Skaneateles bass fishing

[jsmith009]

Hey All,

I am headed to Skaneateles next weekend to try some bass fishing. This will be my first time there. I am launching out of Skaneateles Marina. Can anyone give a newcomer some spots to try near this marina? Also what type of lures seem to work best ?

Thanks in advance

[58Johnson]

Head south...

There are points and bays in the south half that are usually productive. Try random areas along the shore also. There are lots of productive spots to be found.

Skinny has much less weeds than most of the finger lakes. Look for the cobbled bottom.

Also you can look for cliffs on the east side down lake. This is a good place to fish a dropoff.

I use tube jigs. 2 3/4" with 1/8th oz jig heads. Pumpkinseed color. These get a good ratio of hookups but occasionally they will swallow them (that's on the small side for a tube jig).

There are fish in the shallows but I get the bigger ones out in 20ft.

Skinny is loaded with smallmouth. They run on the small side generally but some decent ones can be found. I pulled my biggest smallie ever out of the southern end of the lake.

Good luck

[chowder]

58 Johnson's putting you in the right spots for sure, drop shot works good on those Skinny bronze backs too!

[thejigger]

I have had good luck in shallow water (4 to 10 ft) early in the morning casting small pumpkinseed colored jigs. As the sun gets higher in the sky, the smallmouths move into deeper water (20 to 30 ft), and if there is a decent wind, they can be caught drifting shiners or crayfish as well as casting jigs. Smallmouth only have to be 10 inches to keep on Skaneateles and are excellent eating. good luck!

[jsmith009]

Thanks. I was on the water yesterday and caught a nice 15 inch smallie on a yellow twister jig. In 20 ft of water on the west shore just north of the Skaneatles Marina launch. I will definetly try the southern end next time.

[rusty1034]

I'm pretty sure the smallies need to be 12 " to keep now. The reg was changed a few years ago.

Rusty

[thejigger]

Thanks for the correction Rusty, that would have been a good one to try to explain! I noticed a Britt on your reply. Do you own one? I have a 3 year old male. He is our second Britt and I would be hard pressed to own another kind of dog. Great for upland birds and does very well on both ducks and geese. Again, thanks for the length update.