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Oneida Lake Walleye Newbie Questions


OswegoRiverRat

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Hey guys, I normally fishing the Oswego river. But I would like to take my 17' bluefin sportsman out on Oneida lake to fish for walleye. I have no experience in fishing for walleye or oneida lake. What to watch for on the lake for conditions? I don't have down riggers, is it possible to still fish for walleye? Do you have to troll? Or can you anchor and? Where are the walleye? What kind of lures/bait are you using? Line lbs?

Any and all info or tips will be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys!

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You don't need riggers to fish eyes .One of the best ways is to drift and jig buck tales or sonars jigs good place to look is Cleveland Constantia, .find the fish and set up a drift pattern go past them get set up and drift over top of them and jig .best time to fish for them is early morning sun up or sundown . Best of luck

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FOW can be anything from 5ft to 45 depending. People successfully target them many ways on Oneida. Drifting jigs, sonars, harnesses with bouncers, trolling.

If you haven't been out on the lake before, be careful. Water can go from calm to raging in 30 minutes. Lots of shoals and rock piles you can hit, that are even more exposed when the waves are up.

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I will be drifting between constantia and cleveland. I plan on staying away from the shore, and in the 15+ft water. Anything specific that I need to watch for in that area? I do have a nice depth sounder/Fish finder. But that only tells me what's underneath the back of my boat, not what I'm heading towards.

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Right now the fish seem very scattered so having a good finder does not matter much. I seriously caught eyes from 4' - 44' of water on Saturday. There is no magic depth to target them at and they are not really schooled up on structure either.

 

I would check a map for the shoals and islands near Constantia. There are a few islands to watch out for there, plus Dakin shoal and Willard island a little to the East.

 

I like to jig bucktails but I know a lot of guys are doing very well drifting worm harnesses right now. If you drag worm harnesses and jig in 15' - 25' right now your are probably going to come across some walleyes.

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Dont want to hijack the thread, but this question will help everyone.

 

How do the fishing tactics change over the course of the summer? Right now we're jigging and bouncing harnesses. In a few more weeks does it change mostly to a trolling suspended walleyes, or can you bounce jigs off the bottom all summer?

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Back up in the walleye section to last summer and read miss em's reports from last summer. There is a ton of good info...there are many ways to target eyes, but Jeff lays it out for you including buoy numbers. Oneida is literally full of walleye don't need to over think it.

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You can catch them jigging all summer but a lot of guys switch over to trolling in July and August. I think it is a little easier to catch them

trolling in the summer because a lot of them are suspended. You can

always jig in and along the weeds and catch them mid summer.

Personally trolling is a last resort. I would rather catch them jigging or casting sticks any day.

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Justin is correct the lake is full of walleye, you can find them to your fishing style.  You can troll deep like some but I think that gets a bit boring after a couple hours, you can jig the shoals, jig deeper water, jig the shallows, drag a harness in the process, throw sonars, stick baits there are endless ways to catch walleye and just about any time of the season.  Theres days where the lake just shuts us down with good bites no matter what you try.  Just the other day I was fishing close to shore in 10 feet of water mid day and jigged up my limit plus in couple hours, back at the launch guys who trolled deep took all day to limit. Day after it was just the opposite.  Patience and dont be afraid to switch your tatics up at any point in time.  Keep your eye out for pin buoys if your not familiar with the lake, you be surprised how in the middle of nowhere they show up. OH and be prepared to get surrounded by boats if someone sees your net go over.  One last thing is make sure your boat is up to coast guard regs, chances of getting stopped by sheriffs dept is pretty good, if your not up to the regs you will get an escort back to the launch.

Edited by Steelman
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Coast guard regulations are having as many life jackets as the rated capacity for the boat, a throwable floatation device, air horn, flares, fire extinguisher, whistle, first aid kit, Nav Lights, anchor light and a vhf radio....and fishing licenses obviously if you're fishing... what else am I forgetting guys? I don't want any problems on the water if I get stopped. As I have never been stopped on the Oswego river in my life. Even for fishing licenses...

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