this u will often get bass, pike or pikerel and any other "sunny" type like rockies and crappie in the mix.....and occasionally an 'eye if they r in the lake. Trying to get perch predominantly takes a little more place (lake, lake section, ff use) and timing (to better pinpoint schooling movements) precision. This of course means more time on the water. Hardwater perching is often easier for targeting and getting those perch (to me).