Sodus Bay 6/13
Had a fun day on Sodus with my buddy Eric. The goal today was freshwater drum aka sheepshead. These are one of my favorite fish to pursue in freshwater. I will be adding them to my “species” section in the future (this summer in all likelihood). Look for some other new parts to this website this summer/fall.
The fishing started out slow. We were fly-fishing and the winds were a bit much when we arrived. Water temps were in the low/mid 60s. Still a bit cold for gar fishing, though one or two hot days will crank things to the appropriate temps. We went to jigs and I hooked the first drum. Probably the best fighting fish of the season thus far! I’d say it outfought or out-muscled the 11lb. brown Willy caught a couple weeks ago! These fish are strong – especially when they reach the 5 to 10lb range. Think of a cross between a smallmouth bass and a carp fight. Basically a smallmouth that doesn’t jump – or a foul-hooked carp! Lots of digging and powerful but short runs. They are basically a freshwater redfish. Eric then caught one as well. Both were big, 25″ to 26″ fish probably pushing 6 to 7lbs!
Worked some flies for a while on the 8 weight and I connected with a decent drum in the 5 to 5.5 lb range. That was a lot of fun and I’ll be spending some serious effort fine-tuning the fly-fishing for these fish. Had another follow or two. Fish were around but scattered. We’ll be back!