NPike

Nice fish! Any smallmouth > 5 pounds is a jumbo. Caught hundreds w only 2 > 6 pounds to date. One on L Erie, one on Conesus. believe it or not on L Erie they go to 8 to 9 lps (perhaps more). The next WR may come out of L Erie.

Got several friends on the lake with slips. The been fishing this lake for a long time. Also talked to some guys docked at Beachcomber. Stories the same no pike, walleye, tigers for 3+ wk. These guys are all veteran Conesus fisherman and fish it often. As of last Thursday water was still at 81. Providing the forum with an update. Wish I had better news. Have heard good things coming from Chautauqua and some other Finger lakes however. Last year between September till docks were pulled out the bite was on. Got at least 12 between (30+" to 39)" {one I'd guess approaching 20 pounds)

From the input I've received any weed control chemical or mechanical hasn't effected Chautauqua's fishing. I wouldn't worry about buddy just got em last wk. Unlike Waneta they didn't knock out all the weeds (at least in the north 1/2).

Been a bit slow for pike due to heat. lake was still at 77+ yesterday. My buddy got a 38",and a 35" trolling those large X-Raps but he puts in a lot of hours and lives on the lake. Got 2 pike last week and more 1 yesterday. Not big but decent. From what I here the largemouth bite is going strong.

Happened to get a couple of good pike casting Thursday after getting skunked trolling. The fish marks and bait balls spotted while trolling were down (17 to 30) feet. Conesus is a bit of a pain to troll in summer due to floating weeds that ride the line down to bait - leader. Don't do enough to go back to downriggers, etc. Thermocline is presently at 30+' We trolled for decades. If using deep running baits, downriggers, etc we didn’t refer to this as flatline trolling. I came to understand flatline trolling as long lining, shallow running baits while trolling. Hence the term flat, not vertical.

I used to flat line troll for pike and walleyes. The accepted term basically meant to troll a shallow running bait (i.e.: floating Rapala's which come in wide variety of size, note up to 7"+). The term flatlining basically meant to troll a shallow running bait a good ways behind the boat (hence flat lining). Why would you troll at - near the surface during the dog-days. Unless perhaps your fishing after dark.

Nice!

Haven’t been out in over a month. Heard that surface temps were up at 82. This likely kills the casting bite. Was thinking of maybe trying trolling for a change. Wondering if being down around (20 to 30) FOW has worked for any guy’s lately? Targeting pike, tigers or walleye. Thks and tight lines.

They are out there all during the open water season on Conesus. Some target esox and walleye prior to season as well. The year round catch and release can only be changed by legislation and enforcement. Start w the DEC.

Sufix 832 braid is good line. I gave up on Spider Wire and Fireline a long time ago. The thing with braid as with any line is it’s a tradeoff with line diameter. Thinner line cast farther and has less water resistance, thicker line holds up better. I use (20 or 30) lb typically for Esox. Always on the look to cut off the last ~ 15’ due to fraying, etc. Etc. Sufix 832 is great against fraying.

I agree better to get a good rod as soon as finances permit. I tried a few and really liked the Mojo series. Darn fishing gets pricey.

St. Croix's makes the Mojo Muskie Rod series. Great rods. https://stcroixrods.com/collections/freshwater-mojo/products/mojo-musky

Tried Lake Erie white bass yuck. Only seen White perch in Chautauqua, odd thing is years ago there were no white perch in Chautauqua.