Chimney Bluffs

[Fish_Sam]

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? 

[Willysrod]

DITTO, same at Mexico Bay Last week, no bait, no fish, 2 gobies took jig/minnow

[Has Been]

Welcome to the club

[Fish_Sam]

We tried again today until the rain came, are there smallies anywhere now-a-days ??????????????         The bite for LMB in Sodus was pretty good today, so that saved the day!!

[Sk8man]

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.

[TrophySeeker]

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.

 

 

[Sk8man]

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

[TrophySeeker]

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".

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[Fish_Sam]

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".

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

[Swingingflies]

I fished the Bluffs yesterday. I saw some rises around noon when I arrived. Threw some crank baits & got two then it shut off fast & went into the bay. Caught another in 16 FOW

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[tigercasp]

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.

[Fish_Sam]

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.       

[tigercasp]

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.       

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

[Fish_Sam]

 just been missing the smallies of yesteryear, dam those gobies.

ain't that the truth!!

[justtracytrolling]

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....

[BSmaster]

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.

[jespy]

When you troll for the bass how deep of water do you work?

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[Fish_Sam]

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. 

[jespy]

That's great to hear congratulations! How deep were you guys fishing?

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[tigercasp]

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?

[Fish_Sam]

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

24-30 ft is where they were. Nothing but goby hits before 24ft!

[Fish_Sam]

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".

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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.

[Chas0218]

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.

[TrophySeeker]

Umm, are you sure you want to post that on a public web-site?

 

From: http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/47282.html

 

Restricted Baitfish Species

Carp, goldfish, lamprey larvae, round goby, as well as species listed as endangered or threatened in New York State may not be used for bait.

[john1947]

Had good luck on smaller black senkos this summer,west wind days were best