Owasco lake - need fishing ideas

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Well, I'm headed to Owasco Lake next week (August 18-24) with the family and looking for fishing ideas. I have all kinds of gear at my disposal (including a boat set up for LO trolling), but have no idea what the lake holds for opportunity. Bass, walleye, trout, panfish? There will be individuals with 60 years of fishing experience and some with zero. I don't know how much we'll get out, but if anyone has some ideas to share, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

[rusty1034]

The lake trout fising there is usually pretty good. I've had good luck trolling black/silver spoons and stick baits at depths where I mark the fish.

Good Luck-

Rusty

[lumberjohn]

You'll find all those fish here. Where to start to point you in the right direction? Hmmmm?

Your thermocline is at about 40' this time of year. Warmwater fish wil be at or above that, cold water species at or below it.

Lake Trout - Probably somewhere btwn 60-100 fow is where you'll want your lures this time of year over 100-150 deep. 10 lbs test or about 30 foot of 10 lbs leader tied to line is all you'll need. I have good luck w/ black & purple spoons and small straight or jointed black & silver Rapalas. Silver spoons or silver w/ color is worth a try. No spoon larger than an NK-28 and don't be afraid to go smaller w/ Stingers, Evil-Eyes and the like. Run them 30-60' behing the ball. Run paralell to shore and around points. Run them at depths you see the bait fish. The north end can be very productive this time of year from Fays Pt. to Bucks Pt. on the west and over to the Yacht club to Burtis Pt. on the east side. Further south around Ensenore can be good on the west and off the Boy Scout and Girl Scout camps on the east side can be productive.

Brown Trout - You may run into them on your upper rigs or trolling anywhere in the 40-60 fow range. Spoons and stick baits will both take fish in natural colors or silver spoons and your green colors.

Rainbows - Some in there but not enough to target. If you do go with chartreuse and orange lures.

Bass - Great smallmouth fishery here running 1.5-4 lbs for the average fish. During the day they hang out just outside the weedbeds, off points and drop offs in 15-40 fow suspended and cruising. Use diving crankbaits or other lures that you can work down there. I like to drift live bait like shinners or crabs through those depths, or cast them out and let them drift down. Also look for weedbeds that end and drop off into deeper water. Cast a shinner or crab with just enough splitshot to let it sink slowly. Cast it over to the deep edge of the weedbed but not in it and let it slowly sink down into the deeper water. If you get one stick around cause there wil be a dozen more. Don't waste time casting the shallows and under docks during the day, they aren't there. This isn't Lake Ochechobee. At the crack, and I mean crack, of dawn for an hour or so and an hour or so around dusk they move up onto points and rocky flats chasing minnows and grubbing for crayfish. Then I work shallow diving crankbaits, crayfish immitations and J-11 black & silver jointed Rapalas in 2-10 fow w/ 3-5 fow being the best on average. I like to work the Rapalas just along the surface, reeling slowly so it just wobbles back and never breaks below the water. This has worked extremely well for me on this lake. You need the J-11 size to have enough weight to get some casting distance. The action can be fast and furious but only lasts about an hour. Try Martins Pt, Fays Pt, Koenig Pt, Bucks & Burtis Pts. on the northerly end or any point or rocky areas anywhere else.

Walleye - You missed the best night fishing which is June/July in shallow. Walleye here act differently than many other Eye lakes like Oneida. Here they act more pelagic like trout. They feed on the schools of Alewives mostly. Average walleye are 2-6 lbs. They hang out during the day in the same type of waters as the smallmouth but damn if you can catch them then. I have caught them at night this time of year trolling w/ downriggers along shorelines 15-35' down over 35-60 fow using stickbaits about 60' or more behind the ball. My favorite are the B&S jointed Rapalas. It's a recipe for tangles, birdsnests and getting hung up on weeds, but it can work.

Pike - They are in the lake up to 20 lbs or so but most average around 4-6. I do most my pike fishing here through the ice, but they are like pike everywhere and lurk in the weedbeds or not far from them.

Panfish - Rockbass galore with your mix of Sunnies in shallow with the Perch a little deeper at the outer edges to just outside the weedbeds this time of year. The Rockies will hit everything. Bait, flies, lures, twistertails, bubblegum, doesn't matter. There are some pretty hefty Rockies in here and they are my wifes favorite panfish. Try drifting perch minnows a foot off the bottom for the perch in 15-25 fow just where the weeds start to thin out.

Good luck out there and have fun.

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Lumberjohn/Rusty,

Thanks so much for the info! Maybe we can do some catching as well as fishing now.

Patrick