bosco

Opening night is an annual rite for me. Put in at 11:30 on Friday night and start fishing at midnight. Not this year. A forecast showing 37 degrees with snow showers at midnight and dropping to 32 by daybreak isn't good night fishing weather. Especially on opening weekend which is usually less productive for me than the end of May, early June.

100 views is not much and I’d guess that of those hundred, not many more than the 1 who replied has ever fished it. It’s been on my radar ever since I read an article boasting the amazing fishing both there and on the Seneca River. But I’ve never seen a solid report out of there...ever. JohnnyWalleye pounded the crap out of it a bunch of times with little to show for it if I recall. I don’t think it’s anyone’s honey hole so much as there are so may better options within reasonable proximity with Oneida being the best.

South end. Before dark. Hole hopped until I found a spot with a good gill bite. Set up the lantern and it was a steady pick of gills on the bottom and the crappie would hit at 5 foot as I brought the jig up through the water column. Really consistent pattern.

I did the lantern bite tonight on Honeoye as well. Same results as Longspurs.

Father and daughter. What god-awful news. https://www.nny360.com/news/stlawrencecounty/it-s-a-recovery-effort-at-this-point-search-efforts-resume-on-black-lake-for/article_096f5f62-59a2-11eb-8884-23681c2859cd.html

Makes sense. I’m 3 years away from retirement and I’ll be running a similar program. If there were ice at home I’d probably be on Honeoye. As it is, I’m in a hotel room watching the Bills game, trying to figure out what tomorrow might look like. Done enough smallish perch for one weekend.

We were on Hyde today but we got there wicked early so parking wasn’t an issue. All the smallish perch we wanted. Kept a couple dozen of the biggest ones. Grubs and all. It’s a small lot so there there was plenty of room to fish. No one was pressuring anybody. Were you out on Hyde today, Kevin?

Thanks. I’m driving after work tomorrow (Fri.) to check some spots for Saturday morning. Hyde, Butterfield, Payne. If that’s no good I may have to join the masses on LOTI.

Hey Kevin...do you reckon they were pike fishing that close to shore? Not much of a chance of getting perch or eyes in that close, would you think? I’ve never been to Chaumont but it’s on my list for this weekend. Unfortunately, I think Indian River Lakes just went from Plan B to Plan A and Eel or LOTI being plan C (although I prefer to avoid combat fishing....I’m reading that the crowds are a little big and include a fair share of litter bugs).

Someone on the on the other site reported someone out on Long Pond today and gave a 2nd hand report of 3 1/2” near shoe. I’m in disbelief. I live by Durand-Eastman and the ponds (even the sheltered, shaded coves) aren’t ready yet. How can wide open ponds with a Lake Ontario wind have fishable ice?

I’m dumbfounded. I had less than 2 inches on a much smaller body of water. I wouldn’t even have considered those spots as being safe. I wouldn’t go to either of those spots anyways...but still.

More like the Driving Park bridge.

I was recovering from surgery all of July. I just got out for the first time last week and did pretty good. 7 on the night between 2 guys. Went out again Wednesday and worked harder to get 4. All after dark.

Thank you. Even if it was you I would’ve given you your space. I’ve got a few go to spots and I always need a nudge to get off them and make sure I’m finding/learning new spots. Anyways, when that boat left I let it settle for about an hour and went over and that’s when/where I picked up the two. I think I’ll be back out tonight though. When I’m not getting fish I want to get out there until I do and when I’m getting fish I don’t want to leave a good bite. It’s like a 2 sided curse.

Tough night. Only 2. 18" & 22". First one didn't come until 1:15 AM. It really surprised me because water temps were up 5 degrees from last week and I was marking lots of fish in some of the typical spots. I actually saw 2 other boats out. One trolling and one casting in close and he was on my 90% spot. I mean RIGHT on it. Nearly 15 years I've been fishing that Bay and I've never seen anyone else working that area. I would've been pissed except I thought it was probably Devo's kid and Devo's helped me with a lot of info over the years. It's gotta pick up soon. Tonight was definitely an anomaly compared to this time in years past.

There’s a decent Walleye population there. My folks had a cottage there from 1970 to 2017. I practically grew up on that lake. When I bought my own boat in ‘91 I was able to keep it in the hoist and spent weekends and after work hours there through my 20’s. I spent a lot of time on that lake fishing Walleye. I can honestly say it’s one of the least satisfying Walleye fisheries in the region for me. It was a matter of convenience at that time. It’s a great fishery for largemouth and pannies and it’s my preferred water for ice fishing but I never ice fish it specifically targeting Walleye....they’re just a bonus if I happen into them. I’m sure there’s guys who crush it on a regular there, and if I didn’t have a more productive spot on my doorstep I’d probably be a little more intentional about investing more time catching up on things there. Especially right now while the water’s cooler and the weeds aren’t bad and the annual algae bloom isn’t setting up. But targeting Walleye on Honeoye these days?....meh. I feel like I’ve got several better options in the region. And I can’t see myself trolling for eyes with boards and riggers anywhere....let alone Honeoye. But to each his own. I have an acquaintance who told me he and his group got over 30 shore casting at night opening weekend there so maybe I’m just missing it.

Sticks. I had my brother out with me and I was doing a little more captaining than fishing myself and I wanted him to have a good night so I wasn't trying to finesse them but rather have him throw a face full of trebles at them. In fact, I only got one and that was trolling early. He got 4 casting and he's not used to getting even an Ontario limit so we left happy.