It was nice to get out on the ice with my family two days this week. Unfortunately it was the only 2 days we were on the ice in 2024 as last winter didn’t provide a lot of safe ice.
This past week we spent back to back days on Perch Lake in Jefferson County. The first day provided much more action than the second but we had a great time both days. After day two I cleaned 75 perch and one northern pike so it was definitely a successful outing.
Beckett caught his first fish on a tip up on his own and Gunnar caught the largest pike of the trip at 27.5 inches. They are both becoming quite the fisherman. Gunnar would rather watch tip ups and chase flags than jig and Beckett just wants to catch fish anyway he can.
With warm temps and rain the past 2 days, our ice fishing is on hold for a little while. There are cold temps in the forecast and the weather models show that they are here to stay. If they are right, we should have one of the best ice fishing seasons in years.
I will be offering ice fishing trips this season for up to 4 anglers. All equipment is provided. These can be great family outings. If you have always wanted to try ice fishing or if you experienced and just want to try a new area, I can accommodate you. Give me a call to discuss the many options from pike and panfish to walleye.
Saturday I took a break from deer hunting to take Russell and his son Shawn on a Cayuga Lake fishing trip. Russell has booked the trip as Shawn’s birthday present.
When Russell booked the trip, he said they wanted to jig for lake trout. I told him we would plan for that, but I’d bring some trolling gear just in case. I knew if we found the lakers grouped up, we would get them. However, after 4 spots, we knew we needed to go searching.
We started with two 10 color lines out that they could hold onto and yank every now and again, giving the baits extra action. This is like mixing trolling and jigging all in one. I wasn’t long before we had our first laker. I thought perfect this technique will get them and we will be good to go.
It turned out that was not true. After a while with no more bites, I put the down riggers out and both a 3 and 4 color lead core. We now had 6 rods in the water and the bites started coming.
At the end of the day we had taken fish on every rod out and Shawn had sore arms. His smile tells the story for sure. We ended with 7 lakers, a brown, a rainbow, and at Atlantic giving us the Cayuga Lake grand slam. We also lost about 7 other fish throughout the day.
The moral of this story is always have a plan B and C just in case plan A doesn’t pan out. I am offering trips on Cayuga Lake all winter. Stay warm inside the heated enclosure of the Hewescraft.
This fall has been busy for a different reason than those in the past. I have been busy coaching both of my boys’ fall baseball teams. During this, I purchased a new larger boat as well.
The new boat is Hewescraft Sea Runner 210. This boat fishes even bigger than it is with seating for 6 adults and plenty of room left to fish. I will be offering trips for up 6 people on Lake Ontario, Oneida Lake,and Cayuga Lake.
I have been trying to get the new boat rigged and dialed in. After this past Thursday and Friday, I can say it is. I had Joel and his son Caleb aboard, and while we didn’t get as many bites as others, we put fish in the boat each day. Friday was our better day, putting 4 in the box and dropping multiple others.
Fall baseball season will be running through the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend. After that, I have open dates available for Oneida Lake walleye fishing or Cayuga Lake for trout and Atlantic salmon. I will be running trips until the launches freeze. The full canopy will keep you out of the weather in between bites. Call now to set up a fall or winter trip.
If you follow this blog or my social media sites you know I am always fishing different bodies of water. This week is no exception.
Sunday I hauled the Lund down to Cayuga Lake to fish with my friends Mark and Jamie. While the fishing wasn’t what we had hoped for it was still good. Mark caught his first ever lake trout and reminded me that catching seven trout and missing a few others isn’t a bad day.
Today I had a charter on Oneida Lake. I was hoping to send Bob, Eric and John home with a limit of walleye but mother nature had other plans. After 2 passes trolling we had 7 in the boat and needed just 2 more. As we were setting the lines for the third pass we noticed a storm moving along the south shore. Checking the radar we realized we better keep a close eye on it. As we were discussing our plan the first bolts of lightening were seen and the scramble to pull lines and get to the launch begain. We made it back before the storm hit and it was very clear we made the right move. A big thanks to Mike from Full Tank Charters for backing my truck in and speeding up the take out process as everyone was trying to get off the water at the same time.
If you are looking to get out for trout, salmon, or walleye give me a call.
Salmon season has come to an end and what a season it was. With a horribly dry summer we found ourselves facing very low water conditions. How’s that old saying go? When life gives you lemons make bull frogs or something like that.
I have to give a huge thank you to all my awesome customers. You are the reason I do what I do. In less than ideal conditions everyone was more than willing to change things up which equalled smiling faces and fish in the net. Some days where better than others but everyone was happy.
Another thank you to those who have already booked next year’s trips or steelhead trips. It’s a great feeling having most of your next season booked as this season is ending. That being said if you want to salmon fish with me next year I wouldn’t wait too long to start planning.
With the low water I never fished the Salmon River this fall. I stayed on the lake as much as possible and fished other locations when I couldn’t get on the lake. Next weekend that changes and I will be steelheading on the Salmon River come hell or low water. The reservoir is slowly filling and I expect 335 cfs base flow to return in the near future as long as it keeps raining. My Smithfly raft floats no problem at 185 cfs so I am not concerned either way.
Steelhead season is looking like it is going to be a good one. Some very nice steelhead have been caught already along with some impressive brown trout. I do have a couple December dates open that I would like to fill if anyone is interested give me a call.
Last year my oldest son came home from school upset that his classmates had been off for take your kid to work day. We explained to him that kids aren’t allowed into the aluminum factory that my wife and I work in. Then it dawned on me that he could come to “fish work” as he calls my guide business. He was so excited that could come to fish work with me next year.
Well next year came and I had it all set up. Customers to take that understood the plan and how our trip could be cut short as Gunnar would be with us. Then the Corona virus shutdown school and guiding. This left me with one very disappointed 6 year old. It was time to come up with a new plan.
Plan B was to “guide” my father and wife for crappie and/or rainbow trout. Gunnar was very concerned that we would get in trouble for guiding when it was shut down. I told him mom and grandpa would just pay us at home where no one would see as he made sure they both knew they were going to have to pay him.
That morning Gunnar helped me get the gear and boat ready. Then he packed snacks while I went and bought subs for us for lunch. When we arrived at the reservoir he helped to launch the boat.
Unfortunately we tried about everything we had and couldn’t get anything going on the reservoir. We decided we would head back home and try fishing in the creek that separates our property from my parents. In the truck on the way home my dad gave Gunnar $4 which made his day.
Back at my parents house Gunnar wanted to ride his bike before fishing. I headed down to the creek with his fishing rod and a container of worms. As I made my way across the lawn I saw a fish splash on the surface. It was a good size steelhead. I called to Gunnar, who had just put on his bike helmet, telling him there was a steelhead in the creek. He came running down very excited to try to catch it. I explained we needed to be very careful not to spook it. I took the bobber off and hooked a whole night crawler on. I told him I would cast it for him becuase it needed to be a precise cast. Not sure if the spin cast rod would even make the cast I made a test cast in the yard.
We then snuck down the bank into position. After multiple bad casts I landed one the drifted perfectly to the fish. I was shocked to see it grab the worm. I set the hook as I handed the rod to Gunnar. The fish turned downstream splashing in the surface. Gunnar struggled to fight the fish as he laughed at the way it took line and splashed. After a couple minutes he managed to get it to the shoreline. I ran down the bank and grabbed it for him. He was ecstatic to have caught the biggest fish of his life and be the first person in our family to catch a steelhead from the creek.
He ran up to the house to get his mom so she could take our picture. After a quick picture we returned it to the water and watched it swim away.
We then returned the bobber to the line and proceeded to catch multiple shinners and horned dace. After all they were our target species when we headed to the creek. Gunnar later told me he had a great day at “fish work” and wanted to do it again next year. Given the circumstances take your kid to work day couldn’t have gone better.
Gunnar’s first steelhead and the rod he caught it on. Gunnar even let Beckett catch a couple
I had a few free hours this afternoon so I decided to head to the DSR thinking it was the last day my season pass was good. I was wrong it had expired yesterday but summer afternoon rate is only $15 so I bought a pass and headed to the river.
The temperature was about 40 degrees and the wind was gusting somewhere in the 30 mph range. Perfect fishing weather, ok maybe not but I had time to fish so that’s what I was going to do. I chose a 9 foot light action spinning rod and a watermelon FLT spinner.
After fishing the wall hole and having a small trout get off the hook I decided to walk up to the Little Black Hole. I figured I would fish my way back down. Just below the Little Black I hooked a nice 2 pound smallie that I landed. Then in the Glide I connected with a beautiful dime bright steelhead. Both fish slammed the Finger Lakes Tackle spinner and both fought awesome on the light rod I was using.
I continued fishing my way back to the stairs where I stopped to write this report as the sun came back out.
Everyone is waiting for the run to turn on and be in full swing. I wish I could report that it was. However, there are fish in the river from top to bottom. More fish and more fishing pressure in the lower half of the river. If you are willing to work for your fish you will catch some. You will also enjoy a few less people on the river than normal for this time of year.
The trick is to get on the river early and pick a spot you believe the fish will be in that morning. If when day light comes the fish are there then game on. If they are not give it an hour or so to make sure they aren’t just down stream of you and headed your way. If they don’t show get in the truck and head to a new spot. Keep moving until you find them. Don’t necessarily follow the crowds. During my trip on Friday we moved to a section of the river that we had to ourselves and we found more than enough fish to keep us busy.
The other option is to hire a drift boat guide that will cover water until you find fish or take you out in mouth of the river at night. I will say as of lately the night fishing still hasn’t been what it should be. I have a feeling by this weekend the run will be on but if it isn’t follow these steps and you will find enough fish to keep you happy.
That’s right Salmon Season will be here in just a couple weeks. The DSR is reporting a few very early fish spotted in the river. I have not seen any myself or heard of any being hooked yet. This is normal for mid August.
The lake guys continue to catch some very nice fish down on our end of the lake. Which is a very good sign for our upcoming river season. Captain Chris Yard of Irish Knots Sport Fishing had some very trips this past week and weekend. If you are looking for a lake charter I highly recommend Chris. However if you are looking for a trip this year it may be tough to find a date he has left open. Still well worth giving him a call. His info can be found at http://www.irishknotsfishing.com.
If you are looking for a river trip I do have some prime dates still open however they are filling up fast. If you have a date you want call now. If I am not available I have a great network of guides I work with and I will get you on the water. Most people are wondering how this season will be after the tough season we saw last year. I can’t promise anything but judging by the way the lake is fishing I think it is going to be a good year. Last year at this time the lake guys were having a lot of trouble locating fish and that is not the case this year.
Don’t forget if you are looking for lodging contact Tailwater Lodge. It is an upscale fishing lodge located right in Altmar, NY. You will not only be staying the nicest rooms in the area, you will also have access to private river frontage on one of the best holes in the river. They also have an amazing restaurant and bar serving up delicious meals and ice cold drinks. I will include some pictures in this post for those that haven’t seen it. Check out their website at http://www.tailwaterlodge.com Also if you are fishing with me you get a discounted room rate. Just let them know when you book.
Don’t forget call soon if you want a chance to fish out of my brand new Pavati drift boat. They are by far the nicest boat on the market. Check them out at http://www.pavatimarine.com
I had the pleasure of fishing with Joe and Natalie today from Altmar to Pinneville. We started at the Schoolhouse pool where were Natalie caught here first ever steelhead a nice 9 pounder that put up a good fight. Joe also hook into a very good fish that would have been his first ever fish on the centerpin if it hadn’t made a hard run right at the boat and broke off.
Overall the fishing was slow today. We hooked five and only brought the one to the net. Most people we talked to on the way down had little or no luck. This time of year can be very hit or miss. The fish are in prespawn mood and the bite is either on or off. Today was mostly off. Actually all of our hook ups came at our first stop. We tried almost everything, beads, sacks, jigs, plastics, and plugs. The best bait was plastics today.
In another week or two the fishing will really heat up as the fish spawn and head back to the lake. Looking at the snow pack along the river and up on the hill we are going to have high water right into May again this year. I am going to offer Walleye and Steelhead combo trips the first week of May. Walleye at night and steelhead during the day. Call for details.
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