Trout Fishing at Butternut Creek, LaFayette, NY, December 4, 2015

Between route 20 in LaFayette and Chittenango Creek, trout fishing is open all year round at Butternut Creek. There are four DEC access points with parking near LaFayette, some you have to use coordinates in your GPS to even find. Today I went to a couple of them to try a little afternoon trout fishing.

One of the areas is down a secluded dirt road next to what looks like an unlived in house. I've been to this access area before and it was interesting to see the difference between the beginning of Fall and Winter. When I went in the Fall, I got several bites from very small trout. This time, the water was faster, brush on the bank had died down making access easier, but no bites. However when I went to the access area near route 20, I had better luck. Using my favorite ultra light Shakespeare spincast pole with 4 pound line, a very small split shot, swivel and worm on a number 8 hook, I caught a nice 15 inch brown trout. 

I continued to fish and caught another smaller brown trout that hopped off as I pulled it to the bank. It wasn't too cold, only 45 degrees out with no wind. There was no one else at any of the sites I went to. 

Fall Walleye Fishing on Oneida Lake, November 24-28, 2015

Fall is the time to go shore walleye fishing. Walleye are storing up on minnows that are in the shallows in preparation for Winter. There are many documented areas around Oneida Lake to shore fish but I think the best is Sylvan Beach. When I went to the DEC access site under Route 81 in Brewerton, the few fishers having luck were out on the dark rocks getting hit with very cold wind and water and they obviously knew where to stand and weren't giving up those spots as long as walleye were hitting. I also tried Chapman Park and had no luck there and was told by other guys there that when walleyes are hitting, you have to wait for a spot on the pier to even fish. It is already dark, late at night, and freezing cold, why would I want to wait for a spot to stand? If I can't use a little skill by picking a spot myself, it doesn't seem worth it to me. I haven't tried any spots on the North side of the lake so I can't speak for them.

Even if forty people are at Sylvan Beach, they still don't come close to filling up fishing spots on the canal wall at the opening of the Erie Canal and Oneida Lake. There are coveted spots for sure, on the South Side of the canal wall under the bridge where a portion of the Canal juts off South and the other end of the wall where waders walk out into the Canal. On the North side of the canal it is under the bridge and at the end of the other end of the wall before you hit the seasonal "no trespassing" area where the city has taken down the chained fenced area (seen in picture below).

I've learned a few things about fishing for walleye at Sylvan Beach. When I talked to a guy at Chapman Park, he showed me his lure, a 4 inch silver and black minnow that he painted red near the gills on it to imitate an injured minnow. Everything I read about Oneida Lake also said to mimic the minnows. However, this has not worked for me. I've noticed at Sylvan Beach you have the live minnowers, the crank/stick baiters, and the jiggers. My first night there I used an "injured" minnow stickbait for two hours on the North side of the wall. I was about ready to give up when I noticed the guy across from me pulling up walleye from jigging. I had a second pole in the car already rigged with a split shot, swivel, and #4 hook so I added a chartreuse Gulp fry to the hook. I wasn't expecting much but after the first cast and fourth jig, I got a hit. I pulled up a nice 15 inch walleye, keeper.

The guys next to me on the end of the wall at the canal opening left so I went jigging there. I pulled up two more walleye about 12 inchers and released them.  I think there is something about the rig where there is no jig head and the weight is coming from the split shot which is up higher. It makes the fry wiggle in front of the fish in a more suspended way than a jig with a head on it which is meant to mimic something feeding off the bottom. Another thing to note is I was there much later than everyone else. People started leaving around 10 pm and I didn't start catching anything until then. Both times I came earlier and left around 8 pm, I didn't have any bites.

One of the nights I went and didn't have any bites I kept wondering why the guys next to me were staring at the water with their headlamps. All I could think is they are going to scare away the light sensitive walleye. When I moved closer to the more lit areas near the bridge I saw what they were staring at, thousands and thousands of minnows. It was unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it. I didn't notice the minnows the night I caught the three walleye but did notice them the nights I didn't catch any and the people around me caught very few. How are we going to catch any walleyes when they have a smorgasbord of minnows extending the entire length of the canal to feed on? Here is the best picture of the minnows I could take. This is an area of maybe just two- three feet and it looked like this the entire extent of the wall.

So between the comfort of the 24 hour lit wall (vs. climbing on dark rocks under Route 81), the more than ample parking spaces, the beautiful sunset and relative quiet (under Route 81 is hard to enjoy when all you hear is cars driving overhead), and actual fish catching, Sylvan Beach will remain my go-to walleye spot until ice fishing starts. I have a collection of some of the most incredible pictures from fishing here during different times of the year. 

Fall Fishing the Erie Canal for Chain Pickerel, October 23, 2015

Tonight I went fishing at the Erie Canal in Fayetteville, NY. It was around 50 degrees and about 5 pm. I started with a spinning reel, medium action, 10 lb line, float (because it is weedy and you want to get your hook back), split shot, swivel, #6 hook and worm.

My expectation was to maybe catch some LM bass (they tend to be good sized here) and some bluegill. I have had occasional carp hit and later in the night, bullheads (see previous posts). I don't fish with light poles or line here because of the carp. When I first cast, I didn't like where it landed so I reeled in. While reeling in a large fish swam fast right in front of me and tried to hit the worm. So, I cast and reeled in a little slower a few more times. About the fourth cast, I felt a big hit. I reeled it in and caught a really nice chain pickerel. It was a big surprise because of the size hook I was using and small bait but it must have thought the worm traveling fast through the water was a small fish. 

I continued to fish and got a few small bites but nothing like I normally get. The bluegill are so many in this area that normally I waste tons of worms on them but I'm guessing that they were somewhere else tonight since this pickerel was in there. I did manage to catch a medium sized Bass though.

Great night fishing the canal. Not too cold that it was unbearable and beautiful foliage. 

Fishing for Bass in the Erie Canal during the Supermoon Lunar Eclipse, September 27, 2015

Tonight we were fishing at the Erie Canal in Central New York and as my previous posts have talked about, I've learned to bring a medium to medium-heavy pole with at least 10 lb line to the canal. If you are using worms, you don't know if you will pull up a bullhead, panfish, bass, or a huge carp. The rig I usually set up is split shot above a swivel with a #4 hook, worm and bobber. I put the bobber up high enough that it still sends the worm to the bottom but when I reel it in, it floats the worm so I actually get my rig back and it doesn't get caught on weeds. Tonight we were fishing right before dark, before the Supermoon Lunar Eclipse became visible. The canal was lit with a beautiful sundown hue and it felt oddly energetic in the air.

I've learned to recognize the signs of a bluegill or pumpkinseed that is sucking on the worm but hasn't or can't (because I'm using a #4) get the hook in its mouth. The bobber starts to move erratically and may even bob underwater. It is very annoying when you aren't targeting panfish because I am not using a hook that will easily catch them so the worm isn't in the water long enough to attract a bullhead or carp and gets stolen by the panfish shortly after I cast and if you do catch it, it is usually small. We did manage to catch a decent sized pumpkinseed though.

During one of my small panfish reel ins, I apparently attracted the attention of a large turtle (remember that strange energy I was talking about? I've fished the canal tons of times and never even seen a turtle). The turtle was so interested it followed the fish up to the shore and when it saw me is buried itself underwater in the dirt. After I tossed the fish back in, it started following me in the water with its head and getting closer to me. After a while it head back out into the deeper water.

The big catch for the night was a really nice sized largemouth bass. We left shortly after it got dark, probably right before the bullheads started feeding.

Fishing for Trout in Butternut Creek, Lafayette, NY, September 24, 2015

I'm not a big trout/stream fisher but I like how beautiful the creeks are when you find a remote spot. Butternut Creek, just South of Jamesville, has several spots like this. Here is a map: http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/r7buttnutpfr.pdf

The first spot I went to was off of Colton Road. It is surrounded by posted signs with a small DEC public parking area and access that really is only good for wading. Next, I went down farther to a strange gravel road off of Apuila Road. I wasn't sure if it was right because it wasn't marked and looked like someone's driveway but down the road is DEC Public parking and fishing access. I had to put in GPS coordinates based on google maps to find it.

There is a bridge where one side is posted and the other is public access. The public access area only leaves room for a couple of people unless you wade or walk down a path farther. 

It was a very beautiful and secluded area but the fishing was annoying. Only small brown trout were biting and they were so small and so many of them that I lost a ton of trout worms without catching fish because they were nipping at the worm as soon as I cast and pulling it off the hook (even with a #8 hook). I did catch a couple of small brown trout.

I brought my four foot, ultralight pole and still had to be careful casting to not get caught up in brush. Now I understand why some people bring ice fishing poles to shore fish creeks. It was a beautiful afternoon and so peaceful being away from people and on the creek.

Fishing the Erie Canal in Fayetteville, NY, September 22, 2015

From 4 pm -7 pm, I fished the Erie Canal tonight at Manlius Center Road and Green Lakes Road. I got a new underspin spincast reel with ten pound line and attached it to my medium-heavy spinning pole. The reason I wanted an underspin is I love my spinning rod but hate trying to mess with the spinning reel when it is dark out. If you don't have just the right weight lure (which I switch lures a lot) you can get tangles. The rig I set up was a bobber, large split shot about 6 inches above a swivel and a number 4 hook with a canadian nightcrawler. I got a few bluegill and two good sized largemouth bass.

I eventually ran out of worms so I tried a top water popper and didn't get any interest. I switched to a gulp chartreuse crawler and caught a large amount of pumpkinseeds and bluegill. At about 7pm, the fish slowed down in their bites so just for the fun of it, I tied on a fly and caught panfish that were still trying to get flies on the surface. 

Fishing Nine Mile Creek, Marcellus, NY, September 21, 2015

Two of us went fishing at Nine Mile Creek, one fly fishing, one worm fishing, both had a great time. There are several pull offs between Camillus and Marcellus but we went to areas with shore access since I was not wading in. Here is a map of the creek with access points: http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/r7ninempfr.pdf.  First we went to near where Route 174 and Martisco Road meet. Most of the people we met were fly fishing but we met a man at this location that was using a spinning rod. We headed down near the bridge and started there.

I brought one of my favorite poles that I can only use for creek fishing or panfish, my shakespeare ultralight spincast with 4lb line. I put on a small bobber, a couple of small splitshot spaced about 6 inches apart, swivel, #8 hook, and trout worm. I found a nice ledge to let the worm slide over and under the rocks below the rapids. 

We didn't get any bites even though the man we met along the way had a few brown trout on his stringer. We drove a little farther south on 174 to the next parking area with shore access. I found a beautiful ledge where I could cast my bait into the rapids to my right and it was carried right under the shelf. I had to remove the bobber to do this other wise it just continued to float right past the shelf. 

I haven't trout fished in years so I was thrown off by the small bites (I'm used to panfish sucking on the worm and nipping at the bobber a bit before being ready to set the hook) so I missed a few opportunities to set the hook. When I set the hook right away, I pulled up a sucker.

We met a couple of other people that were fly fishing that said someone caught a 16 inch trout out from under the ledge the night before. We did not catch any trout but witnessed a beautiful jump for a fly by a trout.

Fishing Carp and Bass in the Erie Canal, September 14, 2015

If you search "Erie Canal" in my blog, you will find that we have recently discovered this as a great fishing spot (between Dewitt and Fayetteville). We drove past it so many times and thought it was so narrow, it probably only has panfish, and boy were we wrong. The first night we went, I brought my ultralight pole with 4 lb line and caught 5-6 bullheads and lost several other larger fish that broke my line. The next time I brought my medium light pole with 6 lb line (which I have never needed more than this for shore fishing) and lost two very large fish that broke my line. This time we both brought heavy poles with 10-15 lb line and we are glad we did.

We caught our normal assortment of bluegills at first. When we ran out of worms we switched to top water poppers. Two largemouth bass were caught including this big guy.

While we were using worms, I had rigged the poles with #4 hooks (which didn't stop us from catching small fish like I was hoping it would), two split shot spaced about 6 inches apart, and a bobber/float. I caught a decent bullhead on the rig.

But the big catch of the night was a large carp. 

Fishing Cedar Bay Park and the Erie Canal, Dewitt, NY, September 11, 2015

Every time I drove Route 481 I wondered what this area was and how to get to it, because you can't get to it from 481. There is designated parking for the Erie Canal trail on Butternut drive off of Kinne Road in Dewitt. The trail starts at the intersection of Butternut Creek and the Canal.

Butternut Creek looked really shallow but really nice. You could climb down a bank to it but I don't think you would get much without waders.

Butternut Creek

It was around 4 pm on a Friday and very busy with people walking the trails. It was very shallow in the canal up until the canal started to open up closer to Cedar Bay. I stopped and fished when I saw carp actively feeding. They did not appear interested in the worms I had to offer. I got a few panfish hits (you can tell they are panfish because the bobber just bounces while they are tugging on the worm) but the most productive thing that came out of this was a conversation with a woman who was walking the trail. She stopped to talk to me about the fish and told me her concerns about the paving that was being done to the trail from Dewitt to Fayetteville. She said many people were against it and she could feel a difference in how the pavement made it hotter for walkers since it absorbed the sun. She told me there was about to be a fireman's 5k run down the trail, so I decided to pick up my stuff and leave. I drove back down Kinne Road then up Cedar Bay Road (there are signs pointing you to that area). 

Inside the parking lot, to the right is the boat launch with picnic area including grills, to the left is the picnic area. I went to the boat launch (non-motorized). As you enter the area there is a water advisory sign. I don't know why it is there since the Erie Canal is not listed as a blue green algae infected area on the DEC webpage.

There is room for exactly two people near the shore (paths that enter up to it) and although it looks like a promising pool of water, I got exactly one bite.

Since I wasn't going to end the day without even catching just one little panfish, I thought I'd head toward the canal sections in Fayetteville. When I got there, they were being paved so I went to Green Lakes State Park (mentioned in many of my other posts). I think the fact that swimming is over for the season may have spread out the fish because I normally get a lot of panfish bites and today I got exactly one bite. Luckily it produced a smallmouth bass, my big catch of the day.

Shore Fishing the Erie Canal at Pools Brook in Kirkville, NY, September 10, 2015

I was originally headed to another section of the Erie Canal but when I couldn't find it I stopped and asked a Manlius Police Officer who was sitting along the side of the road. He told me that the section I was looking for is where they have started paving the Erie Canal Trail and that I would be better off going to Pools Brook in Kirkville. He also fishes primarily bass and gave me great information on Onondaga Lake. He said I should go near the dog park at 5 am and use top water lures and I'd catch more smallmouth bass then I'd know what to do with. He also told me to try Butternut Creek near the Dewitt Police Department.

Kirkville was nearby and I'd never been past Green Lakes on Green Lakes Road so I headed in that direction. I found out later Pools Brook is a creek that was diverted toward the Erie Canal, see the following link  http://www.fishonondagacounty.com/about-the-fishing/bodies-of-water/pools-brook/.
I found parking for just two cars (luckily no one else had parked in this area) on the side of the road near the trail. The area near the bridge had good access and looked similar to the area of the Erie Canal we fished last night where we caught panfish early on and bullheads when it got dark out (see link  http://www.fishingcentralny.com/2015/09/fishing-for-bullheads-on-erie-canal-in.html).

Since I made the mistake of bringing my ultralight pole last night, I brought my medium-light spincast pole with 6 lb line today, bobbers, split shot and worms and salted minnows. I really like bringing my cheap, little spincast poles to places like this because even though they aren't smooth to cast and have other issues from time to time, they are great for when you just want something simple. I usually save my spinning and baitcasting poles for lakes, where casting is important. 

I walked down to the larger area of Pools Brook and got out of the weedy, narrow areas of the canal. 

I immediately got wrapped around trees while casting and decided to go back to the clear shore access near the bridge. After catching several panfish near the bridge, I started making my way back to the larger Pools Brook area. I saw carp and bass near the shore but could not get them to do more than just look at my worm. For bass, I know feeding time is much later at night so they'd have to be curious or irritated to hit it. I caught a total of 8-10 pumpkinseed and a couple of bluegill.

I tried #4 hooks in hopes of getting something bigger and the pumpkinseeds were still hitting them and so active, they were swallowing them almost immediately. During the whole afternoon I saw maybe 8 people and only one fisherman which showed up briefly around 5 pm. Someone has a farm nearby because I listened to farm animals all afternoon. It was quite peaceful. When you get up near the opening of Pools Brook there is a small creek on the opposite side of the trail that was nice to listen to.

Fishing for Bullheads on the Erie Canal in Fayetteville, NY, September 9, 2015

Tonight we fished the Erie Canal next to the bridge at Manlius Center Road and Green Lakes Road. There is a parking area with historical information and access to the canal path.

I wasn't expecting anything bigger than panfish so I brought my ultralight pole with 4 lb line. I like this pole for areas like this because it is shorter so I don't need the distance in casting and don't worry about getting it caught in trees. I used a small red and white bobber, small split shot, #6 hook and worms.  It is very weedy so you have to find pockets to cast into. At around 7 pm, we got several hits of small bluegill and pumpkinseeds.

I moved over near the trees and something larger, I thought maybe a bass, broke my line. As it got darker a woman came out of one of the houses and chatted with us about the history of the Erie Canal and told us to try fishing the Limestone Aquaduct, which was about a half a mile walk from where we were on the canal trail. As soon as it got dark, we started catching bullheads. We stayed a couple of hours and caught about 5-6 good sized bullheads.

I lost a total of four larger fish, all breaking my ultralight line. So, I walked to the car and got my medium pole. Sadly, it is so much harder to detect hits. For our next trip, I'll be switching my ultralight pole to 6 lb line so I can continue to use it on the canal but not lose larger fish or bullheads that fight hard like these did. 

Shore Fishing the Jamesville Reservoir, September 5, 2015

The Jamesville Reservoir has accessible fishing at the park area located on the South end and near the dam on the North end. For fishing the North end, I always put the Onondaga County Department of Transportation in the gps and follow the road where it isn't posted. The fishing access area is clearly marked.

Word of caution, it is very weedy near the edges so a float is advised if you want to actually get your lure/hook back. 

I started around 3 pm and was the only one there. By 5 pm on this holiday weekend, the lot was full, mostly of people wanting to swim but not wanting to pay to go to beach inside the park on the South end. First, I started fishing near the dam with no luck. I moved over to a weedy area on a peak shaded by a tree, perfect for fish. I caught a smallmouth bass right away, using a #6 hook with spinner, a split shot, float and worm. 

After that it took about 30-45 in between every bite I got but when I got a bite it was a good one. I got two smallmouth bass and a decent sized bluegill.

Before I left I moved over toward the pooled area but got no hits there. I got a few more small panfish hits before leaving the opposite side of the tree that I had fished earlier. 

Shore Fishing Spruce Pond in Morgan Hill State Forest, September 2, 2015

I found out about Spruce Pond from a fellow I met at Labrador Hollow Unique Area. We found out about Labrador from yet another person. They are both secluded and beautiful, located near Tully, New York. For Spruce Pond we had to put coordinates in the GPS because it was accessible only by a back road.

There is a non-propeller boat launch and plenty of shore access. I only got hits from baby bullheads on the edges near the weeds. It is stocked with trout so I was hoping to catch some. Another fisher told us that all the trout were fished out in the Spring.

Baby Bullhead