Lake Minnewaska
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Lake Minnewaska Fishing Reports
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Reports from all past years within a 60-day time frame
Species
Largemouth BassSeason
Spring (Pre-Spawn)
Technique
Swim Jigs
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Forage
Bluegill
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Finesse Jigs
Structure
Reeds
Forage
Crawfish
On the west side of the lake, cast you favorite finesse jig tipped with a craw and cast along the reeds. Large Smallmouth are swimming around foraging right after spawn. If you find yourself on the South West part of the lake, drag a Carolina rig along the bottom in 10ish ft
Species
Largemouth BassSeason
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Finesse Jigs
Structure
Docks
Forage
Bluegill
Paired this trailer with an Untamed Tackle Ace Jig. The profile was definitely what they wanted as I caught several key fish on this combo. Ace Jig's smaller size allowed them to eat more of the jig even though they were biting soft.
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Spring (Spawn)
Technique
Ned Rigs
Structure
Humps
Forage
Minnows
Catching a ton of bass on Minnewaska on a ned rig lately. Both smallmouth and largemouth in 4 Dow and less. Near docks for largemouth and on rocky flats for smallmouth. A lot of the largemouth are on the smaller side, but the action is constant so can be very fun!
Species
Largemouth BassSeason
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Drop Shot
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Forage
Bluegill
Outside weedlines with good vegetation are holding tons of largemouth bass. A technique that is really producing is an Arsenal Tactical Minnow on a dropshot rig. Rig the swimmer weedless with a 2/0 hook and drag the bait through the outside weedline and you will catch bass.
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Finesse Hair Jigs
Structure
Reef
Forage
Perch
Water Temperature
75°
Found Smallies shallow around gravel and rocks. Caught several on the fieder fly, also a good search bait to draw fish in. Also caught a bunch on 4” wacky rig power bait the general.
Species
WalleyeSeason
Summer
Technique
Trolling 10-19'
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Forage
Perch
Water Temperature
75°
Found fish pulling spinners along weed lines in 14-17 feet of water, especially rock to weed transitions. Macks smile blades in gold with a slow death hook tipped with the new berkley SR crawler seemed to be the ticket. Keeping the speed up around 1.4-1.5 mph helped contact more active fish and also seemed to keep the panfish at bay.
Species
Largemouth BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Texas Rigs (Worming)
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Forage
Bluegill
Water Temperature
73°
Largemouth are grouping up pretty good on some offshore submerged vegetation. Keys to look for are the presence of bait and defined edges. Many places around the lake have a better defined edge on the inside weedline and that has been producing some bigger fish. Texas rig worm goes through the coontail, milfoil and pondweed well.
Species
WalleyeSeason
Summer
Technique
Live Bait Rigs
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
First off let me say the Berkley maxscent flat worm makes a dynamite spindrift/slow death bait. The maxscent flat nose minnow is also great on a crawler harness. Found the fish in the weeds in 14'-16' and also just on the outside of the weed edge in 18'-20'. Found pulling a hand tied spindrift hook ,northland butterfly blade with about a 3'-4' florocarbon leader was the ticket in the mid depth weeds. The 3/16oz weight seemed about perfect to just touch the weed tops at 1-1.1mph. If looking to just put a bend in the rod or keep your children entertained I would strongly suggest this method. Best part about fishing the weeds is you will catch a bit of everything, from bass, to walleye, to big gills and especially northern pike. Another method we found worked as the day went on was to pull a 1.5oz bottom bouncer and a hand tied spin drift rig with a northland butterfly blade or a standard crawler harness on the outside weed edge in about 18'-20'. Pulling the bouncers at 1.2-1.3 helped cover water at a quicker pace.
