Oneida Lake 6/8
I didn’t think in a million years I’d fish on Monday after the long week I had, but my buddy Mike called with promises of “lazy fishing”, drifting with nightcrawlers for walleyes (and I hoped some bonus fish.) After a 2 hour plus drive I met him around 2 pm at Marion Manor, on Oneida’s south east shore. We launched Mike’s Lund and soon were out in deep water around buoy 109 (a community hole out on the deep flats of the lake.) I haven’t done much deep drifting for eyes, apart from a time or two on Chautauqua Lake 16 or 17 years ago. And it showed! Usually when I fish Oneida I fish the west end, which has plenty of beautiful classic walleye structure – points, shoals and islands.
We set up with very light winds. We did manage a few hits casting 1/2 to 5/8 oz jigs tipped with crawlers into our drift, but couldn’t hook up. The walleyes (?) were stealing our bait. Before long the wind died and the bites stopped for us. We tried in shallower and caught some nice panfish (rock bass and perch.) We also caught a couple nice bass, incl. a smallie that fought great. Mike had a nice walleye follow in his Cotton Cordell Grappler Shad. It got dark and we did some nighttime casting. Mike nailed the only walleye of the night. I then drove home utterly exhausted and tried to stay awake.
Interestingly enough, when I got home and checked my email, one of my client/friends from April (Eric from 4/17) had sent me a report of his walleye fishing in the same area last weekend! He’d done well and gave me some terrific tips to try for next time. I’m looking forward to doing more of this fishing – just to do something different and have a chance at a big channel cat or a lucky sturgeon!
PS – My friend Bill Alexander (noted jig tier from Sylvan Beach) is selling high quality laker jigs at reasonable prices. Bill’s a great guy and he pours all my jigs. He has all my molds including my 1 1/2 oz. deep jigs. 1 oz. heads are .60 and the larger ones are $1 each. Give him a call at (315) 762-5752. He pours them on super sharp high quality Mustad Ultra Point hooks. Bill encourages customers to order together in order to save on shipping costs. BTW – Bill is a superb bass fisherman and has won a few boats over the years! And he does it all with spinning rods!