GANGGREEN

I launched at the Woodville launch on Friday and it was still crazy.  A large part of the problem is that there are two entrances and it's unclear what pattern you're supposed to take when launching or loading a boat.  There were boats everywhere and of course fully half of the vehicle operators were incapable of backing down the ramp well (no judgement, everybody has to learn, just making an observation).   I was by myself and still in and out of the water much quicker than anyone else there.  Spoke to a young guy launching his boat and he said that the north end was WAY worse.  If true, I NEVER need to launch my boat in Canandaigua ever.

I'll be fishing Conesus a good bit this summer.  I've never really cared much about the toothy critters, but I may need to spend some time working on a good tiger musky.  They are pretty fish.

I don't mind schlepping mine around too much, but I'll either need to haul/drag mine and then my wife's kayak or would hope to be reasonably close so she could manage her own as well.  I was wondering the same thing about the "facilities".  I'm told that there's no bathrooms, no docks, etc. at any of them, but I'm not sure if there's an actual gravel launch or not and I'm curious too.

Thanks Trouthunter24.   Still haven't completely decided, but if the weather's reasonably good (or just not too bad), we'll do one of the lakes this Saturday or Sunday when Conesus should be a circus.   My wife's probably more inclined to just paddle around and enjoy the day outside, although she will likely bring a rod and will likely fish at least some.  We're both reasonably strong paddlers, but getting older all the time.  

I've never fished either because my boat's too big, but my wife and I recently got a camper and set it up on Conesus.  We'll be taking the kayaks this weekend for something different and would obviously prefer to avoid the crowds, wind and boats on Conesus if we'll be in the yaks.  We're interested in warm water fishing for smallies/rock bass or whatever else might be hot, but can someone give me the rundown on the two lakes, what the fisheries are like at this time of year for smallies, rock bass, crappie or whatever else might be good.  Since my wife will be with me, I'd prefer that it be relatively easy fishing and that she'd get a lot of bites and land a lot of fish (she's decent with a fishing rod, she'll catch them if the fishing's good and I'd expect it to be reasonably good right now).

I've done some searching here and elsewhere, but a lot of the fishing talk is about lakers and such and for this weekend at least, we're more interested in catch and release for warm water species.  I'm leaning towards Canadice because its' smaller and presumably more protected, but if the fishing is considerably better on Hemlock, that would be fine too.  Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

14 minutes ago, Gill-T said:

For the size of the lakers in that lake, you will probably need younger year classes of Cisco born to feed those fish. The effect will not be seen for years

No idea why, but for what it's worth, I've seen some reasonably nice lakers at Keuka this year and last.  It's been a long time since I've targeted them there, but I occasionally chat with guys coming off the lake and have seen a much nicer average size and health from the fish.  I can't imagine that's from a still young cisco reintroduction project, but just food for thought.

Wow, didn't know that they had put ciscoes in there.  I have seen the pink buoys this spring and wondered what they are.   I'd think that cisco are probably native to the lake, so hopefully they take hold and make a nice forage base for the lakers.  

This is a shame.   I make a point of having lunch every time that I launch in Hammonsport (used to launch at the motel and purchased the town launch permit last year).   Not having a decent launch on the south end hurts the businesses there, not to mention being a royal pain in the ass for the fishermen and recreational boaters.  Not sure that I wish to cough up $150 this year for a launch permit when I'd likely only use it half a dozen times.   

29 minutes ago, GAMBLER said:

Conesus perch made a decent showing a couple winters ago and returned to ghosts again.  The perch fishing there is nothing like it was 40 years ago.  IMO, it is a waste of time and there are way better places to find them.  Walleye can be found around the weed lines, or suspended on alewife mid lake.  Night fishing them along the weed lines can be awesome.  I used to throw husky jerks along weed lines adjacent to sharp drops in the fall and boat a couple every night.  Long Point was always good to me at night.  Also Cottonwood point. 

Thanks for the response, as good as the perch fishing can be on other area waters, I presumed it would probably make sense to ignore it on Conesus for the most part.  Any thoughts about the crappie fishery there?  Viable or just one of those, "they're in there and you catch them sometimes" type of things?

I just set up a camper at the Conesus Lake Campground and had some questions about Conesus Lake.  I've fished it a couple of times for bass, but since it's about to become my "home lake", I'd like to know more, particularly about the walleye and panfish.  If I had to guess, I'd think that Conesus probably doesn't offer the same quality of cool water fishing for big yellow perch that many of the other lakes do, am I right?  What about crappie, is it just a matter of them being in there, or is it really a predictable fishery for numbers of decent crappie?  I've seen lots of other inquiries about the walleye and figure it's mostly a spring night bite or a trolling bite, so I won't even ask about that.

Until now I've done some fishing on Canandaigua and Seneca, but would probably consider Keuka and Skaneateles to be my favorites.  I have to admit that I'm excited to start fishing Conesus, Honeoye and maybe even Hemlock more.

Thanks a million.  Wish that the motel in Hammondsport still allowed public launching (even though he was expensive), but I'm anxious to get out.

Does anyone know if the ice is off the Branchport arm and if the state park boat launch is open?  I'm planning a trip up tomorrow and while I'm coming from the south, the Hammondsport Motel apparently no longer allows the public to launch for a fee.  If anyone else knows of a better option on the southern end, I'd be glad to know about it too, thanks in advance.

For reference, I have a 2013 182 Pro Mag and it's 18' and some inches.  I think it's 18 feet 3 inches, but I'm not 100% sure although the interior does look pretty much identical to yours.  Does seem to be something odd going on.

People can poo poo the issue all that they want, but overharvest IS real and it is an issue on the Finger Lakes.  The perch fishing on some of the lakes has already dropped off considerably and I'd hope that we'd ALL feel that the fishery is worth saving.  I love fishing for big perch more than anything and I also fish for walleye, largemouth and smallmouth bass, white bass, crappie, trout, I've even been to Alaska several times to fish for halibut, ling, rockfish and salmon.  While I enjoy eating perch, I keep a few on one or two trips a year (maybe 40 fish total) and I never keep the big spawners and never sell a fish.  Is that really so hard?  I understand that some guys enjoy eating them a bit more frequently than I do or have larger families (I have a wife and 2 kids), but do we really need to keep every fish that we catch on 15, 20 or more trips per year?  Really guys?  

A buddy of mine trolls for hours and hours with his 150 Merc Verado and smart control without issue.

Somewhat ironic, as the conventional wisdom of that area is for anyone who has a boat to not bother wasting time in the bay itself, but to go several miles offshore for the perch.

I think the only exception to that rule might be in the cool/cold water periods.  Several species of fish migrate into the bay in late fall and stay until spring.  I don't think slob perch are terribly prevalent in the bay, but I seriously doubt that fish would have been there after the spawn was over

From GoErie.com

 

"The big news this week is a likely new state record perch. On Wednesday, a 1515/16-inch perch that weighed 2 pounds, 14 ounces was pulled from Presque Isle Bay. We are still waiting for confirmation."

 

Not as big as the NY record of 3 lb 8 oz (a Lake Erie fish) but a very nice fish.

 

Looking forward to our 1st trip of the season...... when it stops snowin' and blowin'.

I saw that and saw a photo.  It's a really nice fish, but I guess I was surprised that the state record wasn't a bit bigger than that.  I don't believe I've ever caught one that size, but I've caught several that were really close to that size in NY state.  I think you'll continue to see bigger and bigger perch in Erie.  The numbers have come back and there's plenty for them to eat there.

Awesome fish.  I drove across the causeway on my way to Erie yesterday and the channel between the north and south basin looked like radioactive waste it was so green/chartreuse.  Water temps seem to be falling quickly over the last week, it will be interesting to see how things shake out this week and next.

3 fish limit, 15" minimum on Oneida.  I'm curious about the trolling for those who have suggested it.  I've caught eyes on Oneida while trolling but never did it in the fall.   Would late September be too late to have them still suspended in open water?  I'll probably be there for the final weekend in September and really planned on doing a ton of casting to them but I'll troll if it's "still on" at that point in time.

Off the subject but you got me thinking Les (maybe dreaming is a better word). If the Keuka lake trout have been starving themselves this spring and summer (lots of poor biting reported here on LOU) just imagine if they all of a sudden start thinking "holy sawbelly, winter is coming and I am only skin and bones. I need to do a bunch of eating soon." As I said, a fisherman's dream come true. We shall see.

 

I hope that you're onto something because I'm going to hit Keuka in the morning.  I'm mostly just giving all of my gear on my new rig the shakedown to see how things work (particularly the drift sock gizmo that I've rigged up to run double 30" bags) but I'll give it an hour or so before switching off to shallow water bass fishing.  Hopefully they bite better than everyone suggests they've been biting this year.

I agree with FBodine.  Of course you're there to find some good bargains but hopefully people won't take advantage if she has things priced ridiculously.  Sounds like the worm harnesses were a good buy but not completely ridiculous so I'm guessing the woman had some help from a fishing friend to put prices on everything.  I wish I could be there because there are some things that I could use but I'll be taking my first born to college that day.

I do like to load my rods up, particularly when fishing for salmon but I also fish for walleye in Erie a lot.  One of the things that I frequently do to put more fish in the box is to pop the line free of the release and allow my spoon or worm harness to drift up towards the surface.  Is there any way that you can accomplish this with the Black's or are they basically in the release until you bring the ball up?

I'm kind of an outsider so I don't have the same vested interest that most of you have.  I fished Ontario back in the early 90s and it was a blast.  I consider fishing it again because I have a new boat and I'm starting to have a bit more time to fish as I near retirement and my kids grow up.  So, I'm just going to give an outsider's perspective or play devil's advocate a tiny bit here, and that's not to discount the reasoned comments of the OP or of anyone else, I think your concerns are valid.

I will say that in a very general sense, I'm in favor of managing primarily for native species, though I know that the great lakes are completely topsy-turvy because of the unwanted invasive species.  So, in general, I'm OK with the NYDEC managing for lakers or atlantics.  I also know that for many sportsmen, there will never be enough stocked trout, salmon, deer, turkey, etc. etc. and I think that sometimes we have to temper our opinions and desires and recognize that the fishing (or hunting) isn't always going to be easy and that we have to concern ourselves with a healthy environment first and that high populations of game fish or animals are a benefit of that. 

Just sayin'.  I'm not sure if people's comments got deleted in this thread but so far I think people are being reasonable.  Before anyone attacks me, I've already made the comment that I'm not as knowledgeable about this fishery as many of you and I recognize that there are many issues.  Perhaps the DEC isn't paying close enough attention but there's also the possibility that they are managing for the resource and that some folks just want more.

Well, for used those are decent rates then, good job.

Thanks Chris, good luck to you.