The Legends of The Fall

The fall is quickly approaching in Upstate NY, and while to a lot of people that means deer hunting and the (sadly) having to prepare to put your boat away for winter.  But before any of that is the promise that serious bass anglers know and love:  this is the best time of year to catch lunker bass.

It's often believed by many that the best time to catch bass is during the spawn.  While it's true that fish are easy to find when guarding eggs, the cool temperatures of September and October offer up the most productive fishing you'll find all year if you know where to go and what to do.  Right now the water temperature at Oneida Lake is 64 degrees in the main lake (the section in the middle that resembles a riverbed when you look at it closely), and 60 degrees in the bays that are 11 feet deep and less.  The initial cold snap will make the bite very tough, but after that it ignites a feeding frenzy that is unlike any other time of year.

This is the time to get out your jigs, your tubes, your jerkbaits, and throw your spinnerbaits all day long when there's a little chop on the water.  If there are deep creeks feeding your lake you can find largemouth there chasing shad.  Main lake points and secondary points in these creeks are great places to start right now, with fish moving further in as the weather gets colder.  As we move further into October the secondary points will be more and more productive at places like Smith Mountain and the Potomac River.  In places like the Chenango or Susquehanna River, smallmouth are moving back into the shallow water feeding areas and they can be highly aggressive.  White 1/2 oz spinnerbaits with tandem blades or firetiger crankbaits and deadly.

In other places that don't resemble river systems like Oneida or Cayuga Lake you can find fish in the same places you find them in the spring:  rocky points, isolated rock piles, and riprap banks are great places to throw jerkbaits or crayfish imitation lures.  It's also considered the best time to throw umbrella rigs, though they're highly controversial and people rarely seem to be without some sort of opinion on the ethics of throwing them; rarely can anyone debate their effectiveness this time of year.  Slightly less controversial yet nearly as productive is the Carolina rig, which is always great to throw when the leaves are changing colors.

So if you can keep your boat out of storage a little longer, and your bow in the case for just a few more weeks, you might find yourself rewarded with one of the best days you've ever had on the water.

Good luck!

Me at Oneida Lake, September 28, 2013

Fishing Report: Chenango River 9/8/13

Got a chance to get out and hit the Chenango River for a little bit last night.  Rather than float, I prefer to run to what I consider to be my favorite 5 holes that I know have a history of producing the most quality fish for me in the 20+ years I've been fishing there.

I started near Greene, on Hogsback Road.  This has always been one of my favorite holes to look at, but has produced very little.  Why I keep going there is beyond me, lol.  It has all the makings for a fabulous smallmouth location:  current, depth, rocks.  For whatever reason, they don't like it.  This particular evening was no different.  After about 25 minutes I'm on my way to location #2.

Because I'm starting to wonder if the current cold snap is going to have an impact on the fish, I decide to skip right to my two favorite locations in Oxford.  The first one is a bust.  This really hurts, as I can usually get at least one smallie here 98% of the time.  I spend nearly an hour here.  I'm throwing the new Storm Arashi crankbait in the red craw pattern (I first saw this lure when it was still a prototype while fishing with my friend Brandon Palaniuk who helped design it), and a Yellow Hammer Rig in Hammertime Shad 5 wire, bladed rig, dressed with 4 inch Yum Money Hollowbelly Minnows.  Two VERY different presentations, and neither of them produce anything.  Blanking here has me concerned, but not defeated.  I know I saved my favorite spot for last.

And luckily it's not far away.  I'm able to get there in about ten minutes and within 20 minutes I feel my first bend of the rod.  It's a heavy fish, but not fighting nearly hard enough to be a smallmouth.  I bring the fish to the shore and see it's roughly a 4 lb walleye.  I had not expected that fish to eat the Storm lure, but it tells me I'm throwing the right bait and I quickly get it back in the water.  I'm throwing into a current, bringing the bait downstream where it meets a back-current, and again I hook up.  This time it's a slightly harder fight, but again, not a smallmouth, but another walleye, this one pushing the 5 lb mark!  I get another, then another, and soon it's pretty clear that I've found a heavy school of these fish.  While I'm happy to be catching fish, they're not the reason why I came.

I pick up my YH rig and heave it out there.  It's not a light thing to throw, and it's a much larger presentation, but the results are the same and I pull one walleye after another until dark.  No smallmouth.

If you're a walleye lover, the Chenango is on fire right now.  If you're like me, then you'll hope the next time out is better for the smallmouth.  Good luck!