justtracytrolling

Cool article! I used to do it at the spillway in Whitney point in the 90s with clousers. I've done it on Otisco a little, but have never found the right fly to make it worthwhile. I have no prob with a spin rod and I don't normally have the free time to be ineffective. This fly has potential!

I'm not going to break the law but alone in the middle of the night seems safe if you don't have to travel. Who knows where we will be in 15 days, but I've been 100% at home for weeks and if i have a legal, safe option I'm going walleye fishing.... certainly can't see how they can make shore fishing illegal on private property with no travel whatsoever.

Both launches and marinas on Otisco are closed. If you own property on the lake and can get your boat launched from your yard you are fine. Or if your boat was already in your personal hoist on your property.

Yes if you have your own personal launch and dock!

Exactly what I was thinking Kevin...if I have to troll its tough getting started on a pattern solo with 3 lines....but if it's nice weather Tracy will go and then I'm in business!!! Either way I've been home so long that any walleye fishing I get to do will feel very therapeutic!

I too usually don't have good fishing opening weekend and have to work for em and usually trolling. This year I think it's gonna be a better start with the mild winter. I'll probably do a little of everything just because I wanna get a feel for what's going on, but night casting is my favorite. The Minn kota talon makes it so easy to fish on shore winds tight to shore so you can cast parallel, and as general rule that's where you wanna be when fishing shallow.

My neighbor's son at the lake is an avid fly fisherman and put me on to these...can't see how these won't work as well as a Keitech! 24279.mp4

Every season I start off opening weekend with a few buddies before my trips start. This year with social distancing that's not an option so I thought I'd try something new that I just never seem to find time to do...fly fishing at night for walleye! Anybody else trying something new and interesting?

The bass tournament guys have been using soda on deep hooked smallmouth for years.. I can't confirm it works either and truthfully it didn't work when I tried it on a smallmouth. Ive only had 1 bad bleeder tiger that nothing was gonna help and the fish had to be kept. I agree completely agree with not disturbing a hook in a vulnerable area. Water temp and air temp are also factors in how much I handle a fish. It's good to talk about these issues as we can ALL learn.

Best post I think I've ever read on this forum and I echo the message. Im as avid as anyone out there and I'm staying home for my mom! I wish the country could unite in this fight and put aside our politics just this one time for the sake of our parents and the heroes in our hospitals. Maybe some of the restrictions arent what we think they should be but we all need to suck it up and stop being babies throwing temper tantrums over things that are far less important than life itself. Time for all of us to put our big boy pants on and do the right thing!

You may be surprised that most of the big tigers that are caught on my boat have a hook of some kind buried in them somewhere. I've gotten lots of cuts from grabbing fish by the jaw and getting hooked by someone else's hook. Any hook that is bleeding a little I would cut for sure. Im not saying the way I do hook removal is the best as every situation is different. I use walleye sized hooks for the most part, and they usually will bend and twist out pretty easy. Any hook that is tough I cut with bolt cutters immediately. All can say is whatever I decide to do it happens quickly and IN THE WATER! Not every fish that swims away is going to make it or I wouldn't find floaters. Even the most careful conservation minded angler is gonna screw up fish handling in the beginning. It takes practice no doubt and even then things happen. Another thing I do, and many others do, is when you have a stressed out fish simply unhook, revive and don't lift it for a picture. In fact I don't lift any of my own fish for pictures even if they aren't stressed. I definitely would try for a pic on an exceptional fish if it was fresh, but I have enough pics of fish. When I do lift a fish for a pic I hold my breath when I do it...and when I'm short of breath the fish goes back. Here is a pic of a fresh night tiger I caught in the net and one young Maddox caught on a top water boatside and you can see I'm holding my breath. If you are fishing pures there are several great guys in chapter 69 and chapter 70 that can give lots of advice for anyone with questions. We all have our own ideas on the best conservation minded practices but we all agree on one thing...don't handle big esox vertically if you are releasing them.

I wish you could see this isn't political! Most states have made the same decisions as NY. South Carolina has way less cases but yet they closed their launches a week sooner than NY. Cuomo actually waited longer than many states to make the decision to close launches. All 50 states have requested Trump to declare a state of emergency, and he has granted it to every single state. If you want to talk about the safe act it's a short conversation on this forum, but this isn't that and they aren't related!

Happy Easter to all of you! Nice work frogger!

Full parking lots and full boats isn't social distancing. Problem solved! I hate this too as I feel if people were any bit careful boating has to be a safe outdoor activity. Problem is as a society we don't take direction very well and we aren't careful either. They can't just close problem launches as those same guys will do the same thing elsewhere. What they did was eliminate the congregation points statewide and no reason for people to drag this virus around in order to fish. I'm trying to keep sane telling myself that staying at home will help us all get back to our lives sooner....I suggest we all just get in line. I fell in love with fishing in our farm pond standing right on shore...spent all winter fishing standing on shore...I suppose it's not the end of the world!

Short lived I'm afraid...

Chinook What do you mean upstate doesn't need an influx? Are you aware of the location of Onondaga county? It actually borders Oswego county and it's the epicenter for Covid in upstate NY. Wake up you have it worse than we do....the part I agree with is stay home...I wish we all would agree on that...

Unfortunately, yes it's always the same thing... Proper fish handling when you intend to release a fish should be priority number 1 regardless of species. Please check out this publication from NYSDEC item number 6. We aren't making this up. If you want to keep a legal fish that's fine, but if you want to release the fish do some research and act accordingly. Every single week of the season I find floaters on the lake and fish mortality from handling is real. These aren't salmon that mature in 4 years...they take over a decade to mature. If anyone wants info on proper handling or anything for that matter ask questions please!

There are ways getting on the water....