Onondaga Lake 6/26 PM
Got out for what wound up being a truncated trip on Onondaga Lake. I don’t think I fished for largemouth bass at all last year, so I decided to head out on my own today starting just after 12:30 pm. Two guys in a bass boat got off of the water about 15 minutes after I launched, so I wasn’t able to talk to them. I didn’t prepare much for today – I just grabbed some outfits and gear boxes and headed out – but wound up remembering everything I needed. I did not have a single hit in the three hours I was fishing. It was a grind to an extent, but fun.
Water temps were around 76 degrees on top. I did a little casting for muskies/pike as well without any sign of fish. I did see a gar or two surface along with plenty of carp. A lot of bass are caught extremely shallow here, but with the wind and my setup, I didn’t work the shallows much. I had fun today just bombing out casts and working various baits and my tackle was in good shape. I really enjoy largemouth fishing and spent some time tinkering with different set-ups with swim jigs, chatterbaits and so on. One thing I can attest to, is that as I get older, I really like a visible braid with flouro leader for just about everything except some crankbaiting and topwater.
I wasn’t able to fish some of my favorite areas – as I started heading to the place I really wanted to fish (I couldn’t fish it earlier due to a storm); I checked the weather, and a massive line of severe storms was starting to develop nearby and move through. I didn’t want to chance it, so I got off the water around 3:45 pm. As it happens, the storms dissipated before coming through, but it wasn’t worth taking a “wait and see” approach! Highlight of the day was seeing a big bald eagle gliding over the lake! Going back 50 years, it’s amazing to think of bald eagles flying over what was once arguably the most polluted lake in the country!