Pair of Jacks

To me it looks like a Pre-Rapala Storm Thunderstick jr Jerkbait. I just picked up a lot of 6 of a deep dive version.

Nice to see no lamprey bites!!!

Smelt was my first thought as well

When I was growing up near Millport NY in the 1960s my friends and I would get old axe handles and drive a 6 inch spike in the head-end of handle and walk the banks Catherine Creek during the summer killing lampreys by whacking them with the spike. We would throw the carcasses up on the bank so the skunks and raccoons could eat them. We killed hundreds each summer, but wasn’t until the DEC found a chemical treatment to kill them in the larvae stage. For years we did not see them during the spring rainbow runs, but now they are back with a vengeance. I have not caught a single trout in Catherine Creek or Seneca Lake in the last ten years that didn’t have either a lamprey sore or an actual lamprey attached. The DEC finally announce last fall they finally started treating the Seneca Lake Tributaries with chemicals to kill the larvae again. Here is the DEC article from their Jan 7, 2022 Recap of 2021 DEC Projects: 10. The fishery in Seneca Lake should benefit from sea lamprey control activities on two of its tributaries during the past year. In June, a total of 31 staff from across the state and including partners from US Fish and Wildlife Service Lake Champlain Sea Lamprey Control Team from Vermont (USFWS) treated approximately 11.5 miles of Catharine Creek and three miles of Keuka Outlet. The streams were treated with a lampricide that specifically targets sea lamprey and focuses on larval sea lamprey that typically spend three years but can live up to 10+ years in stream sediments. Treatments were conducted to reduce the population of the parasitic adult phase of sea lamprey in Seneca Lake. Studies on the Great Lakes have shown that one adult lamprey can result in the loss of up to 40 pounds of fish, which in Seneca Lake would consist of primarily trout and salmon. In addition to the June treatments, a different lampricide was applied in October to the Catharine Creek canal from Montour Falls to the mouth of the lake to treat larval lamprey that were likely not affected by the earlier treatments. A specially designed application boat from the USFWS was utilized resulting in a more efficient and effective treatment in this area. Overall, several thousand sea lamprey larvae were eliminated from the Seneca Lake system which should benefit trout and salmon as well as other fishes in the immediate future.

Kid—Awesome catch and even better release story. Big congrats on your lifetime PB Laker!! Thank you also for your dedication to your DEC daily diary to pay it forward so those young anglers following in our footsteps have something’s to strive for in the “fishing” vs “catching” adventures!!! keep on keeping on!! Pair of Jacks

Sherman—which dreamer weaver model and color should I get?

Yes I recall Salmon Creek being a spot as well. Similar issues on Seneca Lake when the Zebra Mussels invaded…change the ecosystem and now their are only small numbers of Sawbellies and smelt. Keep on keeping on!! Pair of Jacks

Reel doc—I should have included my numerous spring nighttime excursions to Taughannock Falls to dip for smelt. It’s my understanding that this no longer happens or at least not like back in the 60s and 70s. That was both fun and good eating back in the day….although I don’t miss cleaning 500 or 600 smelt at 2am.😎😎 Keep on keeping on!! Pair of Jacks

Reel Doc…yes i know about your deep freeze their in central NYS/Finger Lakes…our best friends live year round on Seneca Lake. I also grew up there myself… many moons ago. I remember the two of the worst winters were January 1967 big blizzard and 10 years later 1977 Seneca Lake froze completely for the first time in over 100 years. Stay warm, stay safe. Pair of Jack

Will do our stripers are landlocked …stocked by Virginia Department Wildlife Resources…we actually have a full time DWR Fishery Biologist assigned to our Lake to manage the fishery. We have a superb striper, hybrid, and largemouth.

Woohoo…you are making me jealous!!! This sound crazy but her in central Virginia, The upper Pamunkey (where we live) and South Anna branches of Lake Anna are frozen over so our typical winter striper fishing is on hold till ice out…even the sea gulls and Herons are confused. keep on keeping on!!!

I am surprised by the comments wrt other boats doing the dirty deeds of trying to cover your course and hookups. If they are charter boats I would have a dockside chat for sure. If not I would put the boat pix up on social media with a storyline of his bogarting tactics. Courtesy and ethics are what separates the pros from the morons…I would never risk landing a fish with out a net.

Sherman—Many thanks for the tips. Respectfully Pair of Jacks

Greetings and Happy New Year to all!! My name Scott and my youngest son and I own a 2019 Tracker Laker Guide V16 with a 4 -Stroke 25 hp Mercury OB. Our boat name is Pair of Jacks. We have a Lowrance Elite 9 Ti2 with the muti-mode transducer including side-scan. We are from Virginia (Lake Anna), but I was born and raised in Millport NY about 10 miles south of Watkins Glen NY. I grew up trout fishing Catherine Creek and the big 3 Finger Lakes: Cayuga, Seneca, and Keuka. I left NYS in 1973 upon joining the USAF. My one previous Lake Ontario fishing experience was back in the 1960s with my dad at Selkirk Shores State Park. My dad later introduced me to walleye fishing in Canada back in 1968. We since made annual trips to northern Ontario until 2019 when COVID closed the border. After 2 and now going on 3 years in 2022, we have had to cancel our Canadian trip. So we decided at my brother’s recommendation to try Henderson Bay for some early spring walleye. Our target dates are May 14-21, 2022. We are experienced boaters having fished Lake Erie’s Western Basin while stationed in Ohio, Lake St Claire and Lake Huron(Thunder Bay) and numerous inland walleye lakes and rivers while stationed in Michigan; to the Chesapeake Bay and now Lake Anna while stationed/retired in Virginia. Our Virginia fishing is focused on both wild and land-locked (stocked) striped bass as walleye fishing in Virginia is very spotty. See attached photos In any case any important tips for fishing Henderson Bay in May 2022 would be welcomed. Pair of Jacks is configured for trolling but we occasionally cast and jig depending on the conditions and where the fish are located. I researched the web and found a few dated posts and YouTube videos on fishing Henderson Bay, but several questions remain unanswered….Safety is paramount so the first question is how rough does Henderson Bay itself get? Second, are there walleye actually in Henderson Bay or are they out in the big water? Next is trolling questions…for walleye we troll between 1.5 and 2.0 mph using Daiwa SG17 and SG27 LCA reels on 7 to 8 ft medium action rods specifically matched to our reels. We do set planer boards occasionally, but typically we stick to one rod per fisherman. We use these same rod/reel combos for stripers and hybrids (striped bass x white bass) which can run up to 40” and 25~30 lbs as well as for walleyes. Our reels are loaded with 10 and 15 lbs Trilene mono in clear and green respectively. Our terminal tackle ranges from crawler harnesses with bottom bouncers to every model/color of Rapala and Cordell Redfins. I still have a huge selection of Erie Dearie spinners, but frankly they haven’t really produced a fish other than on Lake Erie. I do have a nice selection of old Dare Devils and Johnson Silver Minnow spoons from my Finger Lakes trolling days that produced real strong Northern Pike strikes up in Canada. We also have a big inventory of Live Target swim baits in 4 and 5 inch Shad models we use for stripers. We also have a few medium size Alabama rigs that are also popular striper baits….again Shad colors but can be configured with local dominant bait fish replica as needed. We don’t expect anyone to give up their honey hole secrets, but general local knowledge hints would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance for your assistance. Respectfully Pair of Jacks