cny_mike

I launched from Union Springs on Saturday (15 April). The water was a bit high, lots of small debris on the ramp but it was an easy launch. When I launched in early January it was extremely low - possibly 5 feet lower. There was about 1 foot or so of the permanent docks above the water. Good to go! Good Luck!

thanks for the heads up on the west side....I may just gamble tomorrow or Friday at Union Springs. The channel near the locks was open but it was iced in pretty good near shore on Monday (12/26).

Anyone know if the ice is out from the launch site at Union Springs? Two weeks ago, it was iced in almost to the island. A couple days ago the ice was gone except for 10-15 feet right on the ramp. I am thinking (hoping) that the ice is gone from the ramp so that I may try one more time for some perch in the boat. Alternatively, any idea how the launch is at Cayuga Lake State Park? Thanks in advance. Happy New Year to all!

I know this has been discussed on other forums but not a lot here - Catch and Release methods for deep water caught fish. I have seen people jig up a nice walleye from 90+ feet of water and use a hook to pop the stomach (or bladder?) that is sticking 4" out of its mouth and send the fish back. I have heard this is bad and it will result in the fish dying a slow death. I have also read where you can make a weight with a release and send them back to depth - basically decompressing them like a scuba diver. This supposedly needs to be done quickly after catching it. It is fun catching these fish from deep and often don't need to keep all that I catch. What do others do to release deep water caught Walleyes?

Getting rid of the lights doesn't let me see if there are any followers, however the bite picked up or the other tactics seemed to increase my catch somewhat. Slow retrieve with pauses often triggers a strike. I tried some Berkley Gulp spray - on the very first cast it worked - too early to see if I is real or not. Subsequent use of the spray has been inconclusive. It seems floaters are better than suspenders which are better than sinkers (or deep divers or countdowns). They always seem to strike very near the surface - even over 15 f.o.w. Hopefully the ramps stay ice free for another week or two. Good luck to all the hardy fishermen still out.

I was going to try for some perch on these lakes. How is the water level at the launch ramps near the north end of the lakes? Thanks.

Thanks for the additional tips. I'll report back after my next outing - soon I hope.

I've tried switching the headlamp from white to red, I'll try none at all next trip out. I've varied the retrieve but no pause. I'll try that too. Thanks for the ideas

Does this happen to anyone else? At night casting stick baits for walleye and frequently I see the glow of their eyes and they follow the lure right to the boat but no bite. I've tried mixing the retrieve speed, different lures, etc to no avail. I've tried YoZuri, shad raps, regular rapalas. Any suggestions on how I can trigger them to hit it?

Last Saturday Owasco was thick with the fleas, but they were almost nonexistent two weeks prior. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United