BassinCNY

The ice is off but I'm not going out until it warms up a little more. Probably mid to late April for me.

I just checked and I fished Otisco last May 4th. The surface water temps were 49 in the morning and had warmed to 54 by mid afternoon. There was spawning going on.

Chain pickerel are my favorite fish to eat too. Definitely not my favorite to clean though. I usually use a white spinner bait with a metal leader. If you enjoy catching pickerel you should make a trip up to Oneida lake.

I wear prescription bifocals and use Foster Grant Solar Shields. You choose the appropriate size and shape to clip on your glasses. I like them because they come on and off easily and store in a pfd pocket. My wife prefers contacts and bifocal sunglasses.

My first thought was just tell them to stop whining and have fun fishing. Then I thought handicap but it might be too difficult to keep track of. I'd go with door prizes and a fun award for last place. A funny hat or something.

Wow. You aren't that far from me and I've caught just about everything that swims in our local lakes while targeting bass. The only local fish I can think of that I haven't caught targeting bass are salmon, rainbow and brook trout. The memorable ones were a huge carp. Definitely the heaviest fish I've ever caught. I somehow hooked him with a texas rigged trick worm in the eye socket. It took about a half hour to fight him on 8 lb test line and get him unhooked. Amazingly his eye seemed fine. Then there was the 40" tiger musky on a tube on that same 8 lb fluoro. That was a mean and very unhappy fish. I was surprised the first time I caught a gar on a crankbait. I think the most beautiful fish I've ever caught are spawning male bowfin. I know where they spawn now and I reluctantly stay away.

Exactly. My really happy is plinking a steel chicken target at 30 yards.

Sorry to hear your problems. I bought one a few months ago too just as an impulse purchase. I went with the cheap $160 plain Jane model though. I've only taken it out plinking a few times but I've been really happy with it. I took off the cheap scope it came with and just use the iron sights. They were right on out of the box. All I had to do was adjust the elevation one notch. I've only put a few hundred rounds through it but so far so good.

I'm very sorry.

I'm fortunate and I know it. 5 minute drive if I hit the one traffic light to where I fish the most which is the Seneca river. It's great fishing until they spray it in July. Then it's a 10 minute drive to Onondaga lake but they spray that too so it's a 15 minute drive to the closest launch on Oneida but I usually drive another 15 minutes to my preferred launch. I have a bunch of lakes within an hour of me. I'm really happy here.

Some sink and some float. I don't know how to tell the difference in the packages. I usually use black and they sink at the same rate as a green pumpkin yum dinger. I know this because I was curious about the action and fall rate of some baits and I did a tank test. They work great on a shakeyhead and are effective when drop shotted too.

I'm red green colorblind too. 70% of all soft plastics and jigs look like they're the exact same color to me. I keep all baits in their original packaging as much as possible. It's funny you mention your friend using nothing but Rapala. I have recently been thinking about doing the exact same thing. I'd have to make an exception for Lucky Craft squarebills though.

I'd go with a green pumpkin colored multipurpose jig for both. 3/8 th ounce for skipping, swimming and pitching for largemouth and 1/2 ounce to go a little deeper for smallies. If I was also limited to one trailer it would be a black speed craw.

I have the same problem. I decided to rig everything weedless on a light wire worm hook with a keeper. I might get less hook ups but I get a higher percentage to the boat. I'm still deciding on what hook works best for me.

I agree. It doesn't bother me at all to lose a fish. I look at it as a learning experience. Especially from a dialling in the tackle perspective. The exception is if I'm in the running for a tournament win. Then it really bothers me. If I'm middle of the pack it doesn't bother me nearly as much.

Nothing too odd for me. I've learned to be careful around birds after a duck grabbed a crankbait. And a few snapping turtles.

I would say the reduction in acid rain is one of the great environmental success stories in this area. I remember when some of the Adirondack lakes and ponds were totally fishless due to the problem. Something that was seen as a threat to bass but seems to actually be a boon is the goby. Instead of them eating all the bass eggs the bass are eating them.

I don't like this game either, but my only largemouth over 4 pounds was caught on a green pumpkin vibrating jig that I was yo yo'ing in and out of the top of weeds on a spawning flat. The weeds topped out at about 3 feet in 7 feet of water.

A special bait only I know about. 5" green pumpkin black flake senko.

The indispensable Gamakatsu's for me are their standard and Superline EWG's.

I know what just went on my Christmas list!

Prayers sent.

This thread sparked my curiosity about Canandaigua. I've fished the lakes all around it but never Canandaigua. Based on the latest NYS DEC fish survey https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/115267.html I don't think I will any time soon. Unless I want perch.

I think the first bass fishing video I watched was Greg Blanchard. I still enjoy his videos. Of course Bass Resource. I recently found YourLakeForkGuide and have been enjoying those videos. Also The Nature of Fishing, NDYakAngler, Roland Martin Outdoors and Aj Lynn. I obviously have a preference for the more low key guys.

I don't fish either of those two baits but I do fish 4" flukes which are similar to the dreamshot. My favorite colors are, in order of effectiveness, green pumpkin, white and minnow (dark back light belly). I am much more likely to drop shot a finesse worm or a trick worm, which is more like the roboworm. My favorite colors in order are black, green pumpkin purple and red bug. I rig them weedless on light wire offset worm hooks. 2/0 for the finesse worms and 3/0 for the trick worms.