Sodus Bay 7/21
Guided Mark for the full day. He just got back from a tarpon trip and was ready to chase some gar. I suggested starting early and doing a little smallmouth bass fishing. We tried a few areas west of the bay in Lake Ontario and had non-stop hits from pesky gobies. Finally on a slow sloping point Mark picked up a hefty fish just shy of 18″. I would’ve liked to have spent more time chasing smallmouths, but unfortunately this time of year, storms and clouds are common around the bay, and they tend to slow the gar bite, so we headed back into the bay while the conditions were still good. (BTW: In Lake Ontario I was impressed by the numbers of alewives that were in shallow. So the bass have quite a bit to eat.)
The gar fishing was smoking hot when we started. Follow after follow and plenty of hits. In short order Mark landed 6 fish up to 40″. What made things tricky was that I had forgotten my “gar gloves” – having left them in my other boat. So I had to handle them barehanded, which went well, though it was entertaining. Mark used his go-pro camera and we got some cool footage of some leaping gar. Then the fish shut off as the wind picked up. We went to sinking fly-lines and had a few more hits, but they weren’t aggressive. The next couple hours were non-productive.
The bay looked great and I hadn’t been on it in since 2012 if my memory serves me correctly. Boat traffic was pretty light. And of course, I hit Orbakers in Williamson on the (out of the) way home. It’s on Rt. 104 just about 8 or 9 miles west of Sodus Point. Better burgers than Five Guys, ‘In and Out’ and anywhere else I know of! Fantastic malted milkshakes too (better than Doug’s Fish Fry!) The place has been around since the 1930s and one stop there and you’ll know why!