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Chimney Bluffs

Fish_Sam

Fish_Sam
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Fish_Sam

Fish_Sam

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I haven't fished the bluffs in about 30 years. From what I remember it was an ego boost for us to go there and catch fish no matter what the weather. Well.......my buddy and I got our fill of largemouths in the bay and decided, what the heck let's go get some smallies at the bluffs. Can anybody tell me where the fish went? All we saw was a whole lot of emptiness on the sonars. We fished from 5 ft to 40 ft without a single fish. We were throwing all types and sizes of plastics and the occasional crank bait...NOTHING!!! Am I wasting my time thinking the bluffs are what they used to be? 

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Sk8man

Sk8man

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Can't help but wonder if the gobies have  won the battle and like Dave and Goliath they have slayed the big boys over time by maybe eating their eggs and young? Chimney Bluffs used to be one of the best smallie places in the area and now it is an apparent wasteland.

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TrophySeeker

TrophySeeker

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They are still there, though likely not like they used to be. I will troll slowly (1.2 to 1.6) with my electric pulling medium depth cranks. I have not had any luck casting. I also have not tried senkos, which I think might be worth a shot if gobies leave them alone.

 

 

post-139599-0-87396600-1438092614_thumb.jpg

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Sk8man

Sk8man

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Nice smallie. I wonder if the bass have gone much deeper than usual to get away from the gobies? on the other hand I've also heard that the gobies are on their lunch menu :lol:

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TrophySeeker

TrophySeeker

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I'm pretty sure the smallies are eating gobies. I catch them suspended. 12-15' divers in 20-25 fow. The occasional sheepshead mixed in. The smallest smallmouth I have caught in the last 2 years is 17".

Sent from my SM-G920V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

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Fish_Sam

Fish_Sam

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I'm pretty sure the smallies are eating gobies. I catch them suspended. 12-15' divers in 20-25 fow. The occasional sheepshead mixed in. The smallest smallmouth I have caught in the last 2 years is 17".

Sent from my SM-G920V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

I am going to be at the bluffs again this Saturday, I am going to give it try your way ...Thank you! 

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  • 4 weeks later...
Fish_Sam

Fish_Sam

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Hi All, heading up to Fair Haven in a couple of weeks and am wondering how the smallie  fishing by the bluffs have been recently.

I've tried a couple of times since my original posting of this, all I can say is NOTHING!! Luckily Sodus Bay is a great confidence booster....When the smallies aint biting, go into the bay and I dare you not to catch some big a** LMB.  :hi:  :hi:  :hi:  :hi:

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tigercasp

tigercasp

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I've tried a couple of times since my original posting of this, all I can say is NOTHING!! Luckily Sodus Bay is a great confidence booster....When the smallies aint biting, go into the bay and I dare you not to catch some big a** LMB.  :hi:  :hi:  :hi:  :hi:

Thanks Fish_Sam, we usually do enjoy some LMB action in Sodus Bay, just been missing the smallies of yesteryear, dam those gobies......

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justtracytrolling

justtracytrolling

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For anyone trolling smb try going faster if they won't take it slow. A fast trolled medium diving crank can make smallies fire like a missile off the bottom. Ive had them go airborne without releasing from the board line. 2.5 to 3+ GPS speed is the range i work when looking for a reaction bite and a feeding bite seems impossible. Fished an area of cranberry a couple years ago with 6 of us pounding the water for hours without a bite...trolled the same cranks faster than we could reel them and had many doubles, a couple triples and had 4 airborne smb at the same time once. Often times we rely too much on how we used to catch fish instead of thinking outside the box. Fisheries change and we have to too....

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BSmaster

BSmaster

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If you have the option to wait for a south wind - try that.  I am guessing the fish are travelling.  A south wind may push them in.  Once they are in then any method should work.  I have a feeling the fish are out deeper.  If you have a severe itch to catch a small mouth then trek your boat down to Keuka.  Last two trips there, I got a 20 incher each time and they are not out deep either.  I took a break from the wave pool action.  You guys up on the big water probably won't even notice it.

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Fish_Sam

Fish_Sam

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Update: We went to the bluffs again yesterday. We tried trolling, jigging, cranking., etc. Not much luck until we were just sitting there chewing the fat when out of nowhere..BAM!!! My buddy got our first "memorable" smallie of the year, tipping the scales at almost 5lbs. Believe it or not, it was the lack of presentation that worked. Just sitting a tube on the bottom with no action...He pulled in another the same way except it was a swimbait just laying on the bottom. Another weird thing that happened was we boated an almost 20 inch LMB that was quite anorexic. I dont think I've ever pulled a LMB that far out in the lake...weird. 

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tigercasp

tigercasp

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Update: We went to the bluffs again yesterday. We tried trolling, jigging, cranking., etc. Not much luck until we were just sitting there chewing the fat when out of nowhere..BAM!!! My buddy got our first "memorable" smallie of the year, tipping the scales at almost 5lbs. Believe it or not, it was the lack of presentation that worked. Just sitting a tube on the bottom with no action...He pulled in another the same way except it was a swimbait just laying on the bottom. Another weird thing that happened was we boated an almost 20 inch LMB that was quite anorexic. I dont think I've ever pulled a LMB that far out in the lake...weird. 

Good to hear you hooked up with a few, what was the depth when you were chewing the fat?

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  • 2 weeks later...
Fish_Sam

Fish_Sam

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I'm pretty sure the smallies are eating gobies. I catch them suspended. 12-15' divers in 20-25 fow. The occasional sheepshead mixed in. The smallest smallmouth I have caught in the last 2 years is 17".

Sent from my SM-G920V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

We have been out the last two weeks, with some success (3 fish all over 17") so I believe trophyseeker is correct with the assumption of the gobies being eaten. The big problem here is there are just no small fish. In most cases that would be great, but where are the younger generation to keep the population going? I hope it's just a simple case of not finding them.

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Chas0218

Chas0218

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I have found where there are gobies there are bass. Take a small like #6 or #8 hook and put a piece of worm that barely covers the hook drop it to the bottom and wait. Use this setup to catch gobies, keep the ones that are 2" long or smaller use them as bait for bass. I have been catching the bass in the henerson area this way. I am catching around 10-15 fish in 4 hours of fishing I don't consider that killing them but pretty good results.

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  • 1 month later...

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