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#1 Jul-15-20 9:51AM

Paul Naj
Northern Snakehead
Registered: May-20-08
Posts: 385

3 Days in NY- Long Post

I finally was able to head up to Carmel NY to my brother's lake house for the first time this year because of the Covid pandemic. I drove up Friday night and we hit the water first thing Saturday morning. There was no topwater bite to speak of that morning so we quickly transitioned to a unique style of fishing that we love to do up there. We use our electronics to find schools of alewives and we fish below the schools with blade baits and swim baits for smallmouth and the occasional largemouth that follow the bait schools in 40 to 50 feet of water. We found some schools and the fish were active.

https://i.imgur.com/mr5OpFv.jpg

I landed 8 fish and lost almost as many. We followed the bait and fish for an hour or two with numerous other hits in between. My brother struggled a bit but still picked a few fish. Then, as things were slowing up he hooked up. He said it felt weird and this was why-

https://i.imgur.com/gUejqvD.jpg

The bait scattered so we transitioned to fish weed lines and picked a few largemouth bass throughout the morning. We knocked off for the afternoon with anticipation of the evening bite. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other ideas.

https://i.imgur.com/sozjxCD.jpg

The storms lasted for hours and the evening was a complete washout. About 10 PM, the skies cleared, the wind laid down so we set out to try and get a night bite going. I mostly fished a chatterbait and a wakebait and managed 10 nice largemouths in about an hour and a half or two. It was actually a slow but steady pick until I had 3 fish in 3 casts. We called it a night, tired but happy.

https://i.imgur.com/YGTiVdl.jpg

Sunday in the daylight turned out to be the day I would give back for the trip. We set out by 6:00 am to do the same as Saturday. Again, no top water bite. We transitioned and found bait immediately in the same area as Saturday. I quickly hooked and lost a 3+ lb smallmouth that got free after he jumped nearly 3 feet out of the water. We had trouble getting hits for the next 30 minutes when all of a sudden, the trolling motor died. We headed back home to do some troubleshooting. I opened the head up to find a corroded and broken connector. A quick trip to the hardware store and some careful electrical work and we were back in business after a couple of hours. Unfortunately, the fish were not as eager to play. My brother caught 4 but I drew a skunk for the morning and afternoon. I was able to find tons of bait but the smallmouth had lockjaw after my brother got his 4.

After a little afternoon nap, I hit the water eagerly to get the skunk off. Again the fishing wasn't on fire but I did manage to get two largemouths in the weeds.

https://i.imgur.com/kTnMDDW.jpg

We then got off the water, cooked an amazing dinner and hoped to get the night bite going strong. Here's where the story turns epic.... smile

We set out on the same route as Saturday night but the wind was still blowing and it was a very slow pick. My brother suggested trying a cove that has a huge weed bed and would be protected from the wind. What a great choice. the bait was flipping all over the entire cove and there were fish exploding and slurping actively in them. We proceeded to hammer the fish for two hours straight. Most of my fish were caught on a top water wakebait.

https://i.imgur.com/lXUBaxQ.jpg

In the middle of the frenzy, I decided to break out my brand new 6 weight fly rod that I just bought on the way up to the lake. After a little practice casting in the dark, I hooked and landed two nice bass on a surface fly that I bought for smallmouths earlier this year at a fly fishing show. Top water, on the fly, nice bass, in the dark ... I was in heaven.

https://i.imgur.com/M25FMoO.jpg

I ended up landing 20 healthy and chunky cookie cutter largemouths in 3 hours of fishing. We called it a night, exhausted but happy.

Monday was a work day so we didn't hit the water until 6:00 PM. After trying to find fish in the bait schools and finding no feeding smallmouths again, we decided to return to the cove from the night before and fish the outer edge and I had steady action on a drop shot and landed 7 fish in about 30 minutes.

https://i.imgur.com/dfnWWiU.jpg

We headed back in early to rest with the plan to head out again at 10:00 or 10:30 in the hopes of another good night bite. As I started to get ready to head out, my brother said he didn't have it in him as he had an early meeting on Tuesday but to call him if the cove was on again. So I headed out alone and I made a stop at a spot on the way to the cove and there was flipping bait and feeding bass and I immediately hooked up and proceeded to pick a few fish. I then headed into the cove to see if the fish were on again and they were but concentrated to one corner of the cove. I called my brother and he decided not to come out. I caught a few fish in the cove but it wasn't like the night before so I headed back to the spot I picked at earlier. It was another great call. They turned on big time and I again proceed to pound fish in the middle of loud slurping and splashing fish, every one of them on the top water wake bait. I landed another 25 strong and healthy fish. My highlight was this beautiful smallmouth.

https://i.imgur.com/HtbY2st.jpg

In addition to those highlighted above, add another 10 or so fish standing on the dock at the house. All told I landed over 80 fish in three days and I was sad I had to pack up and come home last night. The weekend gets a big and sore thumbs up.

https://i.imgur.com/K06Mwav.jpg

Last edited by Paul Naj (Jul-15-20 10:24AM)

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#2 Jul-15-20 10:07AM

Junger
Northern Snakehead
From: Potomac, MD
Registered: Aug-14-17
Posts: 720

Re: 3 Days in NY- Long Post

Awesome report, nice that you got family into fishing as much as you. My brother mainly goes once a year with me to enjoy the scenery and a stogie...nothing wrong with that either I suppose.

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#3 Jul-15-20 2:43PM

hookup
Patagonian Toothfish
Registered: Jan-31-12
Posts: 2301

Re: 3 Days in NY- Long Post

Great trip

No problems driving in NY ?

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#4 Jul-15-20 4:23PM

Ernie
Administrator
From: Ashburn VA
Registered: Feb-03-06
Posts: 15564

Re: 3 Days in NY- Long Post

Excellent report!

You went out to go fishing at 10pm? Zzzzzzzzzzzz

I see the Choopy got in on the action as well!


Time to go fishin' again!

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#5 Jul-15-20 7:51PM

Paul Naj
Northern Snakehead
Registered: May-20-08
Posts: 385

Re: 3 Days in NY- Long Post

hookup wrote:

Great trip

No problems driving in NY ?

None. I didn’t have to drive into NYC. Putnam county is opened up. There are actually very few cases up there even though only about an hour from NYC.



Ernie wrote:

Excellent report!

You went out to go fishing at 10pm? Zzzzzzzzzzzz

I see the Choopy got in on the action as well!

10:30 to 1:30 Saturday night and on the water by 6:00 am. Sleep was optional for sure.

They are magic. Have been crushing fish on them for years.

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#6 Jul-16-20 4:11AM

bassman
Northern Snakehead
Registered: May-01-07
Posts: 147

Re: 3 Days in NY- Long Post

Great report - - especially like the night fishing catch!

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