Imbit

THanks guys - sounds like i'll have to change my ways & resurrect the carolina rig - haven't used that since my tournament days. Fishing deep with the potential of catching something is better than getting skunked. Now, I'm the complete novice at fishing deeper than 20 ft - so I hope some of you guys in the know could help me on how do you fish a carolina rig or slip shot rig from 40-50 ft deep - do you bother to cast it out or just vertical jig it at those depths ? Thanks again - John

Just got back from Clayton ... arggghhhhhhhhh Been fishing Clayton area since the early 80's - several times a year. Used to fish tournaments up there, so lets just say I'm not a novice at fishing the bays and islands for pike and largemouth - never learned to fish deep for smallies like alot of guys do nowdays. I'm old enough to remember how much better the fishing was before the clear water. So fished 5 days, covered a ton of water & the grand total consisted of 2 little smallies under a foot, no largemouth, no pike. No exaggeration - worst fishing I've seen ... EVER. I can't recall getting flat skunked ever on the river - happened almost every day. Wouldn't touch the usual money baits such as topwater, spinnerbaits of all shapes & sizes, senko's off/under docks, crankbaits, twister tail grubs. Fished all the usual weedy spots a mile or two in all directions from Clayton - from a foot to 15 ft deep. Weather was perfect first 4 days of the trip. It's been a bit colder than average last couple weeks, so it's NOT like a big nasty cold front came in right before I arrived in NY and shut the bite off like a switch - fish should have acclimated to the slightly colder temps.Just curious if anybody has an explanation for this historical lousey fishing ? I really don't know if the fish have all moved to deep water now that the zebra mussels have made the entire seaway crystal clear (I'm sure this applies for smallmouth, I just can't believe pike and largemouth have moved out of the weeds/bays to deep water); or perhaps the historic high water this spring/summer has messed up the entire ecosystem (thus, killed the bite); or has the goby infestation completely changed the food chain; or if I just need to change my ways and start fishing deeper (if thats the case, I'll take up golf - I've always hated fishing deep).I don't think I could take it if a bunch of fellas here respond that it has been the best fishing in years up on the St. Lawrence - please, for my sanity ... say it isn't so

yikes ! thanks for the pic ... at least I know what to expect for labor day Clayton vacation

Do you think this is a result of the recent flooding and will be temporary, or is this a permanent law now ? Imagine the bass boat guys are gonna be lighter in the pockets ...

Clayton guy Back when I was a teenager, my dad had a boat in Clayton (Stl Lawrence) from the 80's through mid 90's - went up most every other weekend (lived in Binghamton / NE PA then). Back when the water was dark before the zebra mussels. Then got into tournament bass fishing and fished it more, and for the last 10 years, I make the journey up from the pocono's a couple times a year. I find the St. Lawrence dramatically tougher fishing nowdays with the clear water and goby infestation, but hey, it's still a great place to fish & we always enjoy it. Look forward to contributing to the new St. Lawrence forum ...

glad to hear about this new forum - the SLR has become a tough fishery with the zebra mussels/clear water and gobey's compared to years past ... this forum may help us (or at the very least, give us some inspiration)

I've got a trip to Clayton planned over Labor Day ... just looking for a wild guess if water levels will be back close to normal, or if it will still likely be high (I've been out of the loop - roughly how high compared to normal is it right now ??) Many thanks JOhn