Winter Fishing Lock 23 in Brewerton, NY, February 21, 2016

Today we went to Lock 23 in Brewerton. There is a back road that gets you close to the lock and has several picnic tables near the water to put gear on. It was clearly a popular spot because there were tons of minnows strewn every where. Today 4 wheel drive had to be on to access it.

Within five minutes of casting I had a 21 inch pickerel caught on a number 6 hook with worm set up. He was super feisty. 

Despite several attempts, there were no other bites during the day. The times I have caught pickerel, I tend not to catch any panfish, probably because the panfish are staying far away from the pickerel. We tried both sides of the lock and didn't get any other bites for the day. Worms, live minnows, and salted minnows were used.

Fayetteville's Secret: Limestone Creek, January 15, 2016

There are three creeks near Syracuse that have areas of all year round trout fishing: Butternut Creek, Chittenango Creek, and Limestone Creek. Butternut and Chittenango have DEC parking pull offs in the year round area, Limestone does not. Even though fly fishers have caught some of the biggest brown trout in Limestone and it is heavily stocked, there is barely anything online about it. There is access to it under Route 5 in Fayetteville and behind Brooklea Drive near the city buildings. I recently discovered another area, where Highbridge Street and Highbridge Road meet. There is even a very small DEC public fishing rights sign you will see if you park on the side of the road and a path between the rocks to walk down to a platform.

It was cold out and mid-day so if there were fish here, they weren't responding. There is a little falls drop off that leads to much faster water. I fished in the calmer section as the drop off is not easily accessible from here.

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.