Sacandaga report ?

[rondog]

Do you need a guide  

I need something,I'm trying all that I have,bottom bouncers with blades,clean, slow death,down riggers with sticks,spoons,lead core,boards and even my ( our ) jigging humps have been slow,that being said our spring shore spot never happened and watching the Oneida lake reports nothing is on fire there either.I'm thinking the early spring,ice out pushed everything up.A month ago I was getting them in 30 + FOW which I don't usually hit until mid July.I think I'm going to take a week or so off then fish lower Champlain.The new boat will be delivered tomorrow and I'll need a few days to set it up ,I've got to fine tune the 3-D and now will be a good time to figure it out.I don't want to be on the water for the holiday week anyway.
Any Champlain Guides out there ?

[hunts2long]

I do know that they are hitting VERY light. You have to really pay attention and when they do tap it, drop back to them. Had I known ahead of time that my daughter was off work today I would be out there. This is the time of year when the walleyes are onto may flies, the lake level is dropping, baitfish are on the move, water temp is rising, boat traffic is picking up, etc. Lots of changes going on. Add all those to the fact that we had an early spring. Toss the play book and think 2/3 weeks ahead. HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY 4TH...h2l

[rondog]

Doug
Like we talked about ,I'm vary familiar with Walleye jigging and the light " Tap " and have the right tools to do it ,my problem is finding active fish,They just aren't where I've found them in years past and I have over 75 way points to look at.I usually find them with electronics ,mark them then jig.Friday I fished for about 2 hours then spent the rest of the morning just looking.I found fish but they were vary scattered and no small bunches .What I did catch was between 10 and 12" which is a good sign but not what I was looking for.I just have to spend more time looking in new areas.

[hunts2long]

Not sure it is new areas as much as being on your spots when the fish are feeding. I feel that small fish will take anything that comes along at anytime. Larger fish seem to feed when they need food. Last week I didn't mark many fish either. I kept moving until I hit a spot where I caught better fish over a two hour period, I marked very few of those fish, then they shut off...h2l

[lowaccord66]

Disclaimer I am not a walleye guy by any means but sometimes when fishing for suspended, non active fish, I've found trying to trigger a reaction strike by going fast and large (for lack of a better discription) will do the trick.  Does this apply in a situation like described above?  I wonder if they are hitting light because of the seamingly finess techniques described.  I wonder if something like a ripping rap would trigger them to smash...again not a walleye guy but there tends to be a crossover in techniques for several species.

[hunts2long]

Speed, or lack of it, is always part of jigging game. Many days they do want it ripped up, to drop back down. Some days just dragged along the bottom. What worked yesterday may not be the ticket today....h2l

[filetandrelease]

H2l your spot on with speed  , and jig stroke , and there are days it just doesn't matter
I got thinking a while back you had so much fun doing your deck , I thought I would stain the house this week , during these cool summer days 

[aj454]

Do they stock walleye in the lake?? Might be a dumb question but can't find anything on DEC site.

[hunts2long]

The GSLFF has been stocking a few (3/4 thousand) the last few years. The state hasn't stocked in years to the best of my knowledge. They use to but stopped back in late 70's or early 80's. I have said on here before that a "change" in the daily limit would make a big difference, but I take a lot of heat when I do....lol....h2l

[hunts2long]

Got out for a couple hours this morning. Lindsay came up and stayed with her mother, so I kept 2 between 17 and 18 for her dinner tonight....h2l

[filetandrelease]

Good for you H2l , nice eaters

[bauls25]

Went out Saturday and Sunday. Quantity went down but size seems up. Nice chubby fish

[hunts2long]

DEC has proposed a 18"/3 fish a day walleye limit for Sacandaga to go into effect 4/1/2017. It has been a long time coming...h2l

[rondog]

DEC has proposed a 18"/3 fish a day walleye limit for Sacandaga to go into effect 4/1/2017. It has been a long time coming...h2l

If 90% of the fish you catch there now are under 18" what do you think is going to happen to the walleye population if they raise the size limit to 18 " with a limit of 3 In my opinion just the opposite. Their is no lack of Walleyes in the lake there is a lack of food, if you increase the size and cut the limit your going to have more fish competing for the same food.I can't tell you how many years I've thrown back 15 and 16" fish thinking that the next year we would catch larger fish but it has never been the case.I was told by a DEC. Biologist that I meet at the launch a few years ago that the lake in his words was " Non Productive ",He said that because they lower the lake each fall and keep it low throughout the winter it kills most of the weed beds and when the fish spawn in the spring the little guys have no place to hide ,most everything gets eaten and there is not a large population of forage fish the following year.Why do you think that the pike are large ? They eating all the small Walleyes.

[gotabig1]

Something needs to change. The water level has had extreme seasonal fluctuations for a long time and the Walleye fishing used to be excellent.