Fishing Forum

[#0000FF]After my driveby checkout last Sunday I was itchin' to hit the Knolls again. It has been over 2 years. Water is low but I thought I might be able to find some depth if I went out far enough. I did.

Air temp 53 and water temp 65 at 6:30 launch. Figured the place I picked to launch should be easy enough. Gravel with no big rocks. And it was great...for the first 20 feet from water's edge. Then it got mucky. A long slog though shallow water and gooey mud to get my tube out into water deep enough to put down the electric motor and sit down in the tube. Even worse coming back in. See pic.

I was probably almost 200 yards offshore before I found 3' of depth. Put out a baby white bass for bait on one rod and started pitching tandem jigs on the other rod. Kept moving straight out to find deeper water. Just after i passed the 4.5 foot mark I had my first inquiry on the bait...but missed the hook set. Inexperienced fish. Didn't know how to hang on.

As I kicked into the 5' zone it was game on. Bang, bendo, beatemup. Netted my first catfish terrorist on 9-11. From then on it was not very long between hits on those baby white bass I had caught at Saratoga Springs...Pelican Bay launch ramp.

I did S turns while moving slowly east to west and staying mostly in the 5 foot zone. I probably covered about a mile and I was getting bites all along the way. Later in the morning I moved in shallower and got a couple of fish in about 3.5 feet of water and had my only hits on plastic. Probably small whities.

I had brought out a dozen baby white bass I caught this morning plus 6 that I had frozen from last trip. I went through them all. Brought somewhere between 14 to 16 cat terrorists to the net. Released a few for good behavior but kept 8 in confinement for torture and flaying (filleting). Most were 22 - 24 inches and fought very well. Got one small one on a half white bass I tried to see if I could still catch fish without using a whole whitie for bait.

Actually had my limit for the smoker in my basket by 9:30 but kept fishing until I ran out of bait an hour later. Then tried bottom bouncing with plastics and crawlers to see if anything else (walleyes) might wanna play. Nope. Motored on in and slogged the long muddy slog back in to the water's edge.

Stopped at the fish cleaning station at Saratoga Springs...Pelican Bay...and finished torturing the cat terrorists. Really messed them up. On the way home by 12:30. Tired...but a good tired.
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Looks like great fun, way to go Pat.... Are you just dragging the minnow through the S turns? I've gotten out of the trolling habit since I've been after the big kitties and need to return to the fun stuff... Need to get me some more minnows, I'm seeing tons of dimples on the water that I suspect are minnows so I guess I need to try my casting net and see if I can get onto a few... My fathead supply is running low and they still don't like them near as well as carp minnows... May sneak out tomorrow morning if I can get away with it... Need to cut hay, but I'm thinking that can wait till the dew is off... Anyway very nice report... J
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[#0000FF]Just slowly dragging the bait as I kick from spot to spot. Sometimes I take the line in my fingers and give it a few seductive jiggles. The closest to trolling is when I move a few feet with the electric motor on low speed. But most of the hits some while the bait is either moving very slowly or not at all.

You need to do a carplet search. There should be schools showing up soon. Got some here the other day that were 4-5 inches. A bit bigger than I like but prime rib to big kitties. Got a mix this morning. A couple of larger white bass, a couple dozen small whities from 3" to 5", 1 small bluegill and a fat 16 inch carp. No baby carp today but they do come in around ramps at times.

Checked with my source at Farmington Bay to see if there would be any chance of a minnow harvest there when they drain the ponds this year. But with low water already it is not likely. Had some good mixed catches of chubs and carp minnows in the past but not the past two years.
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Thanks Pat, if the minnows are that big my 3/8" net might work. Thanks for the tips on fishing them. I think I'm going to go against popular demand here on the forum and move my motor on my toon up in front of me again. I've tried the rear mount on the new boat and it just doesn't work as well as the front mount did on my old toon. Seems like it screwed up the center of gyration so it won't go where you point the motor and I've tried steering with my fins and it just doesn't work like my other boat so its time to fix it. Hope it isn't going to be a boat design problem or I may have to get old blue out again. Glad you had a great outing today. Later J
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Low water at farmington bay? No sir. All freshwater impoundments are full as far as I know due to a big extent to the awesome last month!

Bring on October!!!
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[#0000FF]Second hand info from another source...and older info. The main thing is that there was not enough water in a couple of the ponds to generate the minnow population. But I'm sure the birdies will have plenty to paddle around in.[/#0000FF]
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Wondered when you would go back and hit the knolls area again. I think I will let the lake get a little higher before I try to hit it. I would most likely get stuck.[sly]
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I really hate those huge mosquito in the winter time when they hover 10-20 ft above your head.
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[#0000FF]I doubt I will be hitting the Knolls again this year. Much easier launching at Lincoln Beach...off the rock ledges. And I plan to work the walleyes over a bit during their fall feedup.

That long slog through shallow water and muddy bottom is a bear. My ankles and calf muscles are complaining about it this morning. The things we do for fun.
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How re the launching condition at Saratoga? Any chance of launching a bigger boat say 18-20 ft. Only draft about 18 in.
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[#0000FF]I did not go out at Saratoga so I can't verify a depth. But had a report from another source who witnessed a couple of "good sized" boats launching last week.

There is a deeper "scour hole" at the end of the ramp but I suspect that depths inside the harbor are less than 3 feet and probably closer to 2'. Watch your sonar and keep your motor trimmed up until you are outside and you should be okay.
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I just moved into that neighborhood about a month ago and have spend a fair amount of time down at the harbor. There are still large boats launching, saw a big wake boat on Sunday come in. TubeDude is correct that the rest of the harbor is only about 2' deep at the moment. I think if you stick to the main channel you should be good.
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