Live from the Water 2020

[johnplav]

5 hours ago, Lawdwaz said:

Nice haul!

Where did you launch, north or south end?

North end.  And it was busier than I’ve ever seen it.  We fished just deeper than the weeds in like 17-20 ft of water.  Couldn’t even get the worm down to the bottom without getting a fish, but had to work through tons of small ones.  On an ultralight setup it’s still fun. 

[Pygmy]

10 hours ago, johnplav said:

Got out on Hemlock for a bit this morning. Took the ladies out for a ride and managed enough panfish for a fish fry tomorrow.  Ended up with 2 dozen keeper bluegills, 3 rock bass, and one big old perch.  What a beautiful day!

Great photo....Beautiful wife, adorable daughter...Who's the clueless looking fat guy that you got to pose with them  ?

[squirrelwhisperer]

Woohoo! Time to get ready. Can't wait to see what the ocean has in store for me today. There have been acres of bunker within 3 miles of the beach, hence all the whales and dolphins, but also some stripers to 50+ pounds on them. Sharks can't be far behind, if they aren't here already. Ocean surface temps right around 70deg (nearshore). Gonna walk to the creek and cast net some killies and hopefully some mullet, then drop the boat in the water and cast net some of the peanut bunker I have been watching all week at the North end of the marina. Nothing wiggles like live bait! Ocean to be relatively flat all day (2ft swells @ 20-30 sec) out to about 20 miles. Will post a report later this afternoon. 

Tight lines to all that are going out. Stay safe out there. 

[Gencountyzeek]

After a abysmal morning yesterday we went out at 730pm to do some night fishing. It worked out pretty good for us. Boated 10 walleye, released 1, lost 2 at the net, lost 4 while reeling them in. No slobs, we kept 9 18"-22"ers. Fished till 2am. Good times out there this week.

Edited June 21, 2020 by Gencountyzeek

[Robhuntandfish]

Tough day for us today. Never really got on them and left early. Not a wisp of a breeze we were cooking like sausages on the grill out there.  Didn't see the net come out on a single other boat either.  But a couple at least. Def not like yesterday.  

Edited June 21, 2020 by Robhuntandfish

[Gencountyzeek]

Made about 7 casts on Chautauqua lookin for a musky with a large mepps musky killer spinner. Found a 20" eye instead.

 

Edited June 21, 2020 by Gencountyzeek

[Gencountyzeek]

Gotta share this pic yesterday evening. Lake was beautiful last night until about 130am.

[johnplav]

17 hours ago, Pygmy said:

Great photo....Beautiful wife, adorable daughter...Who's the clueless looking fat guy that you got to pose with them  ?

Luckiest man alive!

[squirrelwhisperer]

So after posting this morning I went over to the marina to see if the bait was still active, since it is only around the corner. Saw bait jumping all over so I figured I would forgo the creek and just get my livies there. Head home, my buddy shows, almost on time lol, and we drop the boat in the water. I head to the back and load the cast net. No bait anywhere. Huh??? A couple blind casts produced nothing. Wish I woulda went to the creek. Good thing I had some frozen stuff. Ok, so off to the inlet we go. Ocean is flat and beautiful as expected. Again there were acres and acres of bunker, thankfully no whales. I heard, not sure how true, that a whale almost capsized a boat last weekend. So I do some looking and found LOTS of fish, almost all shorts tho. After 30 fluke, little squirrel had a keeper! We had fluke, blues, robins, doggies, rays, skates and a few sea bass, all but ONE returned safely.
As an aside, I wore crocks today and ended up with little suntan spots where the holes were. Looks absolutely ridiculous.




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[turkeyfeathers]

@wolc123
 

then you caught a few of the only fish that haven’t spawned.  We’ve been fishing the Catt and have caught hundreds of fish since mid April   The big fish have been headed out to the lake for a good 4-5 weeks now to spawn. Every time out they’re getting smaller. Been on Lake Erie too a lot and perhaps only a few may have been pregnant football females. Of 75-80 from the lake among us the biggest are 3-3.2 pounds. Did you check the water temps ? 66. 3 other day. 

[wolc123]

2 hours ago, turkeyfeathers said:

@wolc123
 

then you caught a few of the only fish that haven’t spawned.  We’ve been fishing the Catt and have caught hundreds of fish since mid April   The big fish have been headed out to the lake for a good 4-5 weeks now to spawn. Every time out they’re getting smaller. Been on Lake Erie too a lot and perhaps only a few may have been pregnant football females. Of 75-80 from the lake among us the biggest are 3-3.2 pounds. Did you check the water temps ? 66. 3 other day. 

Surface temp was 67 - 70 today.  We tried deep for walleyes, but only got about (8) sheephead between 30 - 40 feet.  Saturday all of our fish were caught in less than 30 feet.   Since the action was slow out deep today, I figured I would look for the warmest water I could find to try and find some post-spawn bass.  We ended up getting (3) that were 12.5 - 14" long, right near the outside of the wall, by the windmills.   Those are the size I prefer for eating.  Only the largest of the three had eggs in it.    

Since you did not fillet any of those bass you caught prior to the regular opener, what makes you think they had already spawned ?   I think that is highly unlikely given the current water temperature out there.   The larger bass we caught on Saturday were taken from about 25 feet of water where the surface temp was 65.  The temp 25 feet down had to be low 60's which is too low for the bass to have been post-spawn.    

I probably will not get out there again until June 30 or so, and I hope that most of the bass will have finished spawning by then.  If it stays as warm as it is now, that should be the case.   As I mentioned earlier, I really don't like harassing them pre-spawn.  They have a hard enough time with all the cormorants and gobies, that I think they could use a break from anglers at that time.    I would like to see NY state go back to the third Sat in June opener and not allow folks to target them prior to that.  I see bass as food, not playthings.   

I am liking the new Garmin fish-finder so far, but it could use a sun screen.  I might try and fabricate something for that before our next outing.    My new Berkley lightning rod worked well also.  It handled that heavy walleye and quite a few big sheephead very well and the sensitivity was real good.   Just a few bass on it so far though and that is it;s primary purpose.  Hopefully we can get some more of those on the next trips.         

[crappyice]

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[Nytracker]

12 hours ago, squirrelwhisperer said:

So after posting this morning I went over to the marina to see if the bait was still active, since it is only around the corner. Saw bait jumping all over so I figured I would forgo the creek and just get my livies there. Head home, my buddy shows, almost on time lol, and we drop the boat in the water. I head to the back and load the cast net. No bait anywhere. Huh??? A couple blind casts produced nothing. Wish I woulda went to the creek. Good thing I had some frozen stuff. Ok, so off to the inlet we go. Ocean is flat and beautiful as expected. Again there were acres and acres of bunker, thankfully no whales. I heard, not sure how true, that a whale almost capsized a boat last weekend. So I do some looking and found LOTS of fish, almost all shorts tho. After 30 fluke, little squirrel had a keeper! We had fluke, blues, robins, doggies, rays, skates and a few sea bass, all but ONE returned safely.
As an aside, I wore crocks today and ended up with little suntan spots where the holes were. Looks absolutely ridiculous.




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Is that a new covid symptom ?

[Merlot]

12 hours ago, squirrelwhisperer said:

So after posting this morning I went over to the marina to see if the bait was still active, since it is only around the corner. Saw bait jumping all over so I figured I would forgo the creek and just get my livies there. Head home, my buddy shows, almost on time lol, and we drop the boat in the water. I head to the back and load the cast net. No bait anywhere. Huh??? A couple blind casts produced nothing. Wish I woulda went to the creek. Good thing I had some frozen stuff. Ok, so off to the inlet we go. Ocean is flat and beautiful as expected. Again there were acres and acres of bunker, thankfully no whales. I heard, not sure how true, that a whale almost capsized a boat last weekend. So I do some looking and found LOTS of fish, almost all shorts tho. After 30 fluke, little squirrel had a keeper! We had fluke, blues, robins, doggies, rays, skates and a few sea bass, all but ONE returned safely.
As an aside, I wore crocks today and ended up with little suntan spots where the holes were. Looks absolutely ridiculous.




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Looks like you can be a foot model for bath tub drains...

[squirrelwhisperer]

That is just an internet pic. The real thing isn’t far off, lol.

[turkeyfeathers]

12 quick smallmouth before the heat ramped up


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[ny hunter]

Nice.....

[johnplav]

On 6/20/2020 at 2:16 PM, johnplav said:

Got out on Hemlock for a bit this morning. Took the ladies out for a ride and managed enough panfish for a fish fry tomorrow.  Ended up with 2 dozen keeper bluegills, 3 rock bass, and one big old perch.  What a beautiful day!

A few more pics from Saturday.  This kids a natural!

 

[doebuck1234]

7 hours ago, turkeyfeathers said:

12 quick smallmouth before the heat ramped up


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I need to go fishing with u.i cant catch a single fish lately !!!

[Robhuntandfish]

I'm pretty sure this would be me and Andrew at the same bait shop looking for a hot lure.  Lol.  

 

[TreeGuy]

I'm pretty sure this would be me and Andrew at the same bait shop looking for a hot lure.  Lol.  
 

I like lolli pops

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[squirrelwhisperer]

I can’t believe it! It’s finally here!! Tomorrow is the Black Sea Bass opener!!!

I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. I have waited for this day to come since the last day of deer season. 

Delicious,  abundant, fun to catch. What's not to like?

[squirrelwhisperer]

The highly anticipated Sea Bass opener turned out to be an exercise in frustration. We left the marina at 6am. Flat calm and beautiful. We make our way outside and the spread out 3 footers predicted turn out to be much tighter than what was foretold. I make the slow and lumpy 5+ mile run to the wreck I want to visit. I set the anchor and the SE wind turned out to be SW, this coupled with the incoming tide, caused me to be pushed off the piece. I reverse the engine to get me back on top of it and can’t stay there. Time to reset the hook. Well, when I backed up the boat, the anchor became lodged in the piece! After some maneuvering, I got it back but now the shaft (danforth anchor) is bent. OK lets drift over it. With every pass, everyone else managed to get snagged and break off and apparently, I am the only one that can tie a knot. Ok now I need a cigarette. Wouldn’t you know it, my one and only lighter, my only means of fire on the boat, breaks and doesn’t work anymore. I throw it overboard and there may have been some explicatives associated with that. Now, I know what you are thinking, and I agree. I need to quit smoking, but wasn’t planning on yesterday being the day! (I limit myself to 2-3 smokes per day during deer season and never before a hunt) So I am drifting NEAR the piece now. The bottom recorder shows much life down there, but they all have lockjaw! Finally, I see another boat with 2 guys fishing and one with a smoke. I go over and ask if he has a lighter I can use. He says he has one I can keep and throws it to me totally missing the boat and the lighter ends up in the ocean. So we head to the reef site and begin drifting. We pick the occasional fish, which is mind boggling with the amount of life showing on the screen. While re-tying a line for one of the crew, I manage to bury a hook in my finger almost to the barb. Thankfully it came out easy but now I am bleeding like crazy. As I get it under control, the fog rolls in! Now I am out 3+ miles from the inlet and 2 miles south of the beach with 20 yards visibility. Remember my radar is not working at this point. I do have redundant chartplotters, however, I am blind to any boat traffic. I set a course and make a S-L-O-W trip to just outside the outer bar outside the inlet. Thank you God, there were no breakers to contend with, my first break. We head inside and visibility is reduced to 10 yards around my vessel. Moriches bay is shallow and I don’t know anyone that has ever navigated it without a sandbar story. Add in the buoys and other boats and it was a white knuckle ride at 5 knots. I manage to make my way to the marina without incident. Get the boat to the ramp...and wouldn’t you know it, the fog lifts and its beautiful and clear again. REALLY??WTF!!

Final tally for the day, fish wise, 1 keeper sea bass and 1 keeper porgy. 

I don’t care what the wife says, thinks or does, my radar will be working soon! I face timed her from the ocean so she could see what I was dealing with. Aside from her getting scared half to death, I think she agrees with me now. 

[rachunter]

36 minutes ago, squirrelwhisperer said:

The highly anticipated Sea Bass opener turned out to be an exercise in frustration. We left the marina at 6am. Flat calm and beautiful. We make our way outside and the spread out 3 footers predicted turn out to be much tighter than what was foretold. I make the slow and lumpy 5+ mile run to the wreck I want to visit. I set the anchor and the SE wind turned out to be SW, this coupled with the incoming tide, caused me to be pushed off the piece. I reverse the engine to get me back on top of it and can’t stay there. Time to reset the hook. Well, when I backed up the boat, the anchor became lodged in the piece! After some maneuvering, I got it back but now the shaft (danforth anchor) is bent. OK lets drift over it. With every pass, everyone else managed to get snagged and break off and apparently, I am the only one that can tie a knot. Ok now I need a cigarette. Wouldn’t you know it, my one and only lighter, my only means of fire on the boat, breaks and doesn’t work anymore. I throw it overboard and there may have been some explicatives associated with that. Now, I know what you are thinking, and I agree. I need to quit smoking, but wasn’t planning on yesterday being the day! (I limit myself to 2-3 smokes per day during deer season and never before a hunt) So I am drifting NEAR the piece now. The bottom recorder shows much life down there, but they all have lockjaw! Finally, I see another boat with 2 guys fishing and one with a smoke. I go over and ask if he has a lighter I can use. He says he has one I can keep and throws it to me totally missing the boat and the lighter ends up in the ocean. So we head to the reef site and begin drifting. We pick the occasional fish, which is mind boggling with the amount of life showing on the screen. While re-tying a line for one of the crew, I manage to bury a hook in my finger almost to the barb. Thankfully it came out easy but now I am bleeding like crazy. As I get it under control, the fog rolls in! Now I am out 3+ miles from the inlet and 2 miles south of the beach with 20 yards visibility. Remember my radar is not working at this point. I do have redundant chartplotters, however, I am blind to any boat traffic. I set a course and make a S-L-O-W trip to just outside the outer bar outside the inlet. Thank you God, there were no breakers to contend with, my first break. We head inside and visibility is reduced to 10 yards around my vessel. Moriches bay is shallow and I don’t know anyone that has ever navigated it without a sandbar story. Add in the buoys and other boats and it was a white knuckle ride at 5 knots. I manage to make my way to the marina without incident. Get the boat to the ramp...and wouldn’t you know it, the fog lifts and its beautiful and clear again. REALLY??WTF!!

Final tally for the day, fish wise, 1 keeper sea bass and 1 keeper porgy. 

I don’t care what the wife says, thinks or does, my radar will be working soon! I face timed her from the ocean so she could see what I was dealing with. Aside from her getting scared half to death, I think she agrees with me now. 

It sounds like someone had a banana on board. Moriches has been swallowing its self for years.Spots that where 14-16 feet deep are now 4-7. Are you old enough to remember "the onion sack" ?

[Pygmy]

The fishing trip from hell....Reading that made ME want a cigarette....