Black Lake, NY Forum

Saturday 9/17 I had Adam and Melissa Witz on board for a bass trip on Black Lake. Adam and his dad had fished with me before and always caught alot of bass. They are from Rochester and were up for just the weekend. Adam and Melissa were surprised at how full the cabins were for being after labor day. I had to remind them it was because of the annual dash for cash tournament going on. But for this trip, I was more concerned about the back to back 35 degree nights than I was about the number of bass boats that would be on the lake. After all I planned on having them using live bait instead of artificials. I began the morning on a smallmouth shoal on the main lake using live crayfish on the bottom with the assumption that the bottom fish would not be effected by the sudden cold snap. But after catching just one 2lb smallmouth in an hour switched them to a largemouth spot using shiners. They began to have a little more action but not much. I knew it when the first shiner got chased around and not eaten that things might be tough today. I spent the rest of the day moving them around to different locations using both the crayfish and shiners. The results were probably the least productive trip I had all season. I believe they only totaled 6 bass for the day.

We all boast about fall fishing, but with bass, it always seems an initial cold snap does slow the fishing until the weather stabilizes. There should be some strong fishing to come in the next couple of weeks especially with a warming trend. This cold snap may be what will get them moving into there fall areas and eventually starting to feed more aggressively. I still haven't seen the kind of smallmouth fishing on the crayfish I'm used to seeing, so we'll see if things pick up for them.

Good luck to everyone fishing the lake.

Randy,
Do you ever fish the north end of the lake? How and where if you do?
Thanks, Tori

Ya know, I saw you Saturday, Randy, I won't say where, but we were close to you, and the Seagulls kept trying to grab the shiners. I had a feeling it was you, and wanted to say hi, but didn't wanna cramp your trip.
I boated two nice smallies when we drifted south of you, both on shaky head, in the deep water off of where you were sitting.
Take care,
-J

I was up for the DFC Wed- Mon. The cold front and high pressure sure put the lock jaw on the bass, especially Sunday. (not only took a skunk in the DFC, but didn't get a bite after 8AM) Monday with the approaching front, the fishing was insane. In less than an hr and a half my partner and I boated somewhere near 15 bass, and the smallest was in the upper 3lb range. The majority were in the 4 1/2-4 3/4 area with a few over 5 and one around 6 +/-!!!!! I've been fishing there at least one or twice a year for the past 30 years, and that may have been the best fishing day I've ever encountered. Crazy sport to say the least.

That is exactly what I see happen with largemouth quite often. Especially when on the water 7 days a week. They are notorious for this. That is why you can over practice for tournaments. You'll have a killer practice day and think you've got them figured out. Bass don't eat the same amount everyday like people do. They eat heavily on certain days and not well on others. Glad to hear you were able to get out Monday and experience that.