Chemong/Upper Buck Report

[Guest Johnny Bass]

I wanted to sharpen my jig and pig skills and wanted to go to a lake that had some decent large mouth. Decided on Upper Buckhorn. I heard there were plenty LM Bass and large Musky.

 

Went with my neighbour Rob P who is an old timer on this board and a hardcore Musky guy.

 

We launched at Chemong and started to cover water. We had no map and it was my first time there,so we were basically exploring water.

 

We fished all morning for pickeral and Musky with no luck. Just a little largemouth to show.Water was too dead, no wind, should have went top water.

 

When the sun came out at noon,I wanted to target largies, so we headed to Upper Buck. Got there and we started working a deep water weed flat. The wind had picked up and we were drifting pretty fast.Take out the 3/8 jig and pig(red/black)with no rattles and start working some water. Nothing...Switch to a 1/4 jig and pig(black/blue) with Rattles and first cast, hit, set, largie in the boat. 1 minute later, hit set, largie in the boat, 1 minute later, hit set, largie in the boat, 2 minutes later, hit set, largie in the boat.

 

So 4 largies in the boat in less than 10 minutes!!!And they were getting bigger and bigger.

 

Booyah jigs have earned a place in my tackle box!!!!Took a picture of the biggest bass but my Camera some how erased them......

 

Then we hit some deep water so I threw out a large spinner bait and WHACK! Nice hit but PUNY Musky. One nice jump and it was in the boat. Took picture but it was erased also.

 

Wanted to keep smashing largies but Rob is a musky guy. He wanted to look for rock shoals which was difficult in a very weedy lake. Tried pounding the Islands unsuccesully.

 

I had a HUGE tangle in my 80lb power pro that took me over 45 minutes to fix(had to cut alot of line) fix it and on the next cast, snap! Lose my $10 leader and lure......

 

As I am fixing my tangle,Rob starts targetting pickeral and nails 3 largies in a row. We then decided to call it a day.

 

Another great day out on the lake with Rob, a solid guy and a knowledgable fisherman. Water was cold at about 67 degrees and the wind was really howling in the afternoon. Very hard to pick apart small structure.

 

Talked to a local and he said the Musky were not around lately. He said we needed a cold snap to bring the big girls out to play.

 

Hope you enjoyed the report.Caught a few fish had a few laughs and will do it again soon. Moon river here we come!

[ccmtcanada]

Great report! Looked like they needed more tempting with noise and flash. The rattles seemed to work out great for you! Congrats on a great day.

[Rich]

Great report Johnny! Sounds like a good day out. I hope to get in some more largemouth fishing before I switch gears to the salmonoids.

[Flippin-Jig]

Good report, especially on a couple of lakes that are notorious for tough bites.

 

I fish the jig and pig 90% of the time and I find that nothing is more true than the saying "black and blue is always true". I myself only ever fish pure black, black blue, or black/brown (with matching trailers).

[Rizzo]

Nice report..always fish making it into the boat! I know what you mean about the powerpro...its gotta be hopeless before I'm cutting my way out of a birdsnest (too much $$$ to respool)

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Thanks guys. Hey flippin Jig. I am getting into then jig and pigs this year and enjoying them. Black and blue is what I have always seen produce on shows. Olive green and brown is also a good colour. I bought a 1/4 one but haven't used it yet.

 

I have also had luck with black/red with rattles. The Black and red I was using had no rattles and had a very long plastic crayfish on the end. I dont know if that is part of the problem. So I will just keep all the rattle less jigs in the tackle biox and keep buying more Booyah jigs in different colours and wieght. I will be upgrading to 1/2 ounce next!

Edited September 10, 2007 by Johnny Bass

[Jeff R]

Sounds like a good day out there Johnny....from your last few reports, sounds like you're really becoming quite the master with the jig and pig....you'll have the pros calling you for tips soon enough

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Thanks vatordude! I am using them in deep open water but look forward to pounding deep river banks. Especially with long grass growing on the edges! Like the holland river!

[Flippin-Jig]

I am certainly no expert but I believe the best colours are the ones you are confident with. I use 1/2 ounce so it always feels the same no matter what rod I use it with. If I want to slow down the fall I will move to a pork trailer.

 

I am a firm believer in rattles. The loudest jigs around are lunker lure triple rattlebacks and strike king premier elite.

 

I had it in my head for a number of years that I had to use black/blue if I was deeper than 6 feet (I remember reading somewhere that blue was the last colour to disappear the deeper you get). Lately I have been trying to use more greens and browns in deeper water in the hopes of being able to target smallmouth in addition to largemouth. I have had some success but am not sold on it yet. Gotta keep at'er to get the confidence up.

[Guest Johnny Bass]

I am certainly no expert but I believe the best colours are the ones you are confident with. I use 1/2 ounce so it always feels the same no matter what rod I use it with. If I want to slow down the fall I will move to a pork trailer.

 

I am a firm believer in rattles. The loudest jigs around are lunker lure triple rattlebacks and strike king premier elite.

 

I had it in my head for a number of years that I had to use black/blue if I was deeper than 6 feet (I remember reading somewhere that blue was the last colour to disappear the deeper you get). Lately I have been trying to use more greens and browns in deeper water in the hopes of being able to target smallmouth in addition to largemouth. I have had some success but am not sold on it yet. Gotta keep at'er to get the confidence up.

 

 

Exactly. Its all about confidence.

 

What do you mean by pork trailer? Like uncle Josh? I mostly use the unscented Zoom ones.

 

I believe in clear water the olive green/brown will produce, even deep. In stained water I am not too sure.

 

I will check out the lunker lure and strike king elites and give them a go. Thanks!

[Flippin-Jig]

I use either a Zoom Super Chunk (something like a bat-wing shape) or the Uncle Josh real pork (can't remember the name but shaped just like the Super Chunk).

 

Good luck and keep "pitchin' the jig".

[lew]

Thanks JohnnyB, I always look forward to your fish'n reports

 

Last time I fished Chemong & Upper Buck, back in July, the weeds were in terrible shape for the most part, very brown, slimey and generally not condusive to holding decent fish. I managed 3 muskies for the day, but spent most of my 10 hour day looking for healthy weeds, rather than fishing.

 

I'm fishing those lakes again next Monday, plus Pigeon, and am wondering how things are now, have they greened up at all, and hows the water clarity ??

[mcallister.grant]

I have fished those lakes many times and I must say that they are (in my opinion) the best largemouth fishery around.

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Thanks JohnnyB, I always look forward to your fish'n reports

 

Last time I fished Chemong & Upper Buck, back in July, the weeds were in terrible shape for the most part, very brown, slimey and generally not condusive to holding decent fish. I managed 3 muskies for the day, but spent most of my 10 hour day looking for healthy weeds, rather than fishing.

 

I'm fishing those lakes again next Monday, plus Pigeon, and am wondering how things are now, have they greened up at all, and hows the water clarity ??

 

Hey Lew. There were healthy weeds everywhere. Some greener than others. Water clarity was pretty clear. And water temps were about 68 degrees.

[Guest Johnny Bass]

I have fished those lakes many times and I must say that they are (in my opinion) the best largemouth fishery around.

 

Looks like me and my jig and pig will be paying them another visit next year for sure to exclusivly target largies.