Canal walleyes

[Tg8]

Second trip in a row I caught eyes. Launched in fairport. Pulled 4 in one was 18" sent them all back. What a blast that was. All on black grub, 1/4oz jig.

[Jeffrey Meyer]

Can you take a picture of your line setup? Were you casting or trolling? Thx

[bondouley]

Can you take a picture of your line setup? Were you casting or trolling? Thx

just tie on a 4 inch white or black mister twister.  we use to catch alot of walleyes casting with mister twisters in the canal under long pond bridge on the border of gates and greece.  first light and last light

[Tg8]

Just casting, attached is an image, the two on the left.

[justtracytrolling]

2.5 to 3 inch gulp emerald shiner on jig is my favorite other than maybe a nightwalker.

Justin

Sent from my N9500 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Tg8]

Thx for the tip jtrolling. I have yet to try gulp products.

[breeders919]

We live very close the the Ayrault road ramp(fairport) with our dock near the oxbow, we do very well on the walleye and pike trolling near the rocks with red crankbaits.

[justtracytrolling]

The trick once you have some gulp is too marinade your twisters in the gulp juice with the gulp. Curl tails are cheaper. You can buy just the gulp concentrate. Brandon Palinuk used this to win on lake O on smb. We have been doing this for eyes in the river for 3 seasons, and in the surf for fluke for a decade or close. The juice really helps draw em in, but what it really does is makes the walleye hold the jig longer for easy hook sets.

Justin

Sent from my N9500 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[justtracytrolling]

We live very close the the Ayrault road ramp(fairport) with our dock near the oxbow, we do very well on the walleye and pike trolling near the rocks with red crankbaits.

If there is enough depth and snags arent an issue crankbaits will take more big fish than a jig imo and you can cover a ton of water! Of course im biased as i love to troll.

Justin

Sent from my N9500 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Tg8]

Thanks for the gulp marinade tip. Caught 3 more tonite and 3 crappies, one nice crappie too. I am catching them all under bridges.

[justtracytrolling]

Nice report and nice catch.....bridges make shadows on the water that predators use to hide in the current and wait for something to drift by.  With the walleyes ability to feed in the dark, shadows are key areas to target.  If any of the bridges have lights nearby this is even a better spot.  Prey tends to still be active after dark if there is good moonlight, twilight, or artificial lights.  What kind of size eyes are you getting into?  If you struggle to get into bigger fish, but believe they are there try bigger baits.  Ive seen 19-20 inch eyes take a F18 Rapala.

justin

[Tg8]

I am using a 1/4oz jig with a 3" watermelon black pepper kinami. I am not sure there are much bigger eyes in this part of the canal. All the bass are stunted 10" . Lots of rock bass. I caught two small crappie and one nice one though. The eyes I'm catching are 14"-19". I am seeing some large hooks on the finder. Perhaps these eyes are the top predator in this area. I don't have much of a stickbait selection, but I'll try something larger. Thq for the advice.

[Tg8]

Only 1 18" er tonite, I did throw a bigger bait for a few casts though. The one I caught took it as I inched it down the shelf and pulled it across the bottom. I love the braid backer with fluorocarbon leader, it's amazing how much you can feel on those canal walls.

[justtracytrolling]

Im a big braid fan myself. Ive been on braid for 12 years and on the rare occasion I use flouro or mono I cant feel a darn thing! Trolling I use a barrel swivel and casting I use a double Albright to attach my leader. I just tried the new Nanofil and the jury is still out, but so far I like it a just a bit more than the powerpro. I tried the powerpro slick8 and its amazing to fish but frays up too quickly as much as I fish.

justin

[Tg8]

I just tried the super slick 8, I agree with you it's just ok. I think I like my powerpro moss better. I use the pline copolymer, for my leader, which I find is some of the thinnest and strongest plastic line. I hauled in a big brown on it once way back when Russell station had a nice flow. The pline six lb test is really small but super strong. I found the pros used the pline back when I coangled on the flw trail.

[justtracytrolling]

I used the P line copolymer when I ran out of seaguar invizx this spring and had a slow trip. Coincidently next time out my seaguar order came in and I had a great trip so I never switched again. I use 15lb for spring and fall and 20lb all summer when im trolling faster and getting more tigers. I use the 6 or 8 depending on water level in the susquehanna. Can you share some of the coangling experience? Ive thought of doing it to learn from the pros.

justin

[panfisher]

I have lived close to the canal for many years. The 'eyes, smallies, largemouths and northerns all like jigs, Rapalas (countdowns, shadraps, flatraps, fatraps, orignals, huskies, almost anything Rapala makes), and swimbaits about equally as well.....It's a fairly good fishery for warmwater types. I've had seriously BUSTIN' smallies and walleyes hit these offerings in bunches, Sometimes the water is so warm the fish feel like they have been taken from a hot bath! .... But it does not seem to slow down the smallies at all, with jumps a good five to six feet straight up that just blow U away ....! Not big numbers, but good quality fish and not having to spend a lot of time (2-3 hrs in the evening or similar), if you spend the time to find where they generally hang. Makes for easy fun fishing if you're local, have a boat (not absolutely required but makes getting to most areas easier), and don't have the big hours at your disposal. But I guess that would be true for anybody living close to a good fishery here in New York, as many fortunately do ...

Edited October 12, 2013 by panfisher

[Tg8]

Another two eyes tonite. And a nice 1.5-2lb smallie. My largest in the canal this year. They hit hard for 15 min then gone, water clarity is pretty good. They look healthy, good enough to eat nice thick bellies. I'll see them again. When they drain the canal I wonder if any get caught and don't make their way back to where ever it drains to. If I am catching consistent 19" ers they must be making it back to safety.

[Sk8man]

My hunch is that many if not most of the fish may  "winter over" in the various wide water areas of the canal system (e.g. near Newark etc.)

[Xxx]

My hunch is that many if not most of the fish may  "winter over" in the various wide water areas of the canal system (e.g. near Newark etc.)

What canal system are you guys talking about?  just curious

[Sk8man]

The Barge (Erie) Canal system and more specifically the section of it near Newark/ Palmyra/Macedon

[BSmaster]

Pap = Erie Canal  - East of Rochester.

 

Joe

[Xxx]

The Barge (Erie) Canal system and more specifically the section of it near Newark/ Palmyra/Macedon

Thanks, I see it's about 18 miles to the lake Ontario, I was hoping it was closer to Oneida for his sake, but being that close to Fair Haven is a big plus, being able to fish the break wall, has to be nice for the kings and steel, browns, lots of places to fish. Very nice place, from what I see.

[panfisher]

The Erie Canal (barge canal) gets its fish residents from waters that it connects with all along its 363 miles. From Lake Erie to the Hudson River there are many rivers, creeks, streams, ponds and lakes which the canal bisects, including some of the Finger Lakes via of connecting canals. Fish that are naturally moving in these various waters will pick up on the canal when it is flooded every spring, starting, I believe, from lake Erie eastward..(?) It is drained every fall using the locks. But because of the many bisecting waterways and some aforementioned wide water areas which form "lakes" as part of the canal itself, fish can find their way to safe waters at the time of draw down. Since it was originally opened in the early 1800's, me thinks fish have been gravitating to it with regularity for many many generations. Fish are affected by the same "build it and they will come" attitude as we are. I imagine its a rite of spring now for many of the piscatorial denizens in the region, plus any wayward and wandering newbies that find themselves in it.....and find it likeable ....

[Xxx]

The Erie Canal (barge canal) gets its fish residents from waters that it connects with all along its 363 miles. From Lake Erie to the Hudson River there are many rivers, creeks, streams, ponds and lakes which the canal bisects, including some of the Finger Lakes via of connecting canals. Fish that are naturally moving in these various waters will pick up on the canal when it is flooded every spring, starting, I believe, from lake Erie eastward..(?) It is drained every fall using the locks. But because of the many bisecting waterways and some aforementioned wide water areas which form "lakes" as part of the canal itself, fish can find their way to safe waters at the time of draw down. Since it was originally opened in the early 1800's, me thinks fish have been gravitating to it with regularity for many many generations. Fish are affected by the same "build it and they will come" attitude as we are. I imagine its a rite of spring now for many of the piscatorial denizens in the region, plus any wayward and wandering newbies that find themselves in it.....and find it likeable ....

Very interesting to say the least, that lets you target many different species, Once you figure out what's where and when?