Lake O Smallmouth

[jrlefrois]

Anyone think the smallmouth fishing will be better on the big O this year, or do you think the populations are still down because of the gobies? Or better yet has anyone figured out a productive way to get through to the bass and not have the gobies steal all yout bait all the time? Fishing for Smallmouth use to be one of my favorite things to do in front of webster park, and now there are never any boats out there. Its such a shame. Any thoughts / ideas?

[jkarol24]

to be honest im not to knowledgeable on the smallies but i saw a few guys wading in front of russel station catchin them with just worms in 3-5 FOW i tried there with x-raps but not luck... i hear they are starting to come in shallow though

[panfisher]

I have read that the downturn in catch rates on the south shore of the big lake was not the deal on the eastern and western side of the lake....folks are doing just fine with the smallies in those areas... irregardless of the gobies, cormorants, global warming and whatever stuff people say. Did you catch what Shaw Grigsby was doing on his cable channel 55 show about 3 or 4 weeks ago, last summer, on the eastern side of the lake? Just like not so old times in this area! Try regular jigs in the usual 10 to 40 fow, but use bigger size bodies... upscale! The idea would be to mimic the gobies themselves, which, it has been found, the smallies will attack to protect their nests and to fatten up on.The thing here is, if you are smallie fishing during the spawn time, the catch and release deal might backfire because as soon as the bass leaves the nest, the gobies will goble the babies and or eggs while you're landing the fish. A downturn in numbers of bass on the south shore is not verified ,though...just harder to catch. Soooo... I'd fish for smallies later in summer, using 1/4 to 3/8 oz. or so with bigger soft bodied grub tails, or better yet, Gulp Alive! large sized gobie baits. Fish them with as big a hook and body available to get through the gobies, because often with smaller baits and jigs we used to use, you'll catch tons of the gobies before the bass can get to it. Good luck!

[jkarol24]

yep the show with shaw grisby was real good

[pyle]

I was out in the Big Lake lastweek and never saw so many schools of smallies. In groups of 20+. From 5 foot of water out to 30'. I'm "hoping" this year will be better that the past couple.

[nelson nelson]

Had a blast catching some nice small mouth yesterday. All catch and release, pulled out 6. 1 monster rock bass to top it all off. I dont play games with gobies, mepps is all i need all day long. Wont say where on Lake O, except in the Port Credit area. Most productive colours were mepps yellow #4 and mepps gold #4, both with fur on the treble. I can only hope this is an early sign of good fishing to come.

[shut up and fish]

spent the last few days in the 1000 islands and murdered the smallies

[manhattan man]

I've been told the SM can be found deeper. On the bottom 60-70 foot of water. I talked to a guy today that was catching SM in 100' of water 20' down trolling.

[jkhci]

where in Port credit, i am in there all the time and havent seen any smallies.

[Gill-T]

Good way to counter gobies is to keep your bait off the bottom. Gobies will not leave the bottom. Get some minnows, send them down, touch bottom, and get them up quick maybe 3' above. Bass will see them.

[duane1982]

went out tonight out of port bay trolling for an hour or so from 50 ft down ro 30 ft with no luck.

Still seems pretty tough out there

[SinDale]

Anyone have any info on the legalities of using gobies for bait? I talked to some pier guys who say they catch a handul of them, then cast out gobies on trebles. I'm going to give a shoal a shot tomorrow am with the usual softshells and minnows, but might leave one of those little bastards on a hook and see whats up if they go through all my bait...

We caught some smallies this spring while brown trolling and they were all monsters, so hopefully we'll get into 'em!

[jkarol24]

DEC rules state that using Gobies as bait IS illegal and must not be released back into the water, even on a hook

[SinDale]

Thanks for the clarification! I've always put them out of my misery

[jkarol24]

as they deserve

[schwenn]

i've found the best way to counter the gobies is to use large crayfish with larger than usual hooks. also going sinkerless seems to help as the bass hit it before it touches the bottom although thats not always an option with the wind waves and current. i've personally caught and killed over a hundred of those annoying buggers this year. seems to me like bass fishing has been hit or miss this year.

[SinDale]

nothing at Lewis Shoal that we could entice... was a good weekend at the beach though!

[Ghotierman]

DEC rules state that using Gobies as bait IS illegal and must not be released back into the water, even on a hook

Does this mean that if you catch a goby, it should not be released back into the lake?? We have had a debate here recently that they should be killed and not released if caught, but I can't find anything specifically in the regulations that says that they should be destroyed (even though I wish they all were...) Can someone point me to the regulation that says this???

[Gill-T]

All the laws are open to interpretation by the DEC officers enforcing them. The spirit of the law is to keep people from transporting an exotic species to other bodies of water, so I would never keep one in a pail waiting to be used. I have no problem when I catch a gobie, sending it back down to be eaten by a smallmouth. Dead gobie, confused smallmouth, happy angler