Fishing Saturday 6/20 ...
Greetings!
Went fishing (Westchester County) and the bite was really finicky. Wanted to beat the predicted bad weather by starting early but that didn't happen. First, nearby bait shop is no longer so had to drive an extra 12 miles or so to another. Returned to the lake, started unpacking, unlocked and moved my boat only to learn that I had the wrong plug for it!!! ... Off to the bait & tackle shop again...
Returned and hit the water. First thing I noticed (I had been doing lots of saltwater fishing, so 2nd time this year at the lake), water level was down quite a bit! ... Grass and lillypads all over the place! ... next thing... water temp was 76 degrees! Water temp was higher than current temp as it was overcast and somewhat cool. Mild breeze but overall calm. Fished spots known spots that produce .... NOTHING! .... moved around... switched lures. figured I'd throw a red head-chartreuse tailed stinger... BAM! .. bluegill! ... small. Keep using lure ... BAM! ... Bass (bass season opened that day) ... small ... pretty much continued like that. All throwbacks.
Moved to another part.... BAM! .. Crappie!!! ... flutters near the boat and spits hook. No real size to it, but would've been a keeper. Trolling slowly (1 on Enduro 46#) .. Another hit... Crappie! ... managed to land it. Very thin (post spawn thin). Keeper size. This pretty much continued (very few keepers - more gills than crappies - probably 3-1 ratio) for the next 2 hours then came the rain.
Headed back to where I put my boat in the water (I was across the lake) and the rain started to let up. So I began fishing again. Bass! .. released. Bass... released ... Bass ... released! ... kept moving hitting pockets in the pads. I then decided to fish deeper (using a float). That seemed to work as I caught a few crappies.
Overall, kept 1 dozen crappies, 3 gills and released 10 small bass (not counting the crappies that fluttered off my hook!)
I will post a pic from my phone as to what I was dealing with. Always have a great time fishing!!! .. will probably hit the water again this weekend before my saltwater trip.
V
