TBF Semi-Final - Lake George, NY

[David Chong]

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to go down to Lake George in New York state to compete at the TBF (The BASS Federation) Semi-Finals, the final step before the Nationals. I was a little disappointed to hear that the event was to be moved from Lake Champlain to Lake George but that changed quickly when we arrived there! It is one of the most beautiful lakes that I have ever fished. Surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains, it was deep and clear with the water a green-blue colour and the fishing was not too shabby either!

I had a pretty good event and ended up in 5th place overall out of 68 boaters! I weighed in all Smallmouth Bass and caught them all dropshotting in 30-45 FOW! They all came of 2 different sizes of Z-Man Trick Shots and the Ultra Tungsten drop shot weights were key to maintaining contact with bottom. It was a very "technical" lake and I relied heavily on my Garmin EchoMap Ultra electronics units to locate fish. The Garmin G3 LakeVu mapping with the Garmin & Navionics data was unbelievably accurate, once I figured out the deep pattern, I could literally follow the charts on my electronics and pick out fishing holding locations. It was so much fun, video game fishing for these Smallies, many of them especially on the 2nd day were caught right beneath my boat right off the graph! Other keys to my success was Daiwa gear and my Sunline fluorocarbon leaders which were critical on this crystal clear deep lake. Congrats to all of the top finishers especially the top finishers on Team Ontario, Joe Rodrigues (Boater) & Will MacFarlane (Non-Boater), who will now represent us at the Nationals!

During my second day, I even managed to catch my Personal Best Pickerel, Chain Pickerel that it is! The New York state record is 8 lbs. 1 oz. and this one was in the 7 lbs. range! If anyone is looking for somewhere not too far away for a great fishing vacation, I would highly recommend this body of water and hope to get back there myself soon. the drive through the mountains to get there is also stunning! Now here are lots of pics...

 

 

  

[Terry]

nice going

[lew]

10 hours ago, David Chong said:

 Lake Champlain 

It is one of the most beautiful lakes that I have ever fished. Surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains, it was deep and clear with the water a green-blue colour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We crossed lake Champlain by ferry from New York to Vermont a month ago and the lake was unbelievably rough with big wind coming straight out of the south.

That old boat was rockin & rollin with waves coming over the bow and I was waiting for the tractor trailer parked beside me to end up in our laps. 

Darned near took me back to my Navy days LOL

Real pretty lake though.

[David Chong]

17 minutes ago, lew said:

We crossed lake Champlain by ferry from New York to Vermont a month ago and the lake was unbelievably rough with big wind coming straight out of the south.

That old boat was rockin & rollin with waves coming over the bow and I was waiting for the tractor trailer parked beside me to end up in our laps. 

Darned near took me back to my Navy days LOL

Real pretty lake though.

Yes, I’ve done the crossing to Vermont on Champlain which is pretty cool! Both Champlain & George can get pretty rough because of their length & orientation, especially if the wind is strong straight out of the south or north! I’ve spent several days on Champlain when there were legitimate 6-8 footers out there, no fun???!

[AKRISONER]

 Now I see why the other guy I know that fished that tourney did so bad. He’s a shallow guy, 45 is far from shallow! You must have been putting on a fizzing clinic! Any recommendations for what fizzer you use? Been looking for a better one than the one I have.

[David Chong]

5 minutes ago, AKRISONER said:

 Now I see why the other guy I know that fished that tourney did so bad. He’s a shallow guy, 45 is far from shallow! You must have been putting on a fizzing clinic! Any recommendations for what fizzer you use? Been looking for a better one than the one I have.

???It was definitely a deep water event! I use a 16/17 gauge needle, you can get away with a 18 gauge! I don't use a commercial fizzing device! Just make sure you have a reamer made for it to clear the needle!

[AKRISONER]

4 hours ago, David Chong said:

???It was definitely a deep water event! I use a 16/17 gauge needle, you can get away with a 18 gauge! I don't use a commercial fizzing device! Just make sure you have a reamer made for it to clear the needle!

 

That’s what I’ve been looking for, where did you source yours from? It’s actually really difficult to figure out where to buy them!

[David Chong]

1 minute ago, AKRISONER said:

 

That’s what I’ve been looking for, where did you source yours from? It’s actually really difficult to figure out where to buy them!

You can find them at your local farm supply/ feed store!

[misfish]

1 minute ago, AKRISONER said:

 

That’s what I’ve been looking for, where did you source yours from? It’s actually really difficult to figure out where to buy them!

He knows a nurse,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

David

The scenery is outstanding

[OhioFisherman]

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/producers-pride-disposable-needle-16g-x-1-pack-of-6

Like David says, most farm and feed stores carry them, and you get 6 for about half the price of a name brand fizzer.

[Rattletrap2]

Beautiful Dave and well done!

My question is this: I have been watching quite a few episodes of Lunkerville shot in upstate NY on some beautiful lakes. How come they can fish from ice out to ice up for Bass and still have such great fishing?I mean the population is much greater than Ontario and yet with all the fishing pressure these lakes receive pre spawn, spawn, and post spawn, they seem to have real decent numbers of fish! Is the way we think here maybe outdated? I'm just putting it out there.

When you see the longer fishing seasons in the Southern US states, you could argue that the fish spawn multiple times per year and have longer growing seasons. Upstate NY has a climate very similar to ours.

[AKRISONER]

2 hours ago, Rattletrap2 said:

Beautiful Dave and well done!

My question is this: I have been watching quite a few episodes of Lunkerville shot in upstate NY on some beautiful lakes. How come they can fish from ice out to ice up for Bass and still have such great fishing?I mean the population is much greater than Ontario and yet with all the fishing pressure these lakes receive pre spawn, spawn, and post spawn, they seem to have real decent numbers of fish! Is the way we think here maybe outdated? I'm just putting it out there.

When you see the longer fishing seasons in the Southern US states, you could argue that the fish spawn multiple times per year and have longer growing seasons. Upstate NY has a climate very similar to ours.

You would be surprised, I still am willing to bet the fishing is even better in Ontario. Ontario overall very likely has the best fresh water fishing in the entire world, pick a species and its a world class fishery.

[OhioFisherman]

6 hours ago, Rattletrap2 said:

Beautiful Dave and well done!

My question is this: I have been watching quite a few episodes of Lunkerville shot in upstate NY on some beautiful lakes. How come they can fish from ice out to ice up for Bass and still have such great fishing?I mean the population is much greater than Ontario and yet with all the fishing pressure these lakes receive pre spawn, spawn, and post spawn, they seem to have real decent numbers of fish! Is the way we think here maybe outdated? I'm just putting it out there.

When you see the longer fishing seasons in the Southern US states, you could argue that the fish spawn multiple times per year and have longer growing seasons. Upstate NY has a climate very similar to ours.

Brian, I have only fished a couple of lakes in extreme western New York, Findley Lake ( 300 acres ) and Chautauqua Lake (13,000 acres}, both are very good fisheries, but anyone can have a bad day on either? One of the guys in the bass club I was in had a trailer at Findley for the summers and another had a summer home at Chautauqua, both good fishermen, and I never saw either win on their " home " lakes. New York I thought does a good job of maintaining and policing their waters. Those shows? They are basically fishing with a guide? Someone that is very familiar with those waters?

The south has an advantage because in part because more food is available for more of the year?

Edited October 9, 2019 by OhioFisherman

[Rattletrap2]

See, that is the thing though Paul, Mike D fishes with regular people on their home lakes. That is one of the things I find so refreshing about Lunkerville!

I’m wondering if States such as New York do a lot more stocking of their lakes. Stocking for Bass in Ontario is pretty much non existstant from what I know.

[David Chong]

7 hours ago, Rattletrap2 said:

Beautiful Dave and well done!

My question is this: I have been watching quite a few episodes of Lunkerville shot in upstate NY on some beautiful lakes. How come they can fish from ice out to ice up for Bass and still have such great fishing?I mean the population is much greater than Ontario and yet with all the fishing pressure these lakes receive pre spawn, spawn, and post spawn, they seem to have real decent numbers of fish! Is the way we think here maybe outdated? I'm just putting it out there.

When you see the longer fishing seasons in the Southern US states, you could argue that the fish spawn multiple times per year and have longer growing seasons. Upstate NY has a climate very similar to ours.

In Ontario we have plenty of lakes that would rival the fishing on George & other lakes in New York, it was just beautiful and different fishing especially in terms of the deep Largemouth! Although they have a much longer season, other than a similar “catch & keep” season that we have in Ontario, the rest of the year is “catch & release”! Not really sure if New York State stocks Bass so I had asked a few friends down there but have not received an answer yet! Lake associations like the one on Lake George are strong proponents in protecting their waters! We had to have our boats inspected prior to launching and then tagged each day for the next day! There is even “Boat Wash” station all around the lake to help prevent spread of invasive species! There is also a usage fee for the lake which was $20 for the week that we were there! This gives them funds to monitor ramps and inspect boats, possible stocking etc.

 

[OhioFisherman]

Findley Lake is all private land, there is a campground near the southwest end of the lake that also rented trailers and small cabins on wheels, yurts? The lake itself is maintained by New York with an agreement to allow public fishing, but the public ramp was only open Monday - Friday, they put a chain across it on weekend to allow homeowners on the lake some privacy? The only place you could launch on weekends was at the campground, but  only if you were staying there. They stocked Findley, not positive about bass, but it has muskie, pike, and walleye, bass might not need stocking there, it has largemouth and smallies. New York has some different laws, some of their marinas are private property, saw a guy get his catch disqualified on a video because he didn't know.