Braddock Bay Pike - what am I doing wrong?

[dkalweit]

Hi. Last year, I bought a boat and got a slip in Braddock Bay and fished it for the first time(I fished the Finger Lakes, Sodus Bay, and Lake Ontario primarily before).. The first few weeks or more(fishing 2-3 times per week), I had no luck. Finally, my buddy and I found we could catch a few pike in Salmon Creek and near the parkway bridge at the edge of the water hole there. Later in the season, that didn't work anymore for us-- even though we saw other fishermen in boats right next to us pulling in fish after fish... When asked how many, I recall one fisherman saying he already caught 40 pike that day-- and they came out after us... we still don't know what they did differently...

This year, I thought things might reset, but when we went out Saturday morning, there were half a dozen boats around us, and I saw most of them pulling in fish after fish... This time near the tree on the north/west side of the mouth heading out to the lake. No one in my boat caught a thing, and only one of us even got a strike...

So, we're wondering what we're doing wrong? I've had thoughts that it might be scent-related, so I got some fish attractant stuff at Walmart to try to mask any smells that I might inadvertently put on my lures(reading online, this seems to be the only legitimate use for these 'attractants'; masking versus attracting). I don't have high hopes that is the cause, and generally would love to hear any suggestions-- general pike/walleye/bass suggestions are welcome, and even better if they're Braddock Bay specific.

For those that aren't aware, Braddock Bay is a very shallow bay off Lake Ontario west of Rochester, NY. Most of the bay is 4-5' deep, with one hole that I know of that goes down to about 10'. There's lots of weeds(on the surface or about 1-2' down), which makes fishing in much of the bay very difficult to say the least-- which is why I generally try to fish the holes(generally near the weed edge, as much as I can see)....most other people do too, from what I've seen...

Any tips/suggestions/etc. are very welcome. Thank you.

[fisherman777]

My friends and I have been hammering them the last couple weekends in the creeks out of braddocks. They are there, you just have to keep at it. Its most likely not your smell on the lures that's preventing you from catching Pike because they are more of an "ambush" type predator. I have my best luck on mepps aglia #5's, big spinnerbaits, x-raps, and rattletraps in open water. As the water warms up, don't be afraid to retrieve lures a little faster and more aggressively. Keep experimenting and you will eventually catch fish. Also, how late are you getting out? In my experience, Pike seem to be really turned on early in the morning and later in the afternoon towards sunset. Once the sun gets high they are more difficult to catch but still possible (they just move to different areas). Consider trying live minnows under a float as well; some of my best days ever happened because we couldn't get a bite on artificials so we switched to minnows. Good Luck!

[Consigliere]

Rig some spoons up with single hooks and fish them different speeds over top and through the weeds. If they are there, which apparently they are, you'll get bit many times. The bigger ones are probably roaming the edges more but there will be tons of fish totally buried in the weeds that will smoke your spoon as it touches the tops. Single hooks are key to keeping weeds off and are also way better for releasing fish.

[panfisher]

Try weedles spoons; I particularly like Johnson's Silver Minnow with a piece of Uncle Josh Fly Strip pork rind (really old school and really effective; and for the largemouths too). Or any other weedless spoon. Soft plastic worms of various types (simple Cremes or Senko's or ANYTHING long and wiggly) rigged with weedless hook (1) and no or very, very light weight (splitshot.....). Seems 2 me that often, besides chrome or silver, pike or pickerel are attracted to anything with some or all orange color to it, with maybe yellow another good color (yellow frog pattern or perch). And if you are really targeting the Esocidae, U might want to invest in braided wire leader; they are thinner and lighter than the steel ones, to keep from losing some of the good ones. Seems I have caught plenty without these leaders, including some to near 10lbs (not in Braddocks), but I've had some break off and wondered that I should have one on in front of the bait.....

[Consigliere]

40-130lb fluoro leader I find is best for pike. Won't kink like wire and is easy to tell when you need to change because you can feel the nicks. Can rig any spoon to be weedless if you use single hooks and attach a plastic to the hook in a weedless rig.

[dkalweit]

My friends and I have been hammering them the last couple weekends in the creeks out of braddocks. They are there, you just have to keep at it. Its most likely not your smell on the lures that's preventing you from catching Pike because they are more of an "ambush" type predator. I have my best luck on mepps aglia #5's, big spinnerbaits, x-raps, and rattletraps in open water. As the water warms up, don't be afraid to retrieve lures a little faster and more aggressively. Keep experimenting and you will eventually catch fish. Also, how late are you getting out? In my experience, Pike seem to be really turned on early in the morning and later in the afternoon towards sunset. Once the sun gets high they are more difficult to catch but still possible (they just move to different areas). Consider trying live minnows under a float as well; some of my best days ever happened because we couldn't get a bite on artificials so we switched to minnows. Good Luck!

I generally try to avoid mid-day fishing, unless I'm wanting to get away from work, and then I throw a few casts during lunchtime(rarely catching anything; usually I have another reason to go to the boat as well).

Saturday, we got out about 5:20a, and ended up quitting about 7:30a as we had projects to work on at home(I put up a fence in the heat this past weekend).

Where do you get minnows around Braddock's? Does the bait shop near Docksiders carry them? I'm not generally a big fan of using live bait, but I may give it a try...

Also, I catch a ton of weeds in Braddocks whenever I use divers/rattletraps/etc...

Rig some spoons up with single hooks and fish them different speeds over top and through the weeds. If they are there, which apparently they are, you'll get bit many times. The bigger ones are probably roaming the edges more but there will be tons of fish totally buried in the weeds that will smoke your spoon as it touches the tops. Single hooks are key to keeping weeds off and are also way better for releasing fish.

Single hook, eh? What size hook for a 2/5oz Eppinger Daredevle Imp, do you think? It comes with dual hook, but I still often get weeds...

Try weedles spoons; I particularly like Johnson's Silver Minnow with a piece of Uncle Josh Fly Strip pork rind (really old school and really effective; and for the largemouths too). Or any other weedless spoon. Soft plastic worms of various types (simple Cremes or Senko's or ANYTHING long and wiggly) rigged with weedless hook (1) and no or very, very light weight (splitshot.....). Seems 2 me that often, besides chrome or silver, pike or pickerel are attracted to anything with some or all orange color to it, with maybe yellow another good color (yellow frog pattern or perch).

I'll have to check out that Johnson's Silver Minnow... It appears to have a soldered hook, which may work much better than the dangling kind...

And if you are really targeting the Esocidae, U might want to invest in braided wire leader; they are thinner and lighter than the steel ones, to keep from losing some of the good ones. Seems I have caught plenty without these leaders, including some to near 10lbs (not in Braddocks), but I've had some break off and wondered that I should have one on in front of the bait.....

Braided wire leader? I was thinking of trying a Flourocarbon leader, based on this article:

http://www.ontariofishing.net/news/dec2006-2.html

I was thinking the cheap steel leaders I'm using may be spooking the fish too much, and the leader itself seems to catch on the weeds even if my lure doesn't... My current primary casting rod/real has Firewire on it(6-10lb test; I can't remember which), but I tied on a monofilament leader last year, and that seemed to help... In fact, at one time when my line was cut by something and I didn't put a mono leader on it right away, I lost at least 1-2 fish that struck right next to the boat when I wasn't expecting it-- I figured it was due to the lack of stretch from the mono....maybe I should check my drag a bit more often as well...

40-130lb fluoro leader I find is best for pike. Won't kink like wire and is easy to tell when you need to change because you can feel the nicks. Can rig any spoon to be weedless if you use single hooks and attach a plastic to the hook in a weedless rig.

This post came in as I was writing the above-- as you can read above, I already stumbled on the flouro leader... I'll have to see about rigging one up.

Thanks.

[fisherman777]

The corner store near Cranberry pond has minnows now. Its on East Manitou road past the marina. I don't know if the shop next to docksiders has them.

[Deaf Fisherman]

I don't know what you did wrong with it. It happens sometimes.

However, I almost never basically use any kind of leader for pikes. Big spinner/flukes/popper/live minnows is better tied directly with main line. But spoon and rapala is better off with small swivel to snap on lure from line (no leader). It worked for me well lately. My catch rates seem gaining more better than before.

Only two thing for me to target pikes, I left my drag little loose than normal that I put drag pressure on bass fishing. My hand is only play major factor to control the drag to slow it down and let pike run one or two times to worn out. Also, when fish strike, I put hand on spool to ensure my strike is strong enough to embedded the hook into pike's mouth. After that, you are pretty in control on pike's battle.

Secondly, pay attention to how you reel motion, slow-fast receive. You want to put your lures just surface from weeds. This is require lot of skills and patience. your evidence will pay off with tons of hits. However, this is not only reason, pay attention to your lure motion if it give more action or not. I found many spoons that refuse give any kind of action if reeled slow.. I found couple of it and worked so great for me!

I guess, this probably help you little or not.

[panfisher]

Also, when U see those folks who are reeling them in while u r getting skunked, be bold, not shy, about picking their brains for tips. Your situation will probably b obvious... Most people will be glad to share some info with you if you ask for it. Unless they are just meat fisherman (actually commercial guys going to sell them to some customers) what's the worst they are going to do ...tell you to get lost??? Mostly not, I think. Go ahead and talk to them while they are fishing (for a short time!). Chances are they will help you. If not, move on...

[BP Swing]

Forget about livebait too much hassle and too slow a search process. Try spinnerbaits, suspending stickbaits and spoons. If Pike are in the mood, they will hit but you may need to experiment with speed, color and size. Calm days are tough as Pike Love wind. Usually they hit better around 8-11 AM and then 4-7 PM. I have found that real early is not as good as 8-11 AM range. Try the skinniest invisible metal leaders you can find and dont forget to release the big gals.

[Vettman]

I agree with and second everything Corey has said, I have fished braddock bay for many many years with much success

[dkalweit]

Forget about livebait too much hassle and too slow a search process. Try spinnerbaits, suspending stickbaits and spoons. If Pike are in the mood, they will hit but you may need to experiment with speed, color and size. Calm days are tough as Pike Love wind. Usually they hit better around 8-11 AM and then 4-7 PM. I have found that real early is not as good as 8-11 AM range. Try the skinniest invisible metal leaders you can find and dont forget to release the big gals.

Thanks for that tip-- we've been getting out early, and have actually quit before 8am, as we get demotivated and don't want to waste the whole day caching no fish-- knowing that 8-11 is more of a hot time than 5-8 is good to know... And thinking back, I do seem to recall having more action later versus earlier, except for a few bass I caught very early last year...

We also had more luck in the evening-- and that was usually in the 5-8 timeframe, so that would also coincide with what you're saying... We actually went out for about 10min a few weeks ago when we first got the boat in the water, and I ended up catching a 21" walleye-- I didn't even now there were walleyes in Braddock Bay! So maybe we're partially targeting the wrong time..

Thanks.

[dkalweit]

So this past Saturday, my buddy and I went out about 5:20am, again. We first were going to try near the tree where we saw people catching them last week, but the waves/swells were a bit more than we wanted to deal with, so we went to the hole near the Parkway bridge... No action on the lures, but we saw a good # of fish surfacing-- particularly when I used ratl-trap type lures that made noise...must be scaring the fish up.

When we didn't catch anything there, we moved further up Salmon Creek, and near the bend halfway to the baitshop, I was casting a 5-of-Diamonds yellow Imp. I got a hit, and thought it was a small pike. I was reeling in, convinced it was a small pike, and when the fish saw the boat, it ran and fought very hard-- hardest fighting fish I've had in a while... I saw a flash and knew it wasn't a pike-- way too chunky... Eventually got it netted after a good fight, and it ended up being a nice sized catfish... I couldn't find a scale or measuring tape, but here's a picture:

No other action all morning, and I didn't actually see another boater out all morning either-- even though it wasn't raining like the weathermen had forecast...

[panfisher]

Sweet! depending on how big whoever holding the fish is I'd say a nice 3-5lb channel cat....

[dkalweit]

Sweet! depending on how big whoever holding the fish is I'd say a nice 3-5lb channel cat....

Yep, I was guessing 4-5lb.

That's the second channel catfish I've caught in my life-- both on lures... The other was a 7.5lb channel cat on a spinner while trolling!

--

Derek

[panfisher]

Yep. picked them up more than once trolling in Seneca for whatever on trolling spoons and in the St Lawrence casting for largemouths and smallies in the International Rift on natural silver countdown Rapalas. Great fighters, like largemouths that don't give up; and can get to a good size, too.

[dkalweit]

OK, so my buddy and I went out yesterday evening. I tried the ratl traps, shad raps, etc. that people have suggested, but nothing... My buddy was just using a yellow 5-of-Diamonds Daredevl Imp 2/5oz spoon, and he caught 3 pike and an alewife(!!!)... Right next to me, and I tried everything else, and the 5-of-Diamonds myself for 60-70% of the time... It makes me think something must be wrong with my technique... He has this rather stiff bait casting rod he's using, and I'm just using my trusty 14-year-old 7' Uglystick... Both of us were using braid. He was using a steel leader, and I was using fluorocarbon, but I switch to steel halfway through...

He said he was varying his retrieve a lot-- casting and making a lot of 'noise' when it first got into the water, jerking it and rippling the surface...then varying between very slow, speeding up, and stopping... I tried the same, but it didn't seem to work for me... I couldn't disturb the surface when the spoon first got into the water as well as he could, as his rod had a firmer tip than mine-- my tip just absorbed it much of the time...

I've never been a believer in gear(rods/reels) having that big of an affect on catching fish-- I've caught plenty on my trusty older gear...as did my Grandfather and my father.. In fact, even the braid on my reel is at least 10 years old. I bought new braid to put on it, but the old stuff seems to work just fine... My buddy's braid was green versus my smoke color, and I'm sure the brands are different....but that can't matter much, eh?

Maybe the rod/reel and old braid does have something to do with it? Or maybe I'm just too damn unlucky lately?

[cripples]

this is fail proof. Get out and be at your chosen starting spot just before sunrise this is a 1/2 -3/4 hour period before the sun breaks the horizon. Throw white spinner baits, all white or with some yellow/chartruese Try all different directions not just shoreline. The are some reletively deep 6 - 8 feet holes in the salmon creek part of Braddock's, concentrate on those areas. I gaurantee you will get a few. Forget the wire leader with a spinner bait. I normally don't give up spots, but this is the worst kept secret in Monroe county. Everyone throws white spinner baits at Braddock's

[dkalweit]

I threw a white spinnerbait last night, and almost every cast I had fish following and even banging their head sideways into the lure-- but not a one actually took it... It looks like a bunch of perch... I caught a few pike on spinnerbaits with Colorado blades last year-- then it turned off in the fall, and I still haven't caught any with them this year either...although I do keep trying.

Thanks for the tip.

[cripples]

I use willow blades. Those were probably small pike who were short striking, You can add a trailer hook. With spinnerbaits you definitely get some hits where they don't get the hook.

[panfisher]

dekalweit....my biggest Northern ever came on a 3/4 oz Daredevil spoon with 2 trailer spoonlets on either side of the treble. Color was yellow frog (yellow w/black spots) & a background scale finish to it. It was from shore in Clayton on the St. Lawrence in September. Clear water though with rocky bottom and a few weeds. Close to shore near the end of the retrieve. Not conditions at all like Braddocks, but the yellow pattern is what produced. And yellow or orange has worked many times for me with Esocidae. If cripples says white with fast spinning blades does the trick there, go with it.This may resemble the alewifes... a fav food for many fish. And do pick up another "faster" (stiffer) action tipped pole. The Uglys all have a "slow" (soft) action tip in all except the bigger (big rods) sizes. A faster action will give U more ability to control what the lure is doing during the cast AND the retrieve.....