Legacy @ Sandy Creek

[Legacy]

Crazy late report…

 

On Wednesday…

 Sandy Creek experienced something that no resident had seen on their years of living on the creek. A severe alewife die off. Not on the Shores of Lake O but actually in the creek . Words cannot explain the number of alewives seen in the today. Tens of thousands of alewives. Alive, dead, or half dead. For the few that had a chance to see it… it was quite a sight.

 

 

On Thursday…

I haven’t seen much of the home water since fishing the WHI the week before so on Thursday I headed out on a mid morning scouting mission for an hour or so to check water. I had high hopes of finally getting off the shoreline but to my disappointment, I was met with nothing other then clean and cold 42 degree water everywhere. 10 fow to 90 fow. Yuk. With heavy rain on the way, hopefully it would change that.

 

 

On Friday…

The heavy rain finally gave us a break at 930 and we left the dock at 10. The lack of any good colored watered led to a tough bite throughout our midday trip. We fished east and stuck on the edge of the mud water in the stained water which was around 44-45 degrees. We worked for our fish and ground out 10 bites with mix of Browns, Steel, and one small King. Typical skinny water set w/ DW ss and a mix of sticks off boards, riggers, and slide divers. Probably the toughest water we have had to fish all year but we did watch the water get better as the day led on. Every seagull in New York might have been in front of the harbor gorging themselves on bait. The true highlight was the number of Bald Eagles on the shoreline just east of port. We got to enjoy a mix of both mature and immature Bald Eagles feasting on the alewives in the creek plume. Pretty incredible to see and probably an experience of a lifetime.

 

 

 

On Sunday…

With all the rain and west wind for a couple of days, I was anticipating a good day and we got it. We fished east of port and outside the mud line but inside the clean water in 25-35 fow in the slighly stained water which was a decent 46-48 degrees. 18 bites total for us with a big class of Browns, a couple of Steelhead, 1 Laker, and 5 Kings all in on the action. Today we changed up our set and we fished 2 large sticks off the boards and everything else (short divers, riggers, boards, leadcore) was loaded with Stinger Stingrays (NBK, Gator, black/silver, goby).

 

[The Scottsman]

Crazy seeing all those alewife's. Saturday was a good day for us as we'll. We to tried offshore to see what we could find. Nothing. We moved in and worked the mud line 8-15 fow. Sticks off the boards in the typical yellow and orange. Front of the creek was hot. We boated 13 total. Shook a bunch off as well. A couple of steelhead and a coho were in the mix. We doubled up and even tripled a few times. I'm thinking the offshore bite will kick in very soon. Good time getting into the browns though.

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[Xxx]

Excellent report Legacy!! I never actually saw a live alewives, wow they are big, no wonder those kings grow like weeds, and it gives one a idea of what and why certain colors work. Thanks for the picc.

[Get The Net]

Rob, Great report.  The browns were active in close as well.  Upon pulling rods we stepped out into 30 ft and had a major rip off the rigger 20 ft down.  We fought it for a while then lost it     I took the boys out last night and the shoreline had decent color but not as good as Sunday. It was a tough bite. The bait was in heavy again.  A few of the browns were spitting up alewives as we were netting them.  My boys were having fun catching the alewives by hand off the dock!!  WTF..... 

[FX]

Nice report Rob! Good shoot in!

Shawn

[Mortigan]

Rob, Great report.  The browns were active in close as well.  Upon pulling rods we stepped out into 30 ft and had a major rip off the rigger 20 ft down.  We fought it for a while then lost it     I took the boys out last night and the shoreline had decent color but not as good as Sunday. It was a tough bite. The bait was in heavy again.  A few of the browns were spitting up alewives as we were netting them.  My boys were having fun catching the alewives by hand off the dock!!  WTF..... 

 

Ever consider grabbing a season's worth, brining and  freezing them?

[jacobj12k]

Alewives were thick Sat. & Sun morning on the lake shore at Maxwell Creek as well.  I've never had worse luck losing fish after fighting them for a while.  I lost countless fish Saturday with one 10 minute fight with a nice brown ending only twenty feet from shore where my son was going to net it for me.  Sunday I had less bites, but saw a ton of top water action with the alewife buffet.

 

Being new to NY I am not fully read up on the DEC regulations or I would have done as Mortigan suggested and brought a bunch home for the freezer and used them under a float.

 

Sure wish I had access to a boat so I could follow the fish as they move away from shore.  It's been fun catching my first and several more trout this winter/spring.  Now I need to check some salmon off my list.  AND bigger trout, 8 1/2 lbs is best I've landed and weighed.

[Legacy]

Ever consider grabbing a season's worth, brining and  freezing them?

 

What do you think the bucket of bait is for???

[Missdemeanor]

Thaaaas right!!!!!

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[Mortigan]

That's what I was wondering. Figured Lou could have put the boys to work ..

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[The Scottsman]

Yep, we filled the freezer.

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[GAMBLER]

I don't think they would taste good cooked like fried smelt! 

[Get The Net]

Hey Times are tough.  My kids need to learn to appreciate the food they are offered..( or forced to eat!)  

[Legacy]

Smelt dinner at my house!!!

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