First time of the year for Bass in NY

Baron49 · June 06, 2011, 09:21:12 AM

Decided to take a trip down to Oswego county where they have an early catch and release season. Launched at Sandy Pond and could not believe all the bass boats on the water. Tried to fish one little pad field at the south end of the pond and had 6 bassboats merge on the same small field all within casting distance of each other. There were small bass in there and they were hitting a variety of baits from buzz frogs, flukes, and jig and pigs.

Being one that does not like fishing in a crowd I left for some less busy water and found bass in about 3 to 5 foot of water in scattered dollar pads mixed with milfoil. Used a buzz frog most of the time and when a fish missed the frog threw a wacky rigged senko as a follow up and caught some of the short strikers. Most of the fish were small males in the 2 lb class. Tried a 5 inch soft swimbait looking for bigger fish and still caught the smaller fish. Water temps were in the low 60's in the morning and got to about 67 degrees by mid afternoon. There was a lot of wind, very overcast day and the water was choppy, did not see a lot of beds and due to this being my first trip out not sure what stage the bass are in. In fishing this area for 40+ years I am assuming that the spawn is already over for the most part.

yar · June 08, 2011, 11:02:05 PM

glad to hear you got out and caught a few, i know what you mean about hate fishing in the crowds. i always look for water away from everybody. our season just open down here on the island and we had our first tx. not bad my partner and i won with 5 lrgmth weighting 7lbs(not what we thought we get, looking for bigger) but a win is a win. we had the only 5 fish limit. just happy to be able to bring some rods to work and cast a few in the local ponds(lol).
ray

Donald Garner · June 09, 2011, 03:39:53 AM

Baron,

Thanks for sharing the trip with us.

Baron49 · June 09, 2011, 08:42:33 AM

Ray,

Congratulations on the win. A "W" in the win column does not know how big or how small the weights were. Keep us up to date on how the fishing is down on Long Island. I have never fished out there and we have had people ask about fishing conditions.

Thanks for posting,

Baron

yar · June 09, 2011, 10:47:48 PM

Baron, thanks. the reason I'm kinda bummed is that the lake we fished does have some pigs in it. and this is always our first LI TX of the yr, and we usually get one or two pig on the scale. you can check it out on the club portion of this forum. i put our club Twin Forks Rod and Reel on this site.

Baron49 · June 12, 2011, 08:07:57 AM

Yar,

I think all the cold weather and lots of rain has effected the fishing. Several friends of mine are saying the same thing. They are finding lots of small fish, but no really big ones. I hit all the normal big fish spots for this time of the year my trip out and best i could get was a 2 1/2 lber. So you are not alone.

What lakes are you fishing down there on Long Island?

Baron

yar · June 12, 2011, 10:40:39 AM

baron,
on the island we fish lake Ronkonkoma, FT. Pond and uppermills(part of the peconic river system). when we go upstate these are some of the lakes we hit, Whaley lake, Oscawana,White Pond. and when we do CT it's Squants Pond(great smallie action,a club fav). and NJ this yr it's cranberry lk, swartswood, and we are doing a 2-day classic in NJ this yr. at this time don't know what lakes we are doing still looking(lol).
remember our club is mainly a electric boats(14-16ft) but some do have gas motors for them and we do have few big bass rigs to. we make sure when we fish the gas lakes it not so big that the electric motors are at a disavantage.

Baron49 · June 13, 2011, 08:32:25 AM

Sounds very interesting. Don't hesitate to post how you handle tournaments where you have all kind of boats competing. I think it is a great idea to have electric boats in the mix and it obviously gives more people the chance to fish in a bass tournament without spending $50,000+ for a big fancy bass rig.

Also would be very interested in knowing how the guys in the electic boats do against the gas boats?

yar · June 13, 2011, 06:22:01 PM

it's funny, for many yrs i only had a 16ft alumacraft jon that was deck out and had a 25hp for when i was on the bigger lakes. and i always did great(some wins and top ten's). i think when you have a smaller boat(electric) you soak an area longer and find more things to fish. as with a big boat you tend to run alot more because you can(lol). your to busy feeling the wind in your hair. but i would love to get a big boat next yr as i'm boatless right now, soild it to a club member and put new windows in the house(lol). got some brownie points

.

Baron49 · June 14, 2011, 10:23:16 AM

I can remember back to the 1st boat I ever owned. A 10 foot pram! I used to row out a small creek into a huge marsh to fish for largemouths. Loved the peace and quiet and enjoyed taking the time to fish an area completely. Over the past 40+ years I have gone from small boats to big ones and now settled on an 18 foot Walleye style PolarKraft aluminum boat with a Merc 150. It can handle big waters and small, trailers easily and I have few problems with this rig.

yar · June 15, 2011, 06:39:52 AM

i know , i could dump the alumacraft in any water i could get in on. now when I'm ready to by a boat next yr i have a problem. first i would love to get a big boat,but here on the island no gas motors. i have to drive about 2hrs to get to a gas lake which is over the bridges(lol). that doesn't make a difference, i do that know to fish TX. but i do have (2) small kids,9 & 7. so I'm thinking on getting a used tracker with a 25hp for a few yrs till they get older, that way i can still put in on the lakes & ponds here on the island(have to bag the motor) and still can fish the gas lakes upstate.

Baron49 · June 15, 2011, 10:59:02 AM

I am orginally from PA and some of the lakes down there do not allow gas motors either. However they will allow you on the water with a big boat if you remove the prop from the gas motor. What are the rules on Long Island when it comes to a boat with a gas motor of any size on it?

yar · June 15, 2011, 10:45:51 PM

basically you have to bag them. but you still get a hassle when you do that sometimes. the lakes on the island are small, biggest being lake ronkonkoma(220 acres). most of them are under 100 acres and have dirt launches. and it would be hard to launch a big rig and even harder to get it back on the trailer.

Baron49 · June 16, 2011, 01:13:49 PM

Exactly what do you mean by "Bag Them" when you are talking about the gas motors?

yar · June 18, 2011, 03:17:21 PM

you have to put a plastic garbage bag from the prop up to the head. and tie it down to show you can't use it. and they want you to remove the gas line but nobody ever does(lol). and the motor should be out of water during your day.

Baron49 · June 21, 2011, 08:39:44 AM

That is a lot of garbage bags to contain a 150 or 250 hp motor!

yar · June 21, 2011, 10:50:59 PM

yup!! but the only guy who needs to do it only has a 25hp on his Tracker. and we only really need to bag the prop & shaft.(lol)