Oneida Lake 7/25
My buddy Mike will be fishing the B.A.S.S. Northern Open on Oneida Lake next week. He’s been fishing the lake once to twice a week over the past month or so, and today I met him at Marion Manor on the lake’s east end to do some exploring and scouting. We fished areas we’ve never fished before for the most part. I met him around 5:45 am and we were on the water not long after 6.
There was a bit of chill to the air this morning with temps hovering in the upper 40s! I threw on a knit hat, 2 sweatshirts, a down vest and a fleece. Maybe I’m just getting old, but I felt comfortable. We tried one area on the south shore and didn’t do much. Working a drop along the north shore provided some decent action for a little while. I’m still a bit rusty with my bass fishing and managed to drop a very nice fish on a tube and one on a drop shot. I landed one on a tube. Mike did well and landed 3 solid smallmouths, all weighing right at the 3lb mark.
I lasted till around 2 pm before I knew fatigue would set in. Mike, to his credit, fished till around 5 pm and managed another 7 or 8 decent fish in some other areas, as well as the first area we’d worked. Assorted plastics and rubber jigs did the trick. If he gets a good draw (boater) for the event, I’d expect him to do well. It’ll be exciting to see how things go, especially with the large number of pros that will be fishing the tournament. Algae blooms were common and heavy in places.