bosco

I've got a couple days in Watertown leading up to Thanksgiving. Looking to hit the Black River somewhere between Watertown and Dexter. Anyone got any info on shore-fishing for Walleye in that area or a few miles in either direction? Or, is there any reason why there wouldn't be a decent eye population staging in this portion of the river this time of year. I've NEVER fished up this way but damn I start droolin when I've got a little time on my hands and a new body of water to check out. So.....any help would be appreciated. I wouldn't shake any bass or pike off my line either.

I did the hard water thing up there a couple times for a couple years. It's been a few though. Not since just after the original zebra mussel infestation. But I spoke with one of my brothers a couple days ago and we're making our plans to get up there again this winter.

I've been sitting back waiting for you to start reporting on the Susky again Sluggo. I was beginning to thinnk maybe you fell out of your boat and drowned or something. Good to hear you're back at it.

I took my first stab at Musky fishing this summer myself. My brother took me to Chautauqua Lake. Got started on a Friday night and got nothing. Saturday I boated 2....a 31" and a 41". I was surprised because honestly I was expecting to catch none being such a rookie. Sunday I got one on right at the boat and he was off real quick then my bro boated one about an hour later. Not bad for my first time out. So....I can say I've had luck on Chautauqua Lake anyways. I can only imagine it's going to pick up with the cooler weather moving in.

Yeah....what Grady said. Far more eloquent and informative than my take. And since I just found out my outboard crapped the bed. $1,200 for a rebuild. Looks like I'm stuck fishing from shore until it freezes.

Spoken like true die hard. Right on Man!! And screw the tip ups. Get a couple of jigging rods and keep it movin. Tip ups slow you down unless all you want to do is fish for Pike. I like to gear up for walleye and panfish, travel light and cover water.

Well....I don't know how you're going to fare 3-4 months from now....but you certainly seem to be acclimating to the FISHING climate quite well. Time to show us what you're made of though and start asking us about ICE fishing spots and gear. Yes...it's time to break you in the way only a western New York winter can. LOL "California....I'll be knockin on the golden door"

Right on dude!! For the Walleye, head north up the river a couple miles to the mouth of Black Creek and try a little closer to sunset.

Check out this link. This article is VERY interesting. The actual reports I've seen over the last couple years don't seem to live up to the hype of this article....but it's definitely a good reference if you're interested in that area. http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/fish ... enecaRiver

Just curious....did you have a boat trailer on your vehicle when you were ticketed?

Maybe I should start a Walleye Charter service on I-Bay. I swear they're in there and I get a couple 2 or 3 almost every time I go out. Not huge numbers but I rarely get skunked. My best night was 4 in the boat and one lost AT the boat. No monsters, but all keepers. In fact, I don't think I've ever caught an undersize in the 4 years I've been fishing the Bay. I've shared info on this board and in PM's. Very specific info. Enough that some guys would wish I'd keep my mouth shut but I've received alot of helpful info here and I'm not the type to bottle info when it could mean a day of success or the smell of skunk for someone. I'm not a Walleye guru. Although it's my passion, I'm a mediocre Walleye angler at best but RARELY to I fish outside this species. So this is puzzling to me. I'd think that guys who really have a handle on Walleye fishing would be able to light it up out there. But if I can offer any more help in any way, I'd be glad to. But I don't know what else to say except they're in there and keep trying.

I'd be careful there. I live less than a mile up Culver from Marge's. Trust me. The cops know it's there too because most often when I happen to be pulling out after 2:00AM, they've got cruisers positioned in the SeaBreeze overflow lot or up by the mini golf course. Quite regularly I see people touching their noses and walking the line on Culver....if not right out my front yard...then a house or two down. Best not to drink if you go boating anyways. It's unsafe and definitely not necessary.

I fish I-Bay at night all the time. I have for the last 4 years. I've launched at the state launch by the bay outlet at 10 or 11 at night and pulled out at 5AM. I've never gotten a ticket or had any incidents whatsoever. Police have been sitting in the lot and have watched me pull out and haven't said a word to me. When I launch there, getting a ticket is the last thing on my mind.

Erie was a far superior smallmouth fishery to Ontario to begin with. Don't know if that has anything to do with it or not. Erie was so strong the smallies thrived on it while Ontario was mediocre and couldn't handle it?? Just a guess....and a bad one at that probably....pure speculation....but maybe it has something to do with it.

Welp....I had a blast. Not big numbers. But I caught fish every night out which was good enough for me....brand new body of water and all. Pretty much following slipbob's program. Thanks slip. Biggest was 23". Smallest was 7"...cute as a button...and it BROKE MY POLE (LOL). Must've stepped on it in the darkness earlier or something. Yankee Troller would be happy....I even hooked a couple of really nice smallmouth. Damn I forgot how much fun those fish could be. I haven't caught smallmouth since I stopped taking my boat to Dunkirk for my annual smallie trip a few years back. Kept one eye... a 22" for the frying pan. Tasted fine. I've got no problem eating a meal or two out of almost anywhere. Just wouldn't make 'em a part of my regular diet. I'll get a couple pictures up tomorrow after I find out what my wife did with the camera. Next stop.....Chautaqua for a Musky expedition. My older brother's a recent Musky convert and asked me to join him and my nephew on a trip this Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. How do you say no?? Anyways....any tips for that one?

Well, I'm ALWAYS fishing during hours of darkness. I don't even care if it's more productive or not. That's just when I like to fish. But I do think it's more productive anyways. That being said, if you're fishing in daylight, I can't help much. But I'm usually in shallower water. Rarely deeper than 20 foot. Usually during the course of the night throwing shallow diving shad raps right up to the shoreline, trolling diving sticks in 13-18 FOW, casting crankbaits between 6-13, but mostly walking jigs tipped with live bait off the tops of ledges and down slopes and drop-offs. The 104 bridge is a good place to start. The areas immediately north and south of the bridge on the east side have been good to me as well as the area immediately south of the old Newport House and also in front of the Newport yacht club on the west side.

That's funny Johnny....I'm too boneheaded to START fishing in the daytime and STOP fishing at night. I usually don't even launch until 9PM or later. Some mornings, I'm pulling out just as the first boats of the day are putting in. Screws up my sleep but man do I love fishing in the peaceful solitude of 3AM.

The first thing that I would adjust is the time. I've had better luck on that lake during hours of darkness. Honeoye is a dishpan lake with very little structure and a muck bottom. There don't seem to be many places that hold schools of eyes. I'm not saying there aren't ANY. Just not MANY. In my experience, they seem to be pretty spread out which means I'd get a fish, maybe two if I were lucky, then the spot would go dead. Keep moving. Trust your screen. It's also a tenaciously weedy lake. I used to troll diving stick baits outside the weeds quite a bit. 15-20 FOW. But even staying outside the weeds there's so much prop chopped weeds floating around that they find your line and follow it down. I switched to jigging. Even at night. Fuzzy Grubs, twisters, with any sort of live bait. My results probably were about the same...but much less frustrating. It sucks when you get a couple lines out and no sooner are they out then they've got crud on them killing the action. Plus, you can get into the weeds and work much closer to the edges. Also, I've very much enjoyed the challenge of enticing a strike and feeling a hit while jigging more than trolling sticks. Use larger minnows if you want to keep the panfish off. I also understand that alot of guys troll worm harnesses on 3 way rigs and bottom bouncers. For me, the panfish constantly biting the tails off of them is equally as frustrating. I'd be very interested to hearing other's input on this walleye fishery.

A couple years ago or so ESPN outdoors put out a GREAT article on the Senceca River. Talked about FANTASTIC fishing for Pike, Walleye, and Crappie. It piqued my interest but all reports I've seen from that area on this board have been reports of frustration and little results. If people are having luck there, I don't blame them for being tight lipped. The State Ditch was mentioned as a particularly hot Walleye spot though.

I fish both bodies of water regularly. After dark. Like 10PM to 3 or 4AM. I would concur with everything that Gambler says. These are both good Walleye fisheries. Maybe not 15-20 fish in a day or night like...say...Oneida. But productive fisheries nontheless. Plus, you never know what else might take your line.

If you go WAAAY back in the Bass, Pike, & Walleye threads on this site there's info on Walleye in the Avon area. I had inquired myself but never made it out that way. There's a couple folks who say that there are a lot in there but the take I got was use cheap tackle because you'll have to be prepared to lose alot of it because of the gunk on the bottom, rocks, branches, etc.

Hearing things like this make me think that I really ought to keep a camera on my boat.

Keep at it. They're in there all right.

You're not too far away from Raquette River. I've had great times with lots of smaller Pike on that river and also some surprisingly large smallmouths. That's the best I can offer you for that region. Never fished Saranac itself but I'm very familiar with Little Wolf Lake and Tupper.

Thanks slipbob. That's pretty much where I was going to start. I drive down that stretch of the Thruway several times a year and every time I go by those dams I think "damn I'd love to slip my boat in and creep up as far as I could to the bottom of that thing, especially at night". I occasionally see guys hitting it from shore but I'll bet you could clobber the eyes in the evening if you could get up in there. The one's I see from the Thruway are not the same one I'll be accessing. 2 things. First, I'll mostly be fishing at night. Like 7PM to 7AM and if I go through the locks, I won't be able to get back through after a certain hour. Also, New York State Canal Corp. reinstated locking fees after the public outrage over the Thruway toll rate increases. I'll probably fish between locks 8 and 9 Sunday night and Monday and if I'm not liking it, I'll rip the boat out and try the Port Jackson launch. Start with the base of lock 11 and work my way west