Krux5506

I guess I get sick jollies when I'm leisure fishing on my home port among tournament guys who are often extremely rude (fishing within casting distance of my boat, cutting me off, etc) and I'm catching fish and they aren't. Sometimes it's funny when those types of people see you catch fish and all of the sudden they want to be your best buddy. Truth is though, I'm always friendly to people on the water, but often times it's not mutual until someone sees that maybe you might know what you're doing.

I've heard a couple tales of guys killing it back there frogging, but I always had my doubts. J, have you put any time into fishing Blind Sodus Bay? As of last year during all the high water, the bay has been breached since then on the north west shore but I haven't gone back there at all this year. The few times I've fished it didn't pay off too well.

lol thats a bummer, I've actually never fished the pond but have always been curious. I'm too chicken to bring my boat into there.

Thanks J. Fair Haven is actually east of Port Bay, and typically I head east out of Fair Haven toward Oswego. Sometimes I fish the bluffs between FH and Port Bay but I always find myself wanting to go east. There is some nice areas out of Port Bay though. Not sure if the lake will be cooperative by the weekend with the wind we've been having but I'm itching to get out there.

Still trying to dial in the smallies out of Fair Haven in the lake. Early season is a piece of cake. Post spawn things start to be a little less predictable, and my lack of experience of fishing those deep 30ft+ areas becomes apparent. I'm finding the shallower water is still holding the cookie cutter bass. The ones that are fun enough to catch here and there but not doing too well with locating those bigger fish. Perhaps this is where side imaging could help me out a bit...

Cfrye is dead on. We have no shortage of great spots in upstate NY so dont limit yourself boat wise!

The canal is what usually ends up being my "weekday fishing" spot. Like you said, close enough to home and sometimes can be fun. Usually I fish closer to the Ayrault rd launch in Fairport and often times end up with quite a mixed bag of fish. Lots of walleye around there.

Get what you want and just get out and fish!! Most of my buddies are gear nerds and I think it gets a little out of hand sometimes. I can't blame them, the market is designed to lure us in. Sometimes I'm convinced it's gotta be the easiest sport to market to.

a 24v 80# in my opinion will push that boat just fine. I have one on my 17' Lund Rebel which is significantly bigger, and for the past couple years it's served me well. Basically I got the biggest I could find in 24v Minn Kota because I couldn't stand my last Motor Guide. I would've considered a 36v but Don't have the room for those 3 batteries + cranking battery.

I'm on my boat around Fair Haven/Lake O, usually on shore at the canal or occasionally kayak.

I fish outta Fair Haven NY (about 25 mins east of Sodus Bay) every weekend. The fishing continues to be in that normal summer pattern, i.e. finesse fishing mostly for me anyway. Decent numbers I guess but not finding the quality I have in years past. Ben, I see you're from Palmyra. I fished the canal out there last week with not much success. I didn't quite have the patience with how hot it was the day I was out there. Fished that Canal Park right outside of Macedon, at the mouth of that spillway. Only got into pike and small bass.

I fish for "fun" and even that can stress me out at times when I can't get bass dialed in! I'll fish a tournament here or there for the heck of it but definitely do not consider myself a tournament fisherman. Fishing is my #1 hobby but I can NOT imagine if my livelihood depended on it. As others have already said, I've learned to keep my hobbies and business interests separate. I need hobbies to help me unwind in my free time, not to make me extra money.

I'm not overly knowledgeable on most of the current pros and never really followed it all too closely however I do think Al Linder (all the Linders really) deserve a mention. I admire their love for multi species fishing and particularly bass fishing.

We had 40+ MPH winds at our cottage yesterday and there were a few bass boats out, maybe a tournament because I cant see why anyone would've wanted to leisure fish in that wind. Usually on days like that I just stay in. I have a few dents in my Lund from trying to dock the boat in conditions like that. Aluminum, a full windsheild and wind don't mix all that well. I think the wind makes the fishing good, but the boating awful. To answer your question, this is when I use my Talon a lot, and try to do so in areas I know are weedy/soft bottom because using it in rocky/gravel locations with that much wind can be painful hearing that thing scraping along rocks. They hold way better in softer conditions. I'll usually throw spinnerbaits/swimbaits in the wind and in some spots from shore I've had success throwing chatterbaits in those choppy conditions.

No worries man just sharing the advice that I couldn't believe took me so long to figure out for myself! Nice fish too, now get ready for a 4lber and it will look surreal when you pull it outta the water.

Set your camera up in selfie mode and set a timer. Prop the camera against something, hold the bass up and get a decent pic! it's always tough to tell the size of fish from just holding them out like you did and snapping a pic. I'm only telling you this because for some reason it took me a long time to figure it out for myself and I let some PB's go with no pics.

True, that is a good indication regarding the voltage reading on the fish finder. The only way I'm measuring 100% on mine is based on what the charger is indicating.

The thing about fishing and I will say specifically bass fishing is because it's so addicting and theres a plethora of options as far as baits/lures (not to mention a rod/reel rigged for each technique) there is very much this feeling that I can only assume addicts have where they always want more more more. Therefore the fishing market can capitalize on that so easily. The newest, latest and greatest baits to catch you the most and biggest fish. It's such an easy marketing tactic to a bunch of fishing junkies, lol. I do think the longer you're into the sport, the more you just revert back to the tried and true classics, or whatever baits and lures you have come to be the most comfortable and successful with. It's easier to pass up those brand new $20 lures when you already know what works. At the same time, I always like seeing new stuff hit the market, but I am kinda tough to sell to and it's definitely not because I know everything, it's because I tend to be a cheapskate.

Quite the opposite for me. My cranking battery with the on board charger is usually at 100% within 10 minutes. I also typically am not making long runs. The trolling motor batteries take far longer to reach 100%. Are you sure your alternator is actually putting out a charge?

I got mine this past Xmas and so far so good. The last one I had was some other Minn Kota 2bank, 5 amp per bank charger that I think came on my boat new in 2010. The good news is that one still worked fine 7 years later, so hopefully this new one will hold up many years.

There are so many different kinds of bites that range from the absolutely unmistakable chomp of aggressive bass to a very dainty kind of scoop up in the mouth and swim off type of bite. Both of which can happen when jig fishing. But your best bet if you're wondering specifically with jigs how to detect the bite, just keep fishing them and catching more and more fish. You will get a real good feel for those different kinds of bites in different bodies of water, time of year/weather conditions etc. One thing for me that's so addicting about bass fishing is the variety of methods of catching them, each one often producing a different kind of bite. Like a spinnerbait bite vs ned rig bite.

I think it varies from water to water substantially. I love the classic Heddon lures that I feel like nobody I know even fishes. My old favorite was the Dying Flutter which isn't even made anymore but not that hard to find on ebay sometimes for a decent price. Also the Torpedos are a favorite of mine and have taken many smallies. On certain waters I've had a great smallie bite with buzz baits in choppy conditions. On my home port where I keep my boat, and in Lake Ontario, these methods have never worked for me.

Usually I will troll crankbaits when I'm having trouble finding fish with my usual go-to methods. I don't troll much but sometimes it's nice to change things up and cover water this way.