Post by Gary on Sept 4, 2011 21:21:28 GMT -5
Hi All!
Was out on White Lake this past Thursday and had a great time! The bass were on and I was bringing in 2 pounders on wacky rigged Senkos like they were panfish. One every other cast. The best spot of the day was Three Mile Bay. I just drifted the center of the bay in a lazy easterly breeze and cast out the Senko and reeled 'em in. I was using watermelon/gold fleck on a light action 6 foot spinning rod with 6 lb test line. Now, I'll haul in 2 pounders on light tackle all day long and quite enjoy it, but after a while of that I wanted to play around a bit so I put on the half ounce brown/black Booyah Boo Jig and starting pitching it into holes in the weeds in 8 to 10 feet of water. I started getting some bigger ones then, and lost a few jigs to what I think were pike. Areas around Stewarts's Island, and the weedbeds at the south end of the narrows, closer to the west shore were productive.
After a morning of that I pulled the boat out and headed to Muskrat Lake in search of some northern pike action, and it didn't disappoint. The pike were hungry on Muskrat. Four casts in, at the far west end of the lake at the mouth of the river, and I bring in a nice 4-5 pounder. Not much other action there so I moved to the weed bed off the point on the southern shore near the middle of the lake and start there. I don't know the name of the point, but it's just across from the lone rock where the seagulls like to...umm...sit.
That area was loaded with big hungry pike and I nailed one after the other for a good hour on an orange Mepps Aglia #4. After they calmed down a bit and the sun started to hide behind some clouds I started throwing a white 3/8 ounce buzz bait and they took to that. If you've ever seen the show on the Discovery Channel during Shark Week where the Great Whites were breaching the water with their entire bodies when attacking those fake seals....well, that's how the pike were hitting the buzz bait. It was a blast! One of those times you really wished you had someone with you to experience the thrill. Would have made an instant lifer out of any new angler. My poor heart took a beating too as many of them hit close to the boat and scared the bejeezus out of me.
On Friday I decided to try something different and headed down to the US and fished Black Lake, near Ogdensburg. I've been wanting to check out this lake for years and had a nice time there. It wasn't overly busy, nor is it overly developed and hit on some really nice pike in the far south end of the lake in weed beds around islands and shoals, in about 5 feet of water. The bass were on the deep weed edge, in around 8 feet of water.
Pike seemed to be everywhere. The lake is quite shallow with heavy vegetation so they have a lot of room to roam, and the bass seemed to be in the bays on the North end of the lake with close access to the main channel. Mitchell Bay, the island north of Mitchell Bay, and Upper Big Bay were productive spots. Black Lake is a place I think I'd like to check out in the fall as the pike fishing there is said to be very good and I caught some dandy's in the 6 pound range. I'm told over 10 pounds is common and over 15 pounds is a very real possibility. I did have a follow, at one point, that looked to me to be a medium sized musky. I didn't get a real good look at it, but I saw a general length, and reddish fins...
Anyhow, that's it for now. I'm looking forward to some great fall fishing as our finned quarry starts fattening up for winter. Tight lines!
Was out on White Lake this past Thursday and had a great time! The bass were on and I was bringing in 2 pounders on wacky rigged Senkos like they were panfish. One every other cast. The best spot of the day was Three Mile Bay. I just drifted the center of the bay in a lazy easterly breeze and cast out the Senko and reeled 'em in. I was using watermelon/gold fleck on a light action 6 foot spinning rod with 6 lb test line. Now, I'll haul in 2 pounders on light tackle all day long and quite enjoy it, but after a while of that I wanted to play around a bit so I put on the half ounce brown/black Booyah Boo Jig and starting pitching it into holes in the weeds in 8 to 10 feet of water. I started getting some bigger ones then, and lost a few jigs to what I think were pike. Areas around Stewarts's Island, and the weedbeds at the south end of the narrows, closer to the west shore were productive.
After a morning of that I pulled the boat out and headed to Muskrat Lake in search of some northern pike action, and it didn't disappoint. The pike were hungry on Muskrat. Four casts in, at the far west end of the lake at the mouth of the river, and I bring in a nice 4-5 pounder. Not much other action there so I moved to the weed bed off the point on the southern shore near the middle of the lake and start there. I don't know the name of the point, but it's just across from the lone rock where the seagulls like to...umm...sit.
That area was loaded with big hungry pike and I nailed one after the other for a good hour on an orange Mepps Aglia #4. After they calmed down a bit and the sun started to hide behind some clouds I started throwing a white 3/8 ounce buzz bait and they took to that. If you've ever seen the show on the Discovery Channel during Shark Week where the Great Whites were breaching the water with their entire bodies when attacking those fake seals....well, that's how the pike were hitting the buzz bait. It was a blast! One of those times you really wished you had someone with you to experience the thrill. Would have made an instant lifer out of any new angler. My poor heart took a beating too as many of them hit close to the boat and scared the bejeezus out of me.
On Friday I decided to try something different and headed down to the US and fished Black Lake, near Ogdensburg. I've been wanting to check out this lake for years and had a nice time there. It wasn't overly busy, nor is it overly developed and hit on some really nice pike in the far south end of the lake in weed beds around islands and shoals, in about 5 feet of water. The bass were on the deep weed edge, in around 8 feet of water.
Pike seemed to be everywhere. The lake is quite shallow with heavy vegetation so they have a lot of room to roam, and the bass seemed to be in the bays on the North end of the lake with close access to the main channel. Mitchell Bay, the island north of Mitchell Bay, and Upper Big Bay were productive spots. Black Lake is a place I think I'd like to check out in the fall as the pike fishing there is said to be very good and I caught some dandy's in the 6 pound range. I'm told over 10 pounds is common and over 15 pounds is a very real possibility. I did have a follow, at one point, that looked to me to be a medium sized musky. I didn't get a real good look at it, but I saw a general length, and reddish fins...
Anyhow, that's it for now. I'm looking forward to some great fall fishing as our finned quarry starts fattening up for winter. Tight lines!
