Billy Bob Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 Nothing "reel" special to report but at leasts it's a fishing report and not Bull over who's got the best fishing line....LOL Our walleye season opened up the first Saturday in May but because of flood conditions they closed the walleye lake (Oneida Lake) near my son's house so that weekend was just helping him do remodeling on his new to him house.. This time we left the house at 3:30am as planned to fish Oneida Lake...the plan was to cast large floating Rapala's on very shallow rock pile that have ALWAYS produce limit catches or at least close to limit catches in the past...but that was always the first Saturday in May and not the third one like this weekend Saturday. We decided to launch on our side of the lake and make a 6 mile run across the lake to save about 40 miles of driving the boat to the other NYS launch site....the only good thing about the other site on the north end of the lake is it's only 1/4 mile from our honey hole....nice SHORT boat ride especially in the DARK....but no I decided to save a lot of time and truck gas money by shooting across the lake....I have done a lot of fishing/boating in the pitch dark but this time mother nature through us a curve I should of thought of....we even checked the wind conditions before leaving in the morning on the computer and all indications say run across the lake....GRRRRRRRRRRRR We get to the lake driving down this narrow winding lane to the boat launch (about 3/4 mile).....at the water's edge it is like pea soup with FOG....LOTS of FOG....as we are un-tying the boat a NYS Trooper drives up and asks us if were nuts going out on the lake in the fog at 3:30 in the morning...I tell him he should come back later because he might have to arrest us because we are going to KILL THE FISH....LOL...The Trooper laughs and drives off. Now I have had experience navigating in fog conditions but it's still nerve wrecking and I wouldn't advise doing it but to run around the lake now would take even longer and throw the well established game plan out the window as far as fishing for shallow walleyes on the rock pile in questions....so we launch in the pea soup and with my Lowrance LMS 525C unit and mapping card we head north once I punched in my honey hole Waypoint.....almost due north with a slight yawn towards the east....now motoring 20 miles per hour in the dark can be dangerous....doing it in fog really makes it hairy....I can usually navigate in the dark just sitting on my seat but this day I'm UP on one knee the whole way looking over my windshield while my son Billy is scouring in front of us with our high power light in hand....just in case there is some nut case fishing out there without lights....you never know.... We find our spot ONLY because of the GPS unit after about a 15 minute run.... We cast our baits (#11 Rapala's) until almost day break without a touch....it's evident the water's too warm now (59.5) for those post spawn males to be up on the shallow rocks but as said before we had committed to our game plan and followed it until daybreak. Now it time to get our jigging rods out and drop off the rock pile to the first defined break which is about 9-11 feet of water......Oneida Lake is almost all rocks with little weed growth, however in recent years because of the zebra mussels there are signs of weeds now sparsely growing in a few selected areas in the lake and I know just where some are close by....so we start jigging these areas with minnows hoping to get our walleyes and some bonus pickeral as we have done in the past....but wait.....we start hitting perch....one after the other....and I mean some BIG perch...up to 14" in length and FAT...but not full of eggs fat but fat from feeding....I quickly pick up on a pattern that if you just keep reeling in the jig...like a slow swim back to the boat the perch will grab the jig....and if you just kept reeling they hung on for the hook set....we are hitting them left and right like this in 8-10 feet of water with some sparse weeds here and there....we also get into the biggest Rock Bass I have ever caught and that includes those big Rockies from Lake Erie....see pics below. We ended up with 35 nice perch and the 3 biggest Rock Bass I have ever seen.... So back to the boy's house for slice and dice time....even the bride chips in to help us and she can skin as good as anyone... Then on Sunday (today) we decided to try this real small lake near my son's house for pickerel because I wanted some for my smoker and in less then 2 hours we had to fish we caught 4 pickerel and one 15" largemouth bass plus we both lost 1 pickerel at the boat.... I'm hoping this is just the beginning of a better fishing season that really hasn't been that good for me. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercman Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 Hey Bob !!! Nice report Buddy !! Thats a nice Chain Pickeral too.Those perch are gonna make a great meal Looks like you had a great time with your son too. Feels good to get back on the water Eh Bob Tite Lines my fav AC Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickingfrog Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 Finaly a pickeral. Nice report, maybe a Canuck could help you find some walleye on that lake? Thanks for takin' the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limeyangler Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 good job Bob Nice to hear of a cop with a sense of humor! Have a great supper! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splashhopper Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 that must have been one scary ride in the fog. what a nice feed of perch and rock bass there... wtg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pikehunter Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 All those tasty looking perch glad to see the bride chipped in for the messy job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Bob Posted May 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 Finaly a pickeral. Nice report, maybe a Canuck could help you find some walleye on that lake? Thanks for takin' the time. Frog kicker....come on down....this year I need all the help I can get... Not one walleye and everyone we talked to on the water and at the launch at the end of the day hadn't caught any walleyes either that Saturday... ...mind you, this is NYS best walleye lake with this years estimated population at 498,000 by our NYS DEC.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 Good stuff, Bob. Thanks for sharing you time on the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beginner Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 good report.. looks like fun.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Caster Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 so THAT"s what a pickeral looks like.... a painted pike. Crazy fog story...even if you got lost, at least you know the fog would eventually lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misfish Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 Great write up Bob. Enjoyed it. ROCK BASS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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