Sandy Pond
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Sandy Pond Fishing Reports
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Species
Northern Pike
Season
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Trolling 0-9'
Structure
Open Water/Basin
Forage
Perch
Water Temperature
65°
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Soft Swimbaits (Sm/Md)
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Water Temperature
72°
Today’s New York Fishing Adventure finds me a tad closer to home as I headed 14-minutes south of Henderson Harbor, hopped across the Jefferson County line into Oswego County to enjoy an action packed 5-hour session in Sandy Pond just off Lake Ontario casting Keitech Baits to largemouth bass (LMB), smallmouth bass (SMB), perch, pickerel, northern pike and a few rock bass. When I launched at 6:15 AM, I found 70-degree water temps and a light algae bloom on the water. Most of the bass are post-spawn, but I did see a couple of LMB still guarding fry. I started with a rattle bait casting across a sand flat in 4- to 6-foot that had intermittent weeds on it. That only produced a small pickerel and two LMB. Not seeing the topwater or horizontal activity I’d anticipated I changed it up and went down into the weeds with a Keitech 4-inch Swing Impact, using a 3/16-ounce Owner Ultrahead Bullet jighead, size 1/0 hook. I started with a green pumpkin color and that resulted in two tail bite-offs, so I switched to black and that resulted in immediate hook-ups. Why … umm because, and who cares why, when you find what works you stay with it until it stops working. Luckily for me when I put the boat on the trailer at 11:45 AM I left them biting the Black 4-inch Keitech Swing Impact. I spent today’s session learning more about the Garmin PANOPTIX unit I installed this year and while I didn’t see many fish inside the weeds, the unit proved very useful in showing me weed irregularities that were 55- to 65-feet in front of the boat. I’d see something my brain said looked fishy, cast over there and soon as I moved the bait on a short hop, I could see the fish come up out of the weeds, follow the bait back down and I’d get a bite. I estimate I got bit about 75% of the time when I’d cast into a fishy looking clump of weeds; so that was encouraging. Key to the presentation was letting the bait slide through the weeds all the way to the bottom, then on a semi-tight line impart a short hop, just enough to feel it clear the weeds then let it fall again. It was trail & error getting the cadence dialed in and I had to fish the bait all the way back to the boat about 10 to 12 times before I recognized most of the fish would hit on the first or second hop. But once I got dialed into that two-hop cadence for the retrieve I didn’t waste time trying to fish the bait all the way back to the boat. The other critical item was using Cortland Masterbraid, because that stuff cuts through those weeds like a hot knife through butter. I was rewarded with 13 LMB, 4 SMB, 4 pickerel, 1 pike, 1 perch and 2 rock bass for my efforts. When I pulled the boat the water temp had warmed to 72 degrees. Today’s Gear: TFO’s Tactical Elite 7’ 3” Medium Power Rod, paired with a size 3000 spinning reel spooled with 10 lb. Cortland Masterbraid with a 36- to 40-inch section of 10.9 lb. Cortland Top Secret Fluorocarbon. A good bite’s where you. https://burniehaney.com/
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Finesse Jigs
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Forage
Bluegill
Water Temperature
66°
The fish were pretty beat up and post spawn. Conditions were sunny and air temps in the mid 70s. Nothing aggressive was working. No moving bait or topwater bite. Really had to grind it out, but found 7 largemouth . All of the fish were really subtle bites taking the jig and tube on the fall. Fish were in about 8ft of water in the best grass we could find outside of spawning areas . Could also find a couple on wood just outside of spawning areas.
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Swim Jigs
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Water Temperature
67°
Got on the water early and found some pickerel and pike roaming the weed breaks in 6-10' of water. Spent much of the day trying similar weed edges, rock breaks, reeds, and shoreline wood, but didn't find a lot of success. Early in the afternoon, we returned to our beginning weed edges and quickly found some excellent 3 pounders, with a mix of smaller bass, large pickerel, and a few nice pike using a mixture of Ned rig and jigs. Beast Coast jigs with a mix of trailers were the best option to entice the bite. Most fish looked a little beat up, like they were just coming off their beds.