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Very nice morning and evening trips with friends! We started by anchoring up in 5’ of water and casted 1/32 oz. jigs with ½ crawlers and leeches. Both morning and evening fishing catching numerous small Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, Drum, Bluegill and Yellow Perch. We casted jigs into shallow waters<5’ depths and jigged them back to the boat. Also placed a dead rod/dead stick in a rod holder to dangle live bait just off the bottom for the followers. We caught some nice Smallmouth Bass and a nice mess of Bluegill using this technique, no keeper size Walleye but we had fun. Never got the Walleye Chop winds but a nice morning of fishing at Merritt reservoir. Evening trip had some winds but not a good Walleye Chop, picked up one keeper Walleye to stink the skillet!
Cloudy and light rain evening trip to Merritt fishing from the boat! Trolled crankbaits exclusively covering miles of shoreline while contour trolling. Worked the 10-13’ contours as cloudy expecting the wally to be in shallow with the cloudy weather and wind chop! Caught 1 -17” Walleye on a drop-off while pulling a fire tiger shad rap.
Very nice evening trip Wednesday to Wanahoo with my lovely daughter Shanna Rose and the boat! We tested the trolling rods first as we hooked on a couple crankbaits, a # 5 Flicker shad and a #5 Rapala X-Rap. We spooled out 125’ of line on the line counter reels and pulled them in the 2.5- 2.7 mph range. We first hooked up with a small “hammer handle” northern pike right out of the gate! Poorly hooked as I lost him right at the boat which was great, I didn't have to handle that slimmy little guy! Next fish caught, Shanna hooked into a good fish, ended up being a big largemouth bass, she had fun tightening the drag as it made numerous head shakes. It stayed deep to the very end when eventually she got him to the boat. Very nice Wanahoo Bass measuring 19½”, great body condition likely scaled at 5 lbs, good looking bass. We finished up trolling the crankbaits with a 16.5” walleye, an eater, caught on the colorful flicker shad. Relaxed fishing- trolling crankbaits at Wanahoo! Sun was dropping so we changed tactics and anchored up off a few trees, we finesse fished with the light, 5- 8 mph SE winds fishing with Satra special rigs tipped with Euro Nightcrawlers and used jigs tipped with leeches. Dipped in amongst the trees and off the points near deep water drop offs. Of course we used the ultralight rods and light line, we had some luck catching Bluegill to 8” and a few ugly Bullheads in mostly 10-12’ depths. Sun started to set so we packed up, we had fun catching fish at Lake Wanahoo.
Nice Friday morning trip to Yankee Hill Lake with the boat. Busy place with boats and yakkers out enjoying fishing! Good morning to test out the trolling rods, research different crank-bait depths with #10/4 diameter braided Fireline at various boat speeds. Short stay trip - I trolled crank-baits extensively covering a lot of the lake pulling various sizes of crank-baits checking running depths, picked up one 14” Bass, no Wally. Switched to anchoring a top the rock shoals and fished slip bobbers, jigs, Satra special rig and leeches & Euro nightcrawlers. I fished 4’ to 7’ depths using ultralights, and I had luck catching Bluegill to 8.5” on the edges of the large rock and drop offs. I caught 14 nice Bluegill and kept 9 fish which I gave to a yak angler at the boat ramp. He didn't have any luck fishing and was looking forward to a few fresh fish to eat, I helped him out! Had fun catching the Bluegill on light tackle at Yankee Hill Lake.
This lake lacks anything for littoral zone habitat i.e. structure, lucky if you snag on something on the bottom of this lake, mainly open water fishing in the pelagic zone. Is and makes for a good Catfish lake. Abundant prey (small w. Perch) scattered everywhere in the water column for easy picking if you are a large predator fish like a blue or flathead catfish ! Winds never came up to the weather prediction magnitude, no Walleye chop!
Busy night catching fish for these 2 anglers - they caught and landed 90+fish - a very good bite! We caught lots of small Bluegill 5”-6.5” in size, and Green Sunfish from 4”-7” we found in 5’-12’ of water fishing with jigs, Satra Special rigs, and slip bobbers tipped with leeches and Euro nightcrawlers. The guys caught numerous Bass of all sizes, 11-12 fiddler Channel Cats and a handful of small Black Bullheads. Father and son had a great time catching fish and learning new techniques to catch fish. Nice evening of fishing with a light breeze. The rock breakwaters and drop offs to 8’ were “hot” late as the sun was setting. They kept a handful of fiddler Channel Catfish to stink the skillet! Otherwise Catch and Release the fish! It is always fun to explore the variety of aquatic habitats and structures that Conestoga has to offer!
The group was interested in learning more about fishing and the use of sonar and wanted some insight on the purchase of a sonar unit. In addition to demos of my sonar equipment, the trip involved demonstration of various fishing techniques, rigs and tips. But yes, we fished too!
Started with some long line trolling with line counter reel and 8.5” trolling rod pulling a Rapala #7 JSR. Lasting for just a few hundred yards, we hooked up with a 17” LMB immediately, the fish then tangled up in a submerged tree and stalled, so next the demo was the use of the “hound dog” lure retriever. Result: joint effort for the 3 of us, we got both the fish and the JSR crank out of the tree for a picture! Lots of small Bluegill, Green Sunfish were caught in 5-12’ of water with jigs, satra special rigs and slip bobbers. We caught numerous Bass of all sizes, fiddler Channel Catfish and a handful of small Bullheads. 80-100 fish were landed using plastic bodies, Euro Nightcrawlers and small leeches. The bite was great and it was a nice evening of fishing under a cloud cover and light breeze. Always fun to explore the variety of aquatic habitats and structures that Conestoga has to offer!
A slow AM trip at nearby Yankee Hill Lake. Focus of the trip was to long line troll and catch some suspended Walleye. Fish were sparse in the 6-7’ zone as in past years using this technique. No hits trolling cranks (SR 5 & 7’s). Anchored up on 2 rock shoals for catching Bluegill to 9“ on the light tackle. Used both slip-bobbers, Satra Special rig, and vertical jerking 1/32 oz jigs tipped with leeches and Euro nightcrawlers. A nice morning for fish but overall a slow bite. A good Friday afternoon fishing trip with my lovely daughters at nearby Conestoga Lake. We fished the lake using light tackle, small jigs and live bait of Euro Nightcrawlers and small leeches. Practiced catch and release fishing with the young Bluegill, Green Sunfish, Bass and Channel Catfish. Read that Rock Bass, Crappie and Walleye had been stocked, but none sampled. Green sunfish (not stocked) dominated the catch! A fun nice afternoon of fishing with my daughters who like to fish afternoons better than early morning, no surprise there! Dad had fun showing them around newly rehabbed Conestoga Lake.
A good Thursday morning fishing trip with my lovely daughters and I at nearby Wildwood Lake. We targeted the big bluegills in the lake using light tackle, small jigs and live bait of Euro’s and small leeches. We had a lot of fun fishing the bigger Bluegills in 2-8’ depths. Practiced a lot of catch and release fishing teaching these millennials to practice returning fish back to the lake so that others can catch them. The traditional spots came through. A nice fun morning of fishing with my daughters who got out of bed early for some quality time fishing with dad. Remember Catch and Release fishing……...it does make a difference! Tuesday morning fishing trip with a young friend at Wildwood. We had a lot of fun fishing the bigger Bluegills in 2' to 5’ depths. Practiced a lot of catch and release fishing teaching. Bonus fish included: Crappie, Yellow Perch, Large Mouth Bass (really nice ones, too), and small Walleye! We landed four of the scourge White Perch, and these did not get released back into the water! A nice fun morning of fishing and I enjoyed showing my young friend some tips and tricks out on the water.
A good Sunday morning fishing trip with a father and son to nearby Wildwood Lake. Trip was focused on the guys targeting the big Bluegill using light tackle, smaller jigs tipped with live bait. As they have in the past, they had a lot of fun fishing, but the strong south winds did hamper the guys feeling/seeing (we use colored fishing line) some of the lighter bites! As always, the traditional fishing spots came through. The small leeches and Euro Night Crawlers were a real "hit" (excuse the pun) catching lots of big Bluegill most >8" some up to 9.5” size. I believe we caught every species of fish found in the lake with exception the big channel catfish found here. We caught four "scurge" invasive white perch as always I'm not happy to see. But they caught numerous nice bass, crappie, some nice walleye and the bag included some nice Yellow Perch. Overall-a very good fishing trip to Wildwood! Trip was a recon targeting Bluegill! We had lots of fun catching the big Bluegill in shallow water on light tackle. We caught a variety of fish, had fun, with Wildwood being good to me. My next trip, I will have more time and scratch out a few more of the nice Crappie and should bi-catch more Bass. The bonus fish on the trip were Walleyes and I love to "stink the skillet" once in awhile with a 15” and larger Wally. A good morning trip to Wildwood!
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