Spring 2013: Back to Normal

By Spider Rybaak

Walleyes in the ripples at Scriba Creek.

Ice finally broke up on Oneida Lake on April 1. A heavy northwesterly wind on March’s last night grabbed the tattered corners of the cap on the north shore, ripping it open, piling it into a jagged ring along the south shore like the crust on a giant frozen pizza.

Within a week, the icy ridges clinging to the shoreline melted into sandy beaches punctuated by rocky points poking into the lake on all sides. The water stayed cold; the fishing slow.

Fortunately, heavy rains soaked Central New York recently, swelling creeks beyond their banks, shooting their currents into the lake like chocolatey fingers. They stirred the downpour into the inshore waters, warming the lake‘s edge and raising it to normal levels, spurring the natural cycles anglers expect each spring.

And the fish are responding. Walleyes stormed into Scriba Creek so thick they looked like a throbbing carpet. Every step I took along the streamside path from the Oswego County Recreation Trail to the hatchery dam sent walleyes sprinting for cover in the deep rapids in the middle of the creek. Their backs exposed, they ran upstream creating a surrealistic scene in which the whitewater crashed into their wakes, creating a Maytag effect of clashing currents. What’s more, they bumped the mass of walleyes in the whitewater, causing them to erupt through the surface like miniature autumn cohos in the fish ladder at the Salmon River hatchery.

At the New York State Toad Harbor Fishing Access Site, a colorful ring of anglers lined the bank. The water is still a little too cold for massive schools of crappies to pack in, but a few hardy ones are there. In addition, some yellow perch averaging 8 inches and bullheads around the same size are present.

But hey, the one thing fish and anglers have in common is: the early bird gets the worm. The water’s warming as you read this, so get out there when you’re done and maybe you’ll hit a major run.

If you go by the old saw: spring makes the rest of New York’s weather bearable, you understand that there’s more to fishing this time of year than just catching fish. Coming back from the THFAS last week, I decided to take a right on McCloud Road to see if wild flowers were blooming along the forested shoulder. A couple daffodils were up but that’s it...for now.

On the way to Phillips Point, an old guy was bottom fishing for bullheads in Toad Harbor, off to the right. Mergansers were about 100 yards in front of him, diving and water dancing, feeding and courting at the same time. I disturbed a large blue heron; it cackled as it took off in fright off to his right, startling him and me. The guy’d been there half the day, hadn’t caught anything, but he wasn’t complaining.

At Phillips Point, I watched Allen Handy of North Syracuse launch his kayak. He’d been there a couple times already this month and hadn’t caught anything…but he was optimistic.

Oneida Lake is alive after winter’s deep sleep; and the natural world is celebrating with a visual feast steeped in a cacophony of sound. But you better hurry, and get there before brush and trees shield nature’s miracles behind curtains of leaves--and before walleye season opens May 4, making you too busy to look for anything else.

Walleyes in the pockets.

Allan Handy, North Syracuse, kayak-fishing in Three Mile Bay.

Dave, a resident of Central Square, with a crappie taken at the THFAS.

Bullheads and Crappies: Bank Fishing’s Rites of Spring

By Spider Rybaak

Matt Nies and son Jackson with a couple typical Toad Harbor bluegills.

An old wives’ tale says that bullheads go on their spring bite when forsythias bloom; screwy weather notwithstanding. And while Lake Neahtahwanta saw some early, incredibly fast and furious crappie action the last couple days of March through the first week of April, bullheads are a little more patient and stayed true to their normal schedule.

And, you won’t find a more convenient place in which to catch these thorny delicacies than this lake on Fulton’s West Side.  You see, not only is it located right at the shoulder of NY State Route 3, it boasts a pier and restaurant a stone’s throw from the highway and offers ample shoulder parking and fishing access on about a quarter of its shoreline.

What’s more, these normally nocturnal feeders are famished right after their winter-long snooze in the mud, and hit as eagerly in broad daylight right now as they do after dark. And that’s a good for school kids, working folks and others who don’t cotton to fishing half the night.

Equally exciting is that this year the rules have changed, allowing anglers to use three rigs instead of two, so you can still-fish worms or shrimp on bottom with a couple rods and dangle a minnow below a bobber on a third in case there’s a school of late blooming crappies snooping around the shoreline looking for love or food.

Another Oswego County hot-spot for these popular panfish is Oneida Lake’s Toad Harbor. This year everything’s swarming in at once. In fact, over the past week, you were as likely to catch a batch of bluegills as you were a limit of crappie or bushel of bullheads.

Toad Harbor is notorious for game fish species that are out of season this time of year, and you can’t avoid catching them, especially if you’re using minnows, jigs or other lures for crappies

One of the most common is the pickerel, an ancient critter that hails back to before the ice age. The smallest member of the pike family, these toothy game fish are important for maintaining a healthy prey/predator balance. Unfortunately, some guys treat pickerel with extreme prejudice, like they’re unaware the species is native to New York. Hate to tell ‘em, the reason there’s so many pickerel in the lake is because they’re filling in for the northern pike that are being slowly forced out by loss of habitat. You see, nature abhors a vacuum and is replacing the pike with their tinier cousins.

Remember, pickerel are a game fish that deserve their protected status and should be released without any further harm…until their opening day, the first Saturday of May. Then you can take them home and savor their incredibly delicate flavor.

Another species that finds “The Toad” to its liking in its off season is the largemouth bass. Last Monday, small schools of hawgs prowled the food-rich waters within easy eye-shot of anglers. One guy I was talking to about the crappie bite couldn’t keep his mind on our conversation, explaining “not while the biggest bass I’ve ever seen are swimming around me.” (Bass season opens the third Saturday in June.)

One of the two 13-something-inch Crappies I caught on April 12 at Toad Harbor on a Berkley Power Teaser tipped with a Berkley Honey Worm.

A couple ladies relaxing while fishing from the bank.

Fulton's Brian Kirby, and daughter Kristie, admiring a juicy bullhead they caught bottom-fishing with worms in Lake Neahtahwanta on April 15.

Fulton resident Charles Pollack with a bullhead he took from Lake Neatahwantha over the weekend.

Early Ice Out on the Oneida River

By Spider Rybaak

Pennelville's Jason Pope admiring a crappie just before releasing it.

One of the most reliable ice fisheries in New York, Oneida Lake normally freezes early and stays that way right to the close of walleye season.

Not this year. Open water ruled by the third week of February, and the first of March saw solid ice become as rare as whiskers on a perch.  Indeed, last weekend courageous souls set out in summer boats to troll off Cleveland, Constantia and Sylvan Beach.

Average anglers, on the other hand, left their rigs in cold storage for another week or two and hit the Oneida River instead to fish from the bank and in the rapids.

Nice perch were available at Caughdenoy last Monday. Syracusan Mike Higgens took a batch, including a few 12-inchers, below the northernmost flood gate on minnows dangled a couple feet below a bobber.

“It’s still early,” claims the bass pro. “The skeins are still tight on the females and the males haven’t started milting yet.  If today’s catch is any guide,” he predicts, “we’ll have some dynamite fishing for the next few weeks.”

Since my original plan was to surf-cast for browns on Lake Ontario, I was packing my favorite Abu Garcia Revo spinning reel and Fenwick rod. Putting on a spare spool loaded with eight-pound test Trilene, I tie on a Berkley PowerBait Atomic Teaser, tip it with a red Berkley PowerBait Honey Worm, attach a Rod-N-Bobb’s slip bobber, set it for two feet and take a position next to Mike.

Looking at my strange offering, and then at me in askance, “minnows are the best bait,” Mike advises.

“I know,” I confess, “but I wasn’t planning on fishing for perch. I always carry a supply of Atomic Teasers and Honey Worms, because they’re effective for everything from panfish and crappies to bass, pickerel, northerns and trout. You can’t find a more productive bait combination that ain’t slimy, doesn’t die, stink or spoil.”

I dropped my line into the eddy below us. Before he could respond, I’m into a perch of about nine inches. Not exactly a trophy like the ones in his bucket, but a very respectable jack.

Afterwards, I decide to follow the Oneida River into Phoenix to get on I-481 and continue north. Surprisingly, the bank at Big Bend was lined with anglers. Some were catching fish; others were watching bobbers as an excuse to soak in some sun; everyone was having a ball.

This year we’re being treated to the warmest late winter weather in a long time. Don’t question it. Just head out to the Oneida River at Brewerton, Caughdenoy or Big Bend (County Route 12, east of Phoenix) and relax, catch some early rays, and maybe a perch or two.

Crappie fishing at Big Bend.

Brave souls trolling off the ice pack on Oneida Lake last Sunday

Mike Higgens with a fat 12-inch jack.

Me with a smaller but equally respectible perch

Family fishing at Big Bend.

Crappie Fishing Getting Good

Crappie: early season delight

Last winter’s unusual severity--long stretches of bitter cold weather without any thaws to speak of--along with heavier than normal snowfall -- has set the early season bite back a bit. Fortunately, the beginning of the month saw things warm up enough to lure folks to their favorite panfish spots; and early indications are that the bite’s gonna be a good one.

Last week saw Toad Harbor load up with minnows and panfish. Guys fishing with mousies and spikes nailed a lot of sunnies and shiners. Those working flathead or bucktail minnows did pretty well on the crappies.

Still, the crappie fishing was spotty. Schools would swarm in, bite for an hour or so and then turn off. A few hours later, they’d come back, folks would catch a few and then the critters would shut down again.

One local crappie expert surmised: “The water’s a tad too cold for them yet. Sometime next week they’ll come round in good numbers.”

Curiously, there seemed to be a larger than normal population of intellectually challenged anglers on the banks that day. They were easy to identify because of their habit of throwing the shiners into the bushes. One guy I watched throw four to their deaths finally complained: “I hate these worthless things.”

That’s when I let him have it. “Well buddy, what do you expect?” I asked. “You come to their house, throw dinner at them and get mad when they hit. If you don’t like catching shiners don’t use the baits they feed on.”

“There’s too many of ‘em; by killing them I’m helping to control their numbers” he shot back.

“Let the fish do that,” I replied.

A dumbfounded expression crept over his face.

Figuring he was probably a pretty decent guy deep down who just wasn’t savvy to the mysterious workings of nature, I decided to let him in on it: “Shiners are forage. All kinds of fish depend on them for food, including crappies, perch, sunnies. If you go killing them before they can spawn, you’re reducing their numbers all right. And then what do you expect the bigger fish to do?” I asked, rhetorically; then answered myself. “they’re gonna feed on more sunnies, perch and crappies, which means there’ll be less for you and me. You see?”

“Oh, yeah,” he responded. “But they’re still a pain in the ….”

“Yeah, but I’ve seen days where they were all I caught. Without them, I’da been skunked,” I argued.

He smiled in agreement (told ya he was a nice guy).

Fate seemed to smile, too, because after that all I saw him catch were sunnies…and that made him very happy.

Toad Harbor should be productive from now all the way through mid-May. Crappies will be the main event for the next couple of weeks, followed by bullheads and sunfish, and pickerel when pike season opens.

If you don’t mind a little current, the floodgates at Caughedenoy can be productive. Perch mill around the structures and can be pretty cooperative if you’re there at the right time. What’s more they’re bigger than in years past.

They hang out in the slow areas and edges of the current, and respond best to a jighead tipped with a minnow and fished below a bobber so the offering moves around, an inch or two off bottom.

Feedback: Meg, a reader form Liverpool, NY, sent an email reporting that she and her 11-year-old son caught 11 perch in Phoenix over the weekend, five in the first 20 minutes.

Mexico native John Whitney and a perch he took at Caughedenoy.

Wayne Wright holding part of his family's dinner he took at Toad Harbor.

Way to happiness: Toad Harbor, a bucket and a crappie.

The Best Fishing Spots for the Whole Family to Enjoy Catching a Crappie

To the untrained eye, the title to this posting may sound a little, well…tasteless. But to fish eaters, the word crappie is enough to spring their palates to life.

Also known as calico bass, a majority of anglers polled in an informal survey before press time ranked these former panfish as the tastiest in the group. They’re so delicious, in fact, they’re also called strawberry bass.

Right around the turn of the century, they were elevated a notch to semi-game fish status--they have a size limit, and daily limit but no closed season. Oh, everyone who knew anything about them always felt they deserved the distinction and the protection that goes with it. After all, they’re one tough fish to locate and catch -- for most of the year, anyway.

In the spring they’re easy. Gathering in massive schools in shallow water to spawn, and convalesce afterwards, they’re very fisherman-friendly from mid-March through May. Early in the season, they’re super aggressive because they’re spawning; afterwards, they’ll hit minnows and tiny lures with abandon because they’re famished. Either way, you find a school and chances are you’ll catch dinner for the entire family.

Mom teaches her boys to fish off the public pier on the north shore of the Oneida River in Brewerton, New York.

One of the boys admires a crappie!

Late last week I went to Brewerton to fish at the municipal dock on the north shore, just upstream of the US 11 bridge. I had dropped by earlier in the day and saw a couple guys nail a bunch so I went home to get my ultra-light gear. When I returned about 2:30 p.m., a guy who hadn’t been there earlier was leaving the dock, a batch of perch, rock bass, and sunnies with a couple large crappies in hand.

I tried my luck and got a hit right away. It got loose but I could see from its silver flash that it was a crappie. I fished for a while longer, caught and released a couple nice largemouths, and then nailed a strawberry bass that went all of 11 inches.

After putting up a very respectable fight, I landed him as gently as I could. Since I was facing a deadline and knew I wouldn’t be there long enough to catch dinner for me and my sweetie, I released it.

A family fishes for bullheads at Lake Neatahwanta, in the park just off NYS Route 3 on the west side of Fulton, New York.

Fishing from the park platform on Lake Neatahwanta, Fulton, New York.

That evening, I went over to Fulton’s Lake Neahtahwanta to see how the bullheads were biting. It was a bit early and the sun was still out so no one had any in their buckets Still, one guy claimed to have caught a couple that he released.

Some anglers fishing from shore, at the foot of the park that goes out into the lake in the park off State Route 3, said bullheads have been hitting with regularity for the past few nights. The fish were averaging 1 ½ pounds.

In addition, he continued, some crappies were also fairly cooperative, especially on tube jigs and curly-tail grubs fished on spinner forms, Beetle Spin style. Lake Neahtahwanta has always been a local crappie hotspot, but for some reason, the lake’s population doesn’t turn on until the sun goes down. Oh, they can be caught in daylight, but the bite is far better in the early evening and around dawn.