Honeoye 7/14

[Tg8]

Slow night jiggin for walleyes, maybe one on. Had a small bunch of bass, a few monster bull gills. After the pop ups blew threw after 545 I thought there would have been some activity.

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[Jay Surgoine]

Slow indeed. Great meeting you tonight Tg....Hopefully the walleye will pick back up later this week.

[Sk8man]

A major factor  may be the presence of the blue-green algae in the water...it is now present and at least in my experience the fishing for most species shuts off (large mouths may be an exception). The water column gets choked with the stuff and the weed growth just amplifies and compounds the problem. I don't even bother fishing it at this time of the year anymore.

Edited July 15, 2014 by Sk8man

[Tg8]

Thx sk8. I always appreciate your thoughts.

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[zackblain]

now is the time to start drifting with spinners for walleye on honeoye

[Sk8man]

To qualify what I said above....my son and his buddy caught a 7 lb walleye slow trolling above the weeds with a worm harness yesterday (actual night crawler used) but the algae problem will be getting worse as the summer rolls on (and often coliform bacteria is often present (Ecoli from sewage) and last year it was reported (no actual verification) that a couple dogs actually ingested some water with the blue green algae and died from it.

[Jay Surgoine]

I'm going to try again tonight - will update. Worm harnesses have been effective but really a pain dodging the weeds.

[Sk8man]

You have to carefully choose where you run them and then just under the surface and experiment with speed

[Tg8]

go gettem jay:)

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[zackblain]

Troll right down the middle of the lake

[Jay Surgoine]

Ended up being really slow last night. First time getting skimmed for walleye this year. The highlight was a deer went swimming by as we were trolling in the middle of the lake. First time I've ever seen that. Just a fawn, but was swimming like a champ and made it across. Weird.

[Tg8]

Come on jay, you told me those bottom bouncers work!

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[justtracytrolling]

Troll right down the middle of the lake

While there are always walleye in the weeds especially inside edges with deep water nearby plenty of walleye suspend in the middle.  I get most of my biggest trolled walleye well off shore on Otisco.  Again thats not to say fishing weeds isnt productive, just that if the weeds are a PIA move out to the middle.  You wont mark as many fish probably, but it doesnt mean you wont catch.  

[Sk8man]

The Honeoye situation is probably a little different than other lakes like Otisco because the  average depth there is about only 15 to 18 ft (in much of the middle) with only a couple relatively small spots with 30 ft (the deepest it gets). There is a "basin" area with water in the 20's as well. The grass in summer often reaches the surface  in most places and even in the middle is often just a little below the surface. There are some stretches where the weeds don't get as high and that is where it is often productive to run harnesses (live crawlers or plastic) or casting rapala like lures after dark (the large mouths can be a pain though)

[panfisher]

The weeds have typically been a problem in Honeoye. I can remember years ago in the summer it was almost impossible to even row a rowboat well there. Anybody remember boat rentals and tackle and bait at the California Ranch? Bass and pickerel and weeds were the most common fare. After sewage lines went inn, it got a lot better. The place used to be HOT for beautiful smallies in the 80's. Blue green algae is a newer and more widespread problem. Spring and fall (Oct-first ice) are best for easy walleye fishing there as weeds die back.....just a few cents....

Edited July 17, 2014 by panfisher

[Sk8man]

I sure remember the California Ranch and having a beer and sandwich after fishing at the bar. A shame the place burned down. It was also a great place to warm up after ice fishing

[pj100h]

I also remember The Ranch. Also Kramer's bait and boat rental ( that goes way back). It was on the west side almost to the swamp at the South end. I've caught two eyes this year at Honeoye. Trolling with worms deep. Don't go out at all at night. Years ago we did a lot of jigging for them with great success. But that doesn't do it anymore. Been on that lake for 60 of my 62 years. But now if I want to catch eyes. I depend one Lake Erie

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