freshwater bass opener

[rachunter]

 i'm heading up for ten days for the upstate opener and can't wait last year was awesome. i'm still learning how to fish for them in deep water big lakes like great sacandaga lake.i'm going to bounce around this year and try a few new lakes i've been reading about like piseco and sacandaga/pleasant lake.i'd even like to give walleye fishing a try,i caught one last year pretty cool looking fish.

anyone else getting ready?

[tommyc50]

wow nice catch thats a walleye though. good luck i hope its better than the trout season we had

[grampy]

Slowly getting the boat ready. Should be good to go next week. Still not much strength in the right arm, but I'm planning to go. No tournaments this year.  Probably hit Saratoga lake first. Then the Mohawk, followed  by Sacendaga, Ballston, Thompsons and Warner Lakes. Depending how it goes, would like to do a coupke WNY lakes too. Will be good PT for the shoulder!

[Pygmy]

3 minutes ago, grampy said:

Slowly getting the boat ready. Should be good to go next week. Still not much strength in the right arm, but I'm planning to go. No tournaments this year.  Probably hit Saratoga lake first. Then the Mohawk, followed  by Sacendaga, Ballston, Thompsons and Warner Lakes. Depending how it goes, would like to do a coupke WNY lakes too. Will be good PT for the shoulder!

If you get the urge to try Keuka, give me a holler...

A little closer to you, Oneida  would be a great place for smallies...My arm is sore from catching them  the last three days...

[grampy]

19 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

If you get the urge to try Keuka, give me a holler...

A little closer to you, Oneida  would be a great place for smallies...My arm is sore from catching them  the last three days...

Spending a day fishing with you would be epic!  Will let ya know as time gets closer. There is a kid and his dad, out in Webster, I'd like to fish with too! Working hard to get this shoulder back in shape, so will be later in the summer.

Edited June 11, 2017 by grampy

[moog5050]

5 minutes ago, grampy said:

Spending a day fishing with you would be epic!  Will let ya know as time gets closer. There is a kid and his dad, out in Webster, I'd like to fish with too! Working hard to get this shoulder back in shape, so will be later in the summer.

Heal up and we will figure it out Grampy.   Water is so high, our boat still isn't in the water.  Most of the docks on Irondequoit bay are under water. 

[wolc123]

There will probably be no fishing for me on the opener, but we are heading to lake Erie for smallies on fathers day morning.   The following week, after the kids are done with school, we are heading up to the in-laws, in the Adirondacks, for more smallies, then up to the Thousand islands for yet more smallies and hopefully some big-mouths.  We usually hit quite a few northerns and the occasional walleye up there also.  Bass are my favorite fish to eat and catch, but my wife and kids prefer perch and walleye.  There does not look to be much rain in the long range forecast, so hopefully the water levels will drop a bit prior to those trips.   

As we are reaching the end of spring, we have used up all of our frozen fish from last year, had a good fish fry from fresh Adirondack perch, and added a pack of Silver lake pike to the freezer.  It will be nice to start stocking up with some fresh bass.  The fillet knife, sharpener, and vacuum sealer are ready to go.  Per NY state health advisories, I am going to separate the Lake Erie stuff for the wife and kids, and mark the St Lawrence and Adirondack stuff for my own consumption.  

Just like hunting, I fish mostly for the food.  I can't help it that it is also fun to do.   I usually release all bass over 18" long, as they are not quite as tasty as the little ones and carry more health risks.        

[genesee_mohican]

I played hooky this past Friday and fished hemlock a few hours but only caught panfish. But I'll be out the opening weekend of bass somewhere.

[turkeyfeathers]

The opener has always confused me. Are you legally not supposed  to target Bass before that date ? And just say I'm fishing for whatever ? Or just not allowed to keep them ? 

Took some days off this month to fish Lake Erie on friends bass boat. Daughters excited to get out there. He caught 20 good to large smallies other day. Water temps are getting just warm enough. I'll be posting up pics soon enough. 

All he /we use are 2.5" silver n black Gulp minnows on a weighted jig head. Slight rap , rap bounce off bottom and they hammer them.  

[wolc123]

I think they recently changed the law to allow bass to be targeted state-wide, prior to the 3rd Sat in June opener, but they can not be kept.   For a few years, you could keep (1) 15 inch or larger bass on Lake Erie, but they upped that to 20 inch now.   Personally, I don't like targeting bass prior to the June opener, because I am not a "catch and release" guy.  I see that as mostly the senseless maiming of a fine food source.    

[tommyc50]

my apologies ididnt read the post correctly but still a nice walleye, i just got back into fresh water fishing i love it so serene and relaxing compared to saltwater its was just me and the river.  i grew up fishing the Delaware and ten mile river in narrowsburg i cut my teeth in fresh water. i'll be going to Rochester on lake Ontario for salmon and trout but its alot like saltwater fishing we are chartering a boat, i fished  catskill creek and tenmile creek in oak hill in April and first part of may the rivers were running fast but i fished two good times

 

[rachunter]

15 minutes ago, tommyc50 said:

my apologies ididnt read the post correctly but still a nice walleye, i just got back into fresh water fishing i love it so serene and relaxing compared to saltwater its was just me and the river.  i grew up fishing the Delaware and ten mile river in narrowsburg i cut my teeth in fresh water. i'll be going to Rochester on lake Ontario for salmon and trout but its alot like saltwater fishing we are chartering a boat, i fished  catskill creek and tenmile creek in oak hill in April and first part of may the rivers were running fast but i fished two good times

 

i'm getting back into it to myself.I've largemouth bass fished my whole childhood then got into saltwater fishing.You are right freshwater is more relaxing.I've only caught that one walleye but everything i read says fun to catch and eat.I'll be trying some of the other species like black crappy,perch and catfish. the trout and salmon seem to be the main fish up by me but i know nothing about them yet.

[rachunter]

11 hours ago, grampy said:

Slowly getting the boat ready. Should be good to go next week. Still not much strength in the right arm, but I'm planning to go. No tournaments this year.  Probably hit Saratoga lake first. Then the Mohawk, followed  by Sacendaga, Ballston, Thompsons and Warner Lakes. Depending how it goes, would like to do a coupke WNY lakes too. Will be good PT for the shoulder!

good luck with the arm. Is that the mohawk river your referring to ? i pass over it in fonda the little info i could find on it wasn't very encouraging.

i'm running around with a little 14" puddle jumper right now,but my goal is to own a boat with a steering wheel and a comfy seat!!!  

[grampy]

Yes, Mohawk river. And I've fished that stretch at Fonda many times. There is a good launch just down river at Dufels. That is a very good area for smallmouth bass. Just below most of the locks you can find walleye on the river too. Farther down river there are some hefty large mouth, and northerns, along with some big tiger muskies. I've had some tournaments along fonda, and would hammer them, with the Thruway traffic just over my shoulder! Right now the Mohawk looks like chocolate milk and is filled with debris. If the rain lets up a bit, it will clear up and fish fine by next week. Favorite baits for the Mohawk are, half ounce white willow leaf spinnerbait, white and chartreuse Senko worm rigged wacky or Texas, a deep diving craw crankbait, five inch Rappala or similar jerkbait in a natural shad color, and as Turkeyfeathers said, the gulp swimbaits work well too! Tight lines to all heading out! And keep yourselves safe out there!

[rachunter]

thanks grampy i'm going to add the river to my list.

good luck everyone

[Buckmaster7600]

The opener has always confused me. Are you legally not supposed  to target Bass before that date ? And just say I'm fishing for whatever ? Or just not allowed to keep them ? 
Took some days off this month to fish Lake Erie on friends bass boat. Daughters excited to get out there. He caught 20 good to large smallies other day. Water temps are getting just warm enough. I'll be posting up pics soon enough. 
All he /we use are 2.5" silver n black Gulp minnows on a weighted jig head. Slight rap , rap bounce off bottom and they hammer them.  

It's county specific. Some allow you to target them some don't.


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