Syracuse.com - Anglers say walleye fishing on Oneida Lake this spring and early summer has been excellent

[HuntingNY-News]

“If you can’t catch a walleye this year on Oneida, you should probably just give up,” said Capt. Ted Dobs, of Verona Beach. Walleye fishing on Oneida Lake has just been phenomenal lately, according to Al Daher, co-owner of Mickey’s Bait and Tackle in North Syracuse, who keeps getting positive reports from customers.“The walleye fishing is so good that you can catch them on cigarette butts,” he joked earlier this week.Interviews with two local charter boat captains reinforced what Daher said.“If you can’t catch a walleye this year on Oneida, you should probably just give up,” said Capt. Ted Dobs, of Verona Beach.“It’s off the charts,” added Capt. Tony Buffa, of Bridgeport. “It’s just one of those fishing seasons that puts a lot of smiles on customers. You’ve got guys fishing for bass and catching their limits of walleye. It’s just awesome.”Buffa said deep-water trollers are catching their limits, as are the jiggers fishing in deep water and those fishing the weed edges in shallower water.“I’ve been doing this for 37 years and what we’re seeing now out there compares to what I used to experience in the 1980s and early’90s,” he said.What’s happening?“It has a lot to do with ideal conditions — temperature, availability of cover and food. Everything has come together this year,” Daher said. “The DEC hatchery is doing great work, along with the diligent efforts of the Oneida Lake Association. Let’s not leave them out of it.”Buffa said there seems to be a larger than usual number of walleye. Dobs is scratching his head.He said the years when anglers catch a lot of walleye are usually those when there are early algae blooms that lessen the water clarity and make the fish easier to catch. Also, it helps when there are not so many bait fish.This year, though, there seems to be an abundance of bait fish, and the water was relatively clear this spring.Dobs noted, though, that he’s seeing great numbers of large shad (up to three pounds), particularly around Shackleton Shoals. These are fish that survived the mild winter, and they are the size that breed. The result will be large numbers of shad fry this fall for the walleye to feast on.“My prediction, with so many shad around, is that the fall fishing may be difficult,” he said. “I’d say catch fish now while you can.”

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