I’m going today and hoping for another Muskie for the boy. I’m happy with anything these days as long as I’m on the water and the kids having fun. 2026 I’m looking to get a better boat.
That first smallmouth is beautiful. Love browns.
I hit Champlain on Thursday out of Westport towards Split Rock. 2 lakers made it in the boat. Lost a nice sized landlocked at the boat due to my daughter’s lack of netting skills ……. again, lol . 3 of us fished paradox lake all day on Saturday with only 2 pickerel to show for it. No pics because nothing caught was worth the effort. Rainy spring has made it a tough bite
There are Muskie in there too and some big ones. Great fishing to the right of the GI bridge. Some huge sheepshead in there too. I don’t target sheepshead but I caught about a 6-7 lbs one a few years back and it fought like a tank. To the right it is sandy and you can walk out there if the weather is nice. What were you using?
Just a brown/pumpkin ,(with flake)soft plastic swim bait,(worm), Texas rigged weedless. I think it was the “Yum” brand
suck fishing with plastics. I can catch fish in saltwater with them but not freshwater. Mind you I’ve fished them in saltwater 3-4 times and caught more fish in 3-4 hours than I have done n freshwater with them. Chatterbaits, spinner baits and crank baits are where it’s at for me but I’d love to get better with plastics.
I pretty much only use them and top water baits,( hula poppers, frogs,etc )for bass. With the soft plastics it’s all about presentation. Sometimes Texas rigged , Carolina rigged, wacky rigged , drop shot, is mostly what works for me . That and find the right color. Top water baits are great as well. I’ve caught some on spinner baits as well just not as frequently and the fact you can’t really use them around structures or weeds limits them. I’ve had absolutely no luck at all with crank baits or jigs ever, ymmv
I have gotten into liking whopper ploppers as well but they are costly.
I much prefer a whopper plopper over a jitterbug. I used the whopper plopper in the 1000 islands last year and I had some huge blow ups on them. I lost two on 20# braided line. I think one was a huge pile and the other a huge bowfin. They are not cheap but great lures. We landed a few really nice sized large mouth on them last season and it is exciting. The misses kill you though.
Make sure your captain will go to those areas. When I booked mine my captain told me the same that things were slow and I said it’s the third week in August they should be staging the mouths of the creeks right now. Basically said it’s too busy and we don’t fish there because all the weekenders are there. I was kind of like I’m paying you to put me on the fish and if they are there that’s where you should take me but we started catching fish pretty quickly so I don’t argue. He also ended the trip a bit early so I don’t think I’d use him again. Overall I was happy and we caught fish but just make sure he’s willing to go to those creek mouths.
Just bought more of them this week. Well last night. Heading up to the thousand islands soon to fish. Normally I get a boat for a week but the Marian wouldn’t answer my calls or return my calls for three weeks so I was only able to book the boat for three days. I’m kind of pissed off about it. It’s $150/day or $600 for the week so three days will be $450. Less time fishing and for some reason I could get Saturday, Sunday, Monday but nothing mid week.
Been using the same charter for 3 or 4 yrs now, 5 or 6 trips with him. Dont worry about weekenders, we always do mid week trips. This June trip was the first time we didnt leave the boat with aching arms. He even called me the night before we left to warn us that the bite was off this year and it had been slow the past 2 weeks, offered to change our booking till a few weeks later. This guy is good, you should try him. Its closer to you than the Thousand Islands. He's out of Sodus Bay and his lodging is about 3 mins from the dock. We make a 2 night trip out of it, get there Tues late afternoon, fish Weds 3/4 day afternoon trip and leave Thurs. His lodging is huge, 5 bedrooms, a big comfortable living room fully stocked kitchen and a big room with a nice 8 ft pool table, all very clean. Outdoor area has a fire pit and BBQ. You really dont have to right into the creek mouths. These fish come from all over the lake and will school off shore in the deep til its actually time to run the tribs.
That sounds really nice. We’re going to the thousand islands for a camping trip with friends but fishing is at least 50% of it. I rent the boat and we just hit bass, pike, and bowfin. The bowfin are super strong fish and I love catching them.
