justtracytrolling

how long can everyone keep taking the big females before it all ends just like the smaller lakes in

canada. I like to release the larger ones ,not as good eating anyway.

I think we've had this discussion a week or so ago...

justin

Ill take weeds and fleas over sitting on the couch. Fleas are much worse on Owasco, and summer trolling is all about finding clear surface water. I used to be so excited to get lines in the water that I didn't cruise at all to look for weed free areas, but now im a bit more patient and smarter. There is no easy answer it just takes work and time on the water, and of course luck and reading LOU posts even old ones from the same time of past years helps me come up with ideas.

justin

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

We drove home filleted em and had a family meal after 11pm consisting of lemon pesto walleye and rice to cap off our July 4th weekend. My son fishes for bass everyday, but I love it when he runs lines with Tracy and I!

justin

Put the boat back on Otisco after some maintenance and fishing Cayuga, Owasco and Dorchester, and first cast we were in the bass till dusk and I had to drive away from the spot to get my son to stop so we could start our evening walleye troll.  I was laying my third line and fish on.  Lost my biggest walleye of the year at the boat, but we were on em!  2 nice fat walleyes including a personal best for my son at 24"!  Three bites in less than an hour on the same gold clown reef runner is a FRENZY at Otisco.  Finally they are back on pattern exactly the same as last July.  June was awful, but great start to July.  Had to quit as the weather was very nasty.  Gonna a try tonight again, and have to go back and clean up our mess on the boat anyway, looks like a bomb went off.  I guess it did in the form of weather.   

justin

Tracy and I started on the north end and trolled the west side from 9 - 2.  We had a ton of good marks from 90-160 fow, but couldn't find any takers.  I worked from 20' above the thermoclime to 20' below it with riggers and dipseys, and from the surface down to 45' off boards.  Have to say I loved Owasco, but its busier than I thought possible with very loud very fast boats that really were annoying.  Seemed like everytime I raised the ball it was swinging violently from the massive wakes from a few people that have no courtesy what so ever.  My son finally saved me from the fleas and confrontation when he got out of work and we went bass fishing on Otisco.  Switch to walleye trolling at dusk and they were biting reef runners in gold clown down 25-28 0ver 60.  My son got a personal best 24" football, and I lost my biggest walleye this year and maybe ever, just leaned on him to hard trying to get him to come up.  Took it while I was laying my third rod.  2 big walleyes in 30 min then the weather looked too ugly for the family.  Great day overall and ended with lemon pesto walleye over rice....and NO FLEAS on Otisco.

justin

My son has VIP purchase privileges for seaguar and few other companies so dad gets most stuff about 50% off msrp, but otherwise I AGREE its too pricey when you tie leaders on 10 rods at least once a week and often times after every fish at Otisco.

justin

I fished Cayuga yesterday and the west side was the only place to get away from the weeds.  As for the fleas...I got used to them just one more thing...they usually collected at the eyes and I stripped them down to my barrel swivel and they come right off.  The cottonlike fuzz on the other hand at Otisco  will drive you crazy in may/june.  If anybody thinks Cayuga is slow for numbers on trout don't try walleyes in the finger lakes!!!!  Owasco tomorrow ill try to do a live post or two if we get into anything.

justin

Best landlocked salmon I caught today on Cayuga were on matching spoon and flasher...little awkward with the extra length behing the dipsey but no probs and it worked great...

justin

I use 50' of seaguar flouro...I tightened the drag a bit thinking that might help on the set, but of course never got another take...we were turning slower and wider but I zig zag quite a bit when Im trying to figure out what the fish want is it possible that there was a lot of slack at the strike...just started with the core and first time with more than 5 colors... haven't learned its limitations

justin

We launched from Myers around 6:30am tried to set up on the east side heading north but too much floating debris and grass mats so we headed to the west side just below Taughannock and headed north. We ran boards, riggers, dipseys, and lead core. We caught 9-10 small salmon on 5 color core on the boards before we pulled them in and went deeper. We got into some better salmon on 150 dipseys and riggers down 45'in 130-150fow and then hit a good laker bite down 60 on the riggers in 200-300 fow on a turn. The bigger salmon came on a yellow wonderbread flasher and spoon and all the lakers came on a chrome and white with a green stripe. For 30 min it was nonstop lakers as fast as we could get the spoons down. Best action was north of Milliken, but west side. We ended up boating 3 keeper salmon to 21" and 6 lakers from20-24". 3 of us each kept a fish for dinner and 1 for the neighbor. Couldn't seem to get a good hookset on the 10 color core down the chute and lost all 3 nice fish that hit it. Any ideas? Thanks fishingfreak and Billy V for all the help we had a great first time on the lakers. Might try it one more time before I take the boat back to Otisco and the toothy critters.

justin

I had one morning on Otisco the day after my best walleye morning last season that I caught 5 catfish in row 6-10 lbs on rapala tdd11s down 30 over 50 fow doing exactly what I did the day before.  Didn't catch a walleye that day and havent caught a catfish since.  Go figure...that's what I love about trolling...you can catch literally anything that's in the lake!  As soon as somebody picks up the rod everybody is trying to figure out what is on the other end!

justin

Pap is spot-on. Used electric riggers are the play!!! I got my cannon 4'ers for 200 at a garage sale with tons of gear. I had no trouble to replace the resettable breaker and crimping new ends on, and that's all ive had to do with them except fish. No way would I crank up manuals all day.

justin

I think anybody wishing to fish southern tier rivers better hold off Im on the Susquehanna, and check it daily and from my experience itll be at least a week as it hadn't crested yet as of last night. I do know one regular who fished some flooded timber two nights ago for eyes near RBD and caught a few smallies in chocolate eddies behind the trees.

justin

I have more confidence using flouro with a barrel swivel than back to back unis, and I think the swivel can grab some of the weeds and keep them off your lures longer. I was thinking of tying some for an upcoming cayuga visit do you guys think I should drop the swivel?

Justin

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Thanks Pap, good to read a post that puts things in perspective when Im scratching my trying to figure out where im headed out to fish tonight. Just get out there with your family and fish.

justin

I would guess that they are bowfishing.  It is legal at night, BUT the 500 foot rule applies, and in some locales it may be further or not at all.  I see it rarely on Otisco when Im walleye trolling at night, but I do see it.  They cover a lot of water fast and don't shoot too often.  Im a bowhunter and have a bowfishing rig, but haven't had it with when they have been handy.  Im not willing to shine halogens or use a noisy generator or shoot near shore so its been a calm sunny day thing on a mud flat well off shore and have the carp there when my bow was handy.  No shots yet...I plan on a few for the garden...

justin

Doesn't do much good either to argue with the Canadians they are entitled to fish as their country sees fit.  Its not the average persons fault...even in Canada.

Definitely disagree. Keeping 10 year old mature females day after day can not help the fishery and it's not just the charters. Nets don't help either and that is a huge concern if true. Does anybody even care about being a sportsman and conservation anymore or is just catch and kill for meat like the 50's? I have no problem keeping a nice walleye to eat but just not the big girls.

I think all of of us here consider ourselves sportsman and practice some level of conservation and if someone has a problem with the walleye restrictions take it up with the DEC. The few individuals that are good enough and dedicated enough to catch big walleyes in numbers still have the right to eat their catch. NY would like to take your guns, do you really want them to take away your right to eat the fish you catch. Ive always been in favor of limiting catches of mature gamefish, but until that happens there are so few days we get more than 1 big walleye per person that when it happens I make hay when the sun shines. I say again this is personal choice take it up with the DEC. Anybody have a guess the average number of hours a person has to fish catch just 1 8 lb walleye. Ill bet for the average guy who doesn't make a living with walleyes it has to be at least 50 man hours. Ill tell you anyone using rod and reel earns every big walleye they catch!!! Everyone of us has the same opportunity to catch these fish, so if anybody wants to catch one stop complaining of poor fishing and better years and go earn one like everybody else then put yours back if you want. Somebody start a new thread lets talk about catching walleye or trying who cares what you do with em just follow the rules!! Sorry bout the rant

justin

Its important to stay together as fisherman, but catch and release is a personal choice in most waters.  If a person buys a license and follows the rules set by the DEC he/she has every right to eat their catch.  As far as charters go its hard for me to believe that they limit everytime and for the lucky fisherman that have great days you cant expect them to release them.  I know I should release more walleye in Otisco, but then I add up the countless hours it takes to catch 1 and the countless dollars it takes to fish from a boat every weekend from april to October and Im sorry walleye are delicious.  I respect the size restrictions and the limit and I can tell you if the DEC changes either I will happily follow the rules.  Then add that to the fact they are NETTING them in the same body of water, and Im surprised anyone releases them.  I do agree with conservation but that MUST start with DEC here in NY.  My family wont eat the walleyes from the Susquehanna so that's easy for me, they go back, but the big girls from Otisco they love as they have confidence in the water quality so we eat them.  Maybe if I was a better fisherman I could catch enough that I could pick and choose which ones were most socially acceptable to eat. I would never ask someone to keep and eat a fish anymore than I would ask someone to put a legal fish back...its a personal choice.

justin

Nice Fish!! We didn't get any tigers trolling this weekend, but saw several and lost a nice fish casting over the weeds in 15-20 fow. The tigers have made for some fun fishing many days when the walleyes were off.

Well Otisco in may was great, but june was as bad as may was good. I too focus my fishing around the moon fishing harder during the new and full moon times.  Last summer we caught fish in the morning and evening well enough that we never fished in the dark.  This year other than the week of the new moon in may it has been more of a night bite.  I missed the new moon in june to fish for stripers in the cape cod canal.  We keep plugging away at it waiting for the bite to turn back on, but many areas of the lake had floating grass mats last weekend and trolling was limited to a portion of the west side.  In the meantime the browns, tigers, and bass pass the time.  We spent Saturday midday jigging fatheads for perch and crappie.  If big walleyes were easy I certainly wouldn't enjoy catching them so much.  Fishless days are part of the deal...but fishless nights are tough to swallow.  Ill head down to the Susquehanna tonight after this storm to make sure I still know what a walleye looks like!   

justin

Did you catch any "down the chute"? Last time I was at Oneida was july/aug and I thought I did better under the boat than boards, just the opposite at otisco. Im not sure you can catch a walleye in daylight without boards. Don't know how anyone can deal with all the boats on Oneida if you troll, Couldn't keep the people outta my gear, but had limits easy everyday. Great fishery, but Ill wait for the perfect drizzle/rain for my next trip there!

justin

I only started fishing Otisco in beginning of last August and have never seen a weekend I couldn't catch a walleye. The walleye fishing in Otisco is slow on a good day, but for me the fact that almost every walleye I catch trolling pushes 24" makes it more than worth it. I figured the reason the quality was so good was that the walleyes aren't over-populated, combined with very few boats really targeting em. Im certainly no expert, but they could probably stock more. I was under the impression that the natural reproduction was low and that the alewives wipeout any walleye fry that hatch successfully making the lake a "put and take fishery". If anyone out there has solid info on successful natural reproduction in Otisco Id like to read about it as I would release more big fish. On the Susquehanna river we don't keep breeders for dinner just little walleyes, but Ive never caught a walleye under about 19" at Otisco, and most are breeder size.

justin