panfisher

Beautiful people.....beautiful browns.......beautiful picture......NNiiiiiicce!!

Nice going Tg8! You know, I had a nice 6 ft lite action graphite St. Croix I lost at the canal a few years back. I had made a cast and the tip half came loose at the ferrule and flew right up in the air and wrapped over a power line. I thought I could reel it back up to me but the line (usual 6lb. Berkley) snapped, and I watched it plunge down into the canal. This was by the Wayneport rd. bridge. We tried for a few to cast and drag lures from the boat where we thought it was to no avail... ...Oh well. So ended that favorite pole. On to it's replacement!

Some of the easiest because of lower weed densities and cooler waters is in the spring. Sometimes the ice can be gone and you still may have a few days to catch and keep 'eyes before the short season closure in March. Honeoye is the shallowest of the fingers and always has had good weeds. The cyanobacteria issue is a problem all around the country now (witness Lake Erie) in similar (shallower, more eutrophic waters). And the reasons for that are well known. But there have been no fish die-offs there. The bass fishing for both largemouths and smallmouths used to be awesome. Especially in April. All C&R of course.I've caught 5lb. 'eyes, 5lb.+ smallies, and 6lb+ largemouths there. And have seen bigger. I like the early to mid spring because of the cooler waters and less weeds and because gamefish will be close to shore all around the lake and you can fish sticks, swimbaits and jigs toward shore and catch black bass and 'eyes "grab bag style". Middle to late fall at dusk (Oct- Nov) is also good for the same reasons, particularly for walleye. Like others say here, there are some beautiful 'gills, 'seeds, crappies and rockies there too. Canadice and Hemlock are very nice. A picture of what the lakes used to look like in pre-settler (native American) days.....without the housing. Also pretty good fishing in those lakes, with salmonids because of the deeper waters. Have been some huge 'eyes coming out of Hemlock (occasionally) picked up by trout trolling. I've fished Canadice from shore a few times just stopping through for a short time.....After ice out a few lakers and more frequently 'bows can be had casting with sticks. By May they have been replaced with smallies and largemouths, from the same spots with the same lures. Also, there are some nice pickerel in these waters as with all of the fingers. And I saw a photo of a 20lb.+ northern from Honeoye....did not even know they existed in there 'till I saw that! All in all, a great place to be....centrally located with great fishing opportunity, both lake and stream (warm water and cold) in all directions....

Sometimes, depending, fishing can be easy. But often, again depending, it can be tough and seemingly fruitless. But geez.....it's that way about almost everything. Guaranteed, though, the more u do something that requires effort to achieve a level of success or satisfaction (effort= time, adjustments, application), the more fruitful and easier it can become. It helps, like Justin said, to love or have a strong interest in order to remain motivated to the effort required. This stuff is true whether you're young or old...

I'm not....but check this.....http://tibassmasters.wordpress.com/

Wow!! Miss em......like everyone else, can't wait to see other pics......Has anyone tried to say yet (inevitably) that the pic is Photoshopped or otherwise fake? That often happens. Congratulations to the captor regardless. BTW, any other details on the catch besides being incidental while working the 'eyes....?

Heck, the Chemung in downtown Elmira is not difficult for 'eyes. Like the others here say, there are easier places to catch 'eyes. But say there....Are you saying you are intrigued by a place that people know has walleyes, but does not give them up easily? The challenge of it? Or are you in some way (lost driver's license, must stay close to family and live nearby, any number of other weird limiting issues....) confined and therefore challenged by the local water; ie no other choice? Well any which way, the challenge is there. It would be nice to hear after many hard and futile attempts you finally cracked the code to the walleye in that small body of water. I can think of other small lakes (ponds really) that have populations of nice but hard to catch walleye.Loon Lake in Steuben county comes to mind. There are others I've never tried. If you indeed become adept at catching at least 1 walleye every time out (and that would be a worthy reward!) remember C&R. A small body of water probably has a relatively small population. Get your 'meat for the table' from other more productive waters. I'd keep one every now and then, but personally I would be more happy with knowing of my prowess in being able to do something that stumps most others. Just a thought.......Also, that kind of water may harbor a good population of big boys and girls that never get caught and live out their lives getting fat and happy....(my fantasy world) Good luck and keep us posted if successful!

Yes, there may be something to the out competing....and with habitat changes in Honeoye. You say "bug" infections in Canandaigua Sk8man?....I'm thinking possibly in Honeoye the larger (seemingly) healthy population of smallies in the 80's and such may have been a direct result of the slowdown in weed intensity after the sewer lines were put in all around the lake, creating a more amenable quality for smallies. The good number of largemouths were always present. But, beside the healthy numbers and size of smallies there (I caught a nice 5lber there about 6years ago), I remember lots of real nice quality largemouths (3-5lbers) being caught; not multitudes of 12 inch and less fish. I'm sure sizes are still in there of both biggies and smallies, but it just does not seem that the smallies are where they used to be in numbers....in Honeoye. I've dabbled a little (from shore) at Canadice and found a nice mix of happy and healthy black bass of both types willing and able to get after it in mid-late spring. All of the fingers have good populations of both.....I believe they will continue to do so, with fluctuation......but why the changes happen is intriguing........ ? ?.......and a little disconcerting maybe.....

If U R into fishing of any or of many kinds......NY is the place to be. The politics are not the best or the worst...the fishing is great. The weather is not the best or the worst...the fishing is great. The scenery is not the best or the worst....the fishing is great. The license fees are not bad, given the quality of the fishing afforded. A NY fishing license will get one a fantastic choice of freshwater warm and cold water opportunities. And if you like saltwater fishing, around that place called the Big Apple, the fishing for many species can be awesome. I guess it's the variety of different water types, both lake, river, pond, creek, ocean....and big swaths of 2 Great Lakes......it's a fisherman's paradise. You can go to big or small, isolated or crowded......and catch all kinds of different fish. And then there are those Kings.....the KINGS.....and, if the winter is cold enough, a mess of perch and sunnies taste awful good off the ice........BTW, the hunting for deer and birds isn't too bad either (wish the state got back to the pheasants as in days of old....you couldn't walk through any old field anywhere without flushing dozens of them!).