NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

[John_S]

Went out Sat AM, fished to noon. Light rain, breezy by noon, and on the cold side. No walleyes! But, the opener has always been rather sparse, here on the Susquehanna. <br /><br />On the bright side, six smallmouths. Three 16-17", nice and fat. Three 11-12", healthy ones. Probably getting ready to spawn, by the end of the month.<br /><br />Hope you did better than I did, on the NY opener.

 

[walleyehed]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

Do they have the season so it opens after the spawn is complete or before the spawn??

 

[John_S]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

The Walleye season opens post spawn. Some of the spawning rivers, that feed the Susquehanna, are off limits for all fishing, during Walleye closed season, March 15th to the first Sat in May. <br /><br />Bass opens 3rd Sat in June, and for most waters, is post spawn, too. I have occasionaly seen a few bass still on beds in late June.

 

[Ron G]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

Do'nt know nothing about wallys yet but a friend came over last night and he caught 2 over 7lbs and 4 others off the bank on the river,they call the place the sand banks,he's going to take me one day fishing for them.<br /> So theres no bass fishing up there till june?i'd go crazy.

 

[John_S]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

So theres no bass fishing up there till june?i'd go crazy.

Yes, officer, I was not fishing for bass. OK, maybe I did make a few casts into some very shallow water that walleyes, most likely, wouldn't be found. Was just fine tuniing my casting abilities with my new pole/reel. <br /><br />I believe there are a few lakes that allow bass fishing, under special lakes regs, but the general regulations, are such. NY is/was considering opening up the bass season. They may allow catch and release, during the current off season, or one fish, etc. Not sure were that proposal sits. <br /><br />PS: Your friends catch, was very good for any walleye fishing area! He is the right guy to learn from.

 

[Ron G]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

I feel for ya nothern boys,there is no seasons around here.But any trip fishing is better than a day at work

 

[walleyehed]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

John, post-spawn is a tough time, period...<br />usually about 2 weeks after the spawn is complete, the big Females start feeding heavy in shallow water...in 18-24" clarity, they can be found in 20" of water...in very clear water 4-6ft is about as shallow as they will go unless the forage base is shallower, then they WILL follow them.<br />I just got into my first real good Saugeye fishing this weekend....post spawn and verticle presentation in 6ft of clear water around the rocks. A special jighead and a crawler done the job on nearly 30 fish with some just hitting 4lbs...although most were 18-22", 2-1/2-3lbs.<br />About 12 hours of fishing to dredge that many up though, but it was fun.

 

[John_S]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

On Sunday, heading to Delta Lake, for a few days. Small res, north of Rome NY. Fishing for Northerns, Walleyes, and Bullheads. I haven't fished it in 15 years, so don't know what to expect. Hopefully the local bait store, can clue us in on where and what the walleyes have been hitting on. It is our first son-father-grandfather fishing/camping outing. Should be fun, even with the rain being perdicted.

 

[one more cast]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

John, The river on the east end of the lake in Westernville was a good spot for night bull heads. There is public parking just below the bridge. I also haven't fished Delta Lake in many years.

 

[John_S]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

OMC,<br /><br />I know where you are talking about. We use to fish the northern side of the lake, by a creek inlet. We crossed that bridge, coming from the Utica area. We were not too far from a small boat rental place, and a boat ramp. Had permission from the farmer to cross his fields.<br /><br />We have a lake side spot, at the state park, on the east side of the pinensella. We will be trying the nightly bullhead fishing, from there first. Hey, its close to the fire, food, and drinks! Will be in boat by day, unless it is raining too hard. If nothing the first night, might go try that spot you are talking about.<br /><br />PS: We had plans to spend two days fishing on sections of the Mohawk River, but the recent and expectent rain, will probably mean going to a plan B.

 

[rottenray6402]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

Sounds great! Let us know how you did when you return.

 

[rolmops]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

John,In the fingerlakes you can fish for bass all year round.This is the catch and release season.You cannot keep any bass this time of year.<br />"The In-Fisherman" did a study of bass being caught and released on spawn beds.If a lure comes close to their nests they will attack it very aggressively,but after being caught and released,only 30% return to their nests and often they find it emptied out by gobies or minnows.

 

[JAG59]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

I was also on the water for the NY 'Eye opener. Myself, my fishing partner, and his two sons (11 and 12) were on Oneida Lake. We were chased off the lake by bad weather at 10:00 AM. The public launch near Bridgeport looked like the shark chasing scene in "Jaws" except everybody was trying to get off the lake. we went back to camp and dried out. Went out Sunday. The weather was B-E-A-utiful. My partner's 12-year old caught a 19" 'Eye on a gold lure that looked like an over-sized flatfish with a diving bill. He caught it while trolling. We marked the spot with a buoy. As soon as we were about 50 yards away from it, another fisherman decided tht he wanted a free buoy so he neted it. We let him know that it was ours, but by the time he dropped it back in he was off the spot. That was our only fish. On the way back to the launch, our motor died and we had about a 3-mile row. <br />My partner took to the Whiney Point Reservoir (our homew body of water) on the 13th. He caught one 'Eye about 13 inches. He talked to another fisherman who said that he had caught about 100 since the opener and that they all were in the 12 to 13" range. Sounds like NY DEC has done a bit of stocking there.

 

[John_S]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

Back from a rather wet and cold week of fishing. But, it was better than being at work! <br /><br />Delta Lake: The Pickerel have seemed to overtaken this lake. Don't remember catching any, 20 years ago. Over two days of fishing, probably caught 50 pickerel. Only two small walleyes. Refished hard, the areas where each walleye was taken, nada. One nice crappie. Water level was high, which made fishing from our campsite hard. Got a few pickerel on minnows, and a couple of rock bass. Campsite had rocky bottom, and produced no bullheads. <br />OMC: The steel deck bridge has been replaced and gravel has filled in much of the river there. Saw a couple of cars parked, but they must have walked down stream. We didn't try fishing this area. <br /><br />Mohawk River: Fished from dam in Utica, to Dyke Road in Schuyler. I took a bass trio at the dam. One smallie, one largemouth, and a rock. Was hoping for a quad, with the white bass in the river. Most of this setion of river is slow and muddy, with steep banks and many, many trees in the water. Saw 3-4 oxbows that the carp were stirring up the bottom. Perfect catfish and carp water. Bur was extremely hard to fish with the limited tackle we brought in the canoe. Caught more smallies and walleye at the Starch Factory creek mouth. It was an interesting canoe trip, and saw some very old buildings and bridges. Also bank fished a little of the Mohawk, in the Herkimer area. Didn't get anything but looks like good smallmouth water. A number of people fishing the dam at Herkimer. One had a 30+ inch Northern. We plan to try the Schuyler to Frankfort section of the river, next year.<br /><br />Canada Lake Area (our camp): Caught some nice 20-23" pickerel. Fish were up tight to shore and cover. Most taken on soft jerk baits. It was nice to be sleeping on a bed again, instead of a foam pad and the ground. In the tent, it was like being a caveman each morning. Took a little while to walk fully upright! <br /><br />Anyway, a good trip despite the weather, and plan to do again, next year.

 

[John_S]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

FullBoat59, Whitney Point is about 45 minutes from me. Only been on the lake once. Keep me posted on how those walleyes progress.

 

[JAG59]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

John S,<br /> I've been fishing the WP res. for about 15 years. Tough to fish. It is only about 5 to 7 feet deep unless you are over the old river channel. Depth finder is a must. I haven't been there for 'eyes yet this year. Just bought another boat with a 55 hp 'Rude. Hopefully no more rowing on Oneida. Heading up there on Monday. Will keep you posted on WP.

 

[JAG59]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

Fished the Whitney Point Reservoir for a few hours Friday night in a light drizzle. Three 'eyes in the boat, ranging from 6" to 12". Where are all the big fish? Fished Oneida Lake on Memorial Day. Hotter than the Hubs-O-Hell.<br />12 hours between two guys and we put two fish in the boat. 1 smallie and 1 white perch. No eyes. Blaming the lack of fish on the weather. Strange thing is that we have caught lots of fish on sunny days up there before. Maybe the barometric pressure was too great. That plus the moon phase and the alignment of the planets, add in the recent price of gas and the cuurent flux of politics in other parts of the world must have kept the fish from bitting. Leastways, that's my story and I'm stickin' too it.

 

[John_S]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

Fullboat, I haven't done any more walleye fishing since my last report, just some pre-season largemouth, at some private ponds. My son has us signed up, for the Owego VFW catfish derby, for the coming weekend. A sleepless night on the river.

 

[JAG59]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

Sundy, June 11, fished the Otselic River just above where it forms the Whitney Point Reservoir. Caught 2 smallies (and lost a few), perch, and 3 Walleyes. The biggest 'eye was 15". Getting closer. we were fishing the edge of the deeper channel where it meets the edge flat. caught all fish on nightcrawlers. No hits on artificials. They bite on what they bite on.

 

[John_S]

Re: NY Walleye Opened Sat. Hope you did better than I

FullBoat,<br /><br />Went on the susquehanna on Tuesday. Two 17" walleyes, and over a dozen smallies. Largest was 18.5".