John Kelley

They mean hard lures with a stick/like appearance, like rapalas, storms, rebels, etc.  Long, slender minnow type crankbaits, not short, fat bass style crankbaits.   

 The goal is to get rid of sawbellies from Conesus lake.  Sawbellies tend to favor open water - so do hybrid striped bass.  Being that the hybrid striped bass are sterile, they will eventually die...just like the thousands of sterile tiger muskies that are being stocked in that lake annually and have been for the last 20 or so years.  In 2012 - how many tigers did the NYSDEC stock?  

 

Conesus Lake 12000 Tiger muskellunge 10.5

How many were caught and creeled that year?  ?????   How long do tigers live and what do they prefer to eat once they get big?   

I like that idea about them keeping the sawbellies in check?  I have fished for wipers (White bass, striper cross) in Greers Ferry Lake, Arkansas, where the world record (25 pounds and change) comes out of, and have seen how they push balls of shad to the surface there, and massacre them.  Makes for easy and exciting fishing at dusk and dawn!!  They are hard fighting, too, like mini king salmon, on light gear! The only thing I hope you are aware of is that they don't get anywhere near the size of Stripers, and a 10 pounder is a really good one, so the whole trophy fishing thing might not be what you expect.  Just my two cents worth.    

Haha, love that picture with all of the clips!  You know you have had a good day when you reel in the boards and see that many releases!!  Great job, fellas!!  

Beautiful looking Atlantic Salmon, there!!  Nice job!   

Nice job, and some of those fish have really good color, yet!!    

Oh yeah,

and here is the lure I enticed her and caught her with.

***Let me preface this story by letting you New York friends of mine know that there is no closed game fish season in South Dakota, meaning we can fish for whatever we want whenever we want, aside from protected species like paddlefish and sturgeon.***

 Okay,

 So I am working in this little town called Edgemont, which is South and West of Rapid City by about 80 miles.  Edgemont has a couple of little 5 acre town ponds that are open to public fishing, and are well stocked with rainbow trout, panfish, and bass.  I had been down to this lake the past couple of nights with my coworker, catching a bunch of nice little rainbows for grilling at the hotel this weekend. Yesterday afternoon, as I was reeling my fourth rainbow right up to the dock I was fishing on, when this big old largemouth comes shooting out from under the dock and chases down my trout.  I pulled the trout out of the water as quick as I could, unhooked it, and grabbed my big fish ugly stick, spooled with 14 pound test, and hooked a firetiger RAT-L-Trap on it.  I started jigging the the lure up and down in the clear 3' of water at the end of the dock.  After about 10 pumps of the rod, I thought the bass was just not interested in my lure, but I pumped the lure upwards one more time.  This time the bass came cruising out from under the dock, and went straight for the lure, stopping about an inch away from it.  I stopped the lure in its tracks and just made it sit there and jiggle, shaking the rattles.  The big girl opened her mouth, inhaled the lure, and I struck immediately!  The fight was on, but I soon was hoisting up the biggest bass of my life. She taped out at 22.5 inches long, 18 inches around, and weighed in at 7.56 pounds.  I spent all day today driving the fish 230 miles to my taxidermist in Pierre, SD, and back to my hotel!!  Pretty satisfied, though!!  I hope you enjoy the pics.  Thanks.

I would start out in about the 50 fow area, to setup, and then troll north until you find the bait.  Mark that spot with your GPS, and keep trolling north until you get bit.  Then mark that spot and start doing circles between the two waypoints.  That should get you started.  Expect a wide variety of fish that time of year as well.  Last year at that time I was catching cohos, steelhead, kings, and lakers in the same water column.  If you are looking for browns, just hang a left or a right out of the chute, and setup in about 10-15 fow with planers and stickbaits, and fish the colored water.  Hope that helps.

Any fat slobs, yet?  Nice job, by the way!

Nice job, very jealous out here in the Black Hills!!  My first brownie trip will be the weekend after Easter, to Lake Michigan.  I think I can rule out any accidental Atlantics, there!    

Nice job, captain Rick.  How big was that slob, anyways??    

Hey Ed, I am really rooting for your warrior friend, Captain Jim!!  From one Vet to another man, tell him I hope he pulls through with flying colors!!  Hooah, my brothers!!    

Have to agree with the Spin Doctor crowd on this one, for pulling flies, anways!  All I ever used for flashers for years were 11" paddles with flies, until I started fishing Lake Ontario a couple of summers ago.  When I finally broke down and bought a couple of spin Doctors and threw them out on my divers, with flies, I couldn't believe how my catch rate increased.  They seemed to really out-fish paddles and flies for me, like 5 to one.  11" paddles work great with meat rigs, though, and I still use them for that.  It is a good idea to own a few of both, and draw your own conclusions.

Very jealous, gentlemen, nice job!!!   

John Kelly......plenty of good ice fishing across much of the country this year.......nice little catch there.... a fish fry for 1! .....just kidding .....naturals or artificials?

Naturals.  Mostly maggots tipped on a Hali spoon. On the bunch of perch, anyways.  

Adk1,

 

Honestly, I'd reorganize my electronics priorities if I were you.  I'd fish without a graph before I'd fish without downspeed and temp.  You can get by with a second rate or even 3rd rate graph, but if you don't know where the temps are and what the currents are doing down where your baits are running, you might as well stay on shore, IMO.

 

Tim

I can't disagree more with a statement than this one.  That would totally depend on the use of the boat, and what the person is fishing for.  I don't have a speed and temp sensor on my boat, and I think I did quite well for the last two seasons on Lake Ontario.  If a guy has a good sense of his boat, and a good depth finder, that he knows how to read, he can find fish as well as the guys with temp and speed sensors.  I will agree that it is a nice and valuable tool, but you certainly do not need one to catch fish.  I caught plenty of trout and salmon by searching for bait schools.  No matter what the temperature of the water is, if the bait fish are not there, then the predators will not be there either.  Besides that, if the guy is a multi species angler, like I am, than a good depth finder is a much more valuable tool for finding structure that other species, like walleyes and panfish will relate to.  Just my two cents.  Good luck with your search, and sorry for hijacking your thread for my little rant.

With in the next year or so the sale of 10 in augers will be band in most states due to the fact that 10 in holes are so dangerous. In warm weather like this 10 in holes quickly become 12-16in holes. Also they don't freeze over as fast as 8 in or smaller holes. So at the end of a day ice fishing those 10in holes become potential pit falls for anyone walking on the ice and even worse for kids. Also if the temp doesn't drop below freezing they become even worse (like in last season). Like drift ice to many 10 in holes in the ice make it very unstable.

Well I'm glad the DEC guys didn't check me out with my 10" Eskimo auger last winter, then.  10" holes are what you need if you are going to target big fish like pike, and large lakers.  Much easier to get a big fish's head started up a big hole, especially when there is more than 30" of ice!!

Here are some nice perch from Saturday.

Just out of curiosity...... ....ever catch any sauger there? I read they r rare there, but they are in there.....

Yeah, we used to get a few below the Fort Thompson dam on Lake Francis Case.  I have caught a ton more on the Mississippi river, though, and on Lake of the Woods, in Minnesota.  The ones on the Missouri river are usually skinny little suckers!LOL

Xellent!......John Kelly. I see the population of 'eyes there is big. Some tasty meals there...... !! U live out that way or in Dansville..?..

I live out this way, but was working out of Dansville for the past couple of years.

Hey you "RASCAL"…..nice walleyes…..i'll be on erie in a few months,and it won't be long ponding the browns out front…nice "eyes"        take care my friend !!

Hey brother Ed, I am sure you will "rip their lips off" on Erie!!  Good luck my friend!!   

Howdy my NY friends.  Here are some ice eyes from my stomping grounds from earlier today.  We have over 25" of ice on parts of the MO river.  All of these fish were caught in 30' of water on a nice breakline, adjacent to a 22' flats, and dropping fast into deep water.  Caught them all on either glow 'Weasel' spoons with whole fatheads under slip floats, or on rapala jigging shad tipped with a minnow head on the treble hook.  Had some follows on a large Salmo chubby darter, but no takers.  Thanks.

Yeah they are like my old Shrade jacknife....trustworthy and reliable I have had the Fl-20 for about 5 or 6 years and love it. I too have had a bunch of Vexilars starting with  one of the first they made

Nice.  Here are some pics from yesterday out on the ice.

Nice going John ....love those crappies too! Is that the FL-8SE Ice Pro flasher? Nice comfortable set-up. Best of luck and best regards from NY   Les

Haha, no Les, just the old trusty FL-8 SLT.  It is over 10 years old now, and my 3rd Vexilar unit.

Well, 

I am back home and we have over 25" of ice on all of the local lakes, so driving on the water makes things easy.  Here are a couple of pics from today on Lake Thompson, South Dakota.  The pike was 10 pounds for a reference. Thanks

Thanks Les,

Yeah, those salmon pretty much dwarf everything else.  Wall will look better next year when I get my tubby brown trout up there, and my steelhead. Hoping to get a big, fat laker from Lake Superior next summer as well!!