Great Sacandaga 2021

[lowaccord66]

Love the big brookies!

[filetandrelease]

 nice Brooke’s 👍 I’m jealous

[piscesman]

Finally able to get back up there since last weekend in June. Went up Sat am as didn't want to tangle with the Thunderstorms. 20 minutes out had 3 keeper wallys on the stringer. Shut right down and bite stayed off. Went for a boat ride with wife and pup. On the way back I told her I'll put the 1 pole in the water and drift. 1st time ever using a drop shot rig. I'm HOOKED!!!!!!!! Boated a nice 17.5". Went out after dinner and caught anther on a dropshot. Water was really rough with all the boaters cruising. That made 5 for the day. Never did 5 before, even though it took 3 trips. Sunday caught 2 more, 1 each in different spot. Total 7 for 2 days and no shorts. 15.5" - 17.5". Will be frying some tomorrow and vacuum packing the rest. Can't wait till next weekend now that I found some new spots and a different approach...........
      Kim


BTW- I usually drift fish with rock runners and floating jigs.

[beerbellybob106]

Finally able to get back up there since last weekend in June. Went up Sat am as didn't want to tangle with the Thunderstorms. 20 minutes out had 3 keeper wallys on the stringer. Shut right down and bite stayed off. Went for a boat ride with wife and pup. On the way back I told her I'll put the 1 pole in the water and drift. 1st time ever using a drop shot rig. I'm HOOKED!!!!!!!! Boated a nice 17.5". Went out after dinner and caught anther on a dropshot. Water was really rough with all the boaters cruising. That made 5 for the day. Never did 5 before, even though it took 3 trips. Sunday caught 2 more, 1 each in different spot. Total 7 for 2 days and no shorts. 15.5" - 17.5". Will be frying some tomorrow and vacuum packing the rest. Can't wait till next weekend now that I found some new spots and a different approach...........
      Kim


BTW- I usually drift fish with rock runners and floating jigs.

I’ve watched some YouTube videos of guys dropshotting for walleyes Jay Siemens does it quite a bit in Canada and seems to have good success. I would love to get more into the jigging game but my wife loves bottom bouncing so I try to keep her entertained. She’s going out of state in a couple weeks so I’ll have a couple mornings to myself and I think I’m going to give jigging a real good effort

[hunts2long]

Kim, way to get into some fish, welcome back to the lake. A guy that fishes with me always drop shots, he is always worried about loosing a jig....h2l

[iceman260]

Good job piscesman for this lake 17.5 is a big one.

[filetandrelease]

Good job piscesman for this lake 17.5 is a big one.

You guys are doing well , everyone likes to catch big ones , but 16-17”eyes are super tasty IMO 🍽️

[piscesman]

Thanks guys. We had a dinner tonight of them and vacuum sealed the rest. I also cut the bottom front fins off for the meat around them. Saw a video of a guy who stated that meat is good to eat. Would be something like a chicken wing, I guess. BBB, when I drop shot this weekend I was drifting. I let the weight barely hit the bottom (even though the depth could change by 10') as I drifted along. The pole tip would bounce slightly up and down. You notice the difference after a while of regular bouncing and a strike. With a minnow of various sizes, depending on fish targeted I imagine you could clean up. 2 days down and 3 to go for another round. Hope the weather holds out. Even with the higher water the fish are starting to bunch up. Locating them is the problem at hand..............
      Kim

[beerbellybob106]

Thanks guys. We had a dinner tonight of them and vacuum sealed the rest. I also cut the bottom front fins off for the meat around them. Saw a video of a guy who stated that meat is good to eat. Would be something like a chicken wing, I guess. BBB, when I drop shot this weekend I was drifting. I let the weight barely hit the bottom (even though the depth could change by 10') as I drifted along. The pole tip would bounce slightly up and down. You notice the difference after a while of regular bouncing and a strike. With a minnow of various sizes, depending on fish targeted I imagine you could clean up. 2 days down and 3 to go for another round. Hope the weather holds out. Even with the higher water the fish are starting to bunch up. Locating them is the problem at hand..............
      Kim

Walleye wings! Meateater  does a recipe with them. They are phenomenal I put them on the grill few minutes each side with a little Cajun seasoning dipped in lemon garlic butter, trust me you will never throw that part out again. I save up a bunch for early bow camp and the guys love them.

[hunts2long]

On the larger fish, the cheeks can be pretty good, so I am told, my b-i-l always cut them out...h2l

Kim, one thing, by drop shotting you have a better chance of hooking up with the fish up off bottom plus you can adjust the distance between the weight and the bait.

[62 & Done]

Going to have to try the wings- trust me once you fry up some cheeks you won't be tossing them out either. Also, now is not the season but try some bullhead bellies! Yes sir

[lowaccord66]

Ive had smoked skate cheeks and after that never considered a skate a trash fish.

[iceman260]

Don’t they make artificial crab meat out of skates? Fished gsl this morning, it was rough out, caught 8 walleyes not a single keeper. We also caught 1 small pike a smallmouth and two perch. Quit at 11 am got quite bumpy out there.

[piscesman]

h2l, I see the advantage of the drop shot as you mentioned. While I like bottom bouncing (can't jig worth a d**n) I do have another weapon to catch fish. Have been cutting the cheeks out for a long time. The "wings" are new to me, so I'll be keeping all I can. 1 more weekend at Sacandaga then to the 1,000 Islands for vacation..................
      Kim

[hunts2long]

Iceman, the wind kept me off that day. Glad you got into some fish.

Kim, enjoy your time in the islands, I haven's fished up there in years....h2l