Fishing NY frog water in March!

BlueDaksi · 03-27-12, 07:34 AM

Temps have cooled down back to what would be expected for this time of year in Western NY, but over the weekend, YakViper (my son), some other friends, and I had the opportunity to hit some awesome bass water that appear to be a month early in their advancement to becoming frog water.

The first was on a private lake in the Southern Tier on Saturday with our friend Bill. The day was overcast, but still in the 60s for both air and water temperature. We started out shortly after 9am fishing the shallows and stump field where Bill had caught several largemouth the evening before, and we were not disappointed. We caught dozens of bass, the majority of them in the 2-3lb size range. What a blast! We were keeping it simple and fishing unweighted T-rigged plastic worms.

Our host, Bill...

Another purpose of our trip was to accept Bill's generous donation of a Jackson Coosa kayak to our Finger Lakes Heroes on the Water Chapter...

Outfished by YakViper (again)...

I caught my fair share...

On Sunday, we headed over to the West River at the inlet to Canandaigua Lake with our kayak fishing buddy, Kevin, and found the day was much cooler as was the water, both in the low 50s. We were amazed to find the bass in the shallows and though it was much slower than the previous day's bass bonanza, we still caught a few quality fish, including YakVipers 5lb largemouth. I was fishing with a weightless T-Rigged Rage Tail Craw. All fish were caught in less than 2ft of water.

West River...

Dang, son!

I had the numbers, but YakViper definitely had the biggest bass of the day.

I'm not complaining, IT'S MARCH!

I had a couple of nice photos of Kevin, but my phone/camera took a swim (Sorry Kevin - and thanks for the photos!). He caught some crappie, bluegill, and a nice largemouth - also hooked into a huge 24-inch chain pickerel.

The frogs were calling both days - incredible to hear this early in the season up here in Western NY.

lilmule · 03-27-12, 08:32 AM

Believe it or not you can catch them topwater when that shallow like around that algae slick on a frog,nice outing ,nice fish.

BlueDaksi · 03-27-12, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilmule

Believe it or not you can catch them topwater when that shallow like around that algae slick on a frog,nice outing ,nice fish.

We were very tempted to try frogs on the topwater, but at the West River, we did not see much surface activity and water temps were still in the low 50s. I did gurgle the Rage Tails like a frog over the top of some of the algae mats and did not get any hits that way. Soon though!

bassinbob · 03-27-12, 10:23 PM

Beautiful pics and fish./

lilmule · 03-27-12, 10:41 PM

Cool water one does not see activity generally yet have caught fish on both floating ribbets that one can work slowly and even one on a buzzbait at 51F water.The frog takes some type of greenery the buzzbait rocks in the sun,shallow water for both to occur.
One or two fish a day so not a pattern for numbers.
That looks like it great water a bit later in the season.

WatterBoy · 03-28-12, 11:01 AM

Nice pics and report, BD. Congrats on a great day of fishing!

MallenManson · 03-28-12, 07:11 PM

Very cool, Blue!

Is that a Mirage Pro Angler in the 1st pic? I want one of those in the worst way!!!!

03-27-12, 07:34 AM	#1
BlueDaksi BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 148	Fishing NY frog water in March! Temps have cooled down back to what would be expected for this time of year in Western NY, but over the weekend, YakViper (my son), some other friends, and I had the opportunity to hit some awesome bass water that appear to be a month early in their advancement to becoming frog water. The first was on a private lake in the Southern Tier on Saturday with our friend Bill. The day was overcast, but still in the 60s for both air and water temperature. We started out shortly after 9am fishing the shallows and stump field where Bill had caught several largemouth the evening before, and we were not disappointed. We caught dozens of bass, the majority of them in the 2-3lb size range. What a blast! We were keeping it simple and fishing unweighted T-rigged plastic worms. Our host, Bill... Another purpose of our trip was to accept Bill's generous donation of a Jackson Coosa kayak to our Finger Lakes Heroes on the Water Chapter... Outfished by YakViper (again)... I caught my fair share... On Sunday, we headed over to the West River at the inlet to Canandaigua Lake with our kayak fishing buddy, Kevin, and found the day was much cooler as was the water, both in the low 50s. We were amazed to find the bass in the shallows and though it was much slower than the previous day's bass bonanza, we still caught a few quality fish, including YakVipers 5lb largemouth. I was fishing with a weightless T-Rigged Rage Tail Craw. All fish were caught in less than 2ft of water. West River... Dang, son! I had the numbers, but YakViper definitely had the biggest bass of the day. I'm not complaining, IT'S MARCH! I had a couple of nice photos of Kevin, but my phone/camera took a swim (Sorry Kevin - and thanks for the photos!). He caught some crappie, bluegill, and a nice largemouth - also hooked into a huge 24-inch chain pickerel. The frogs were calling both days - incredible to hear this early in the season up here in Western NY. __________________ -Paul Shipman, Ph.D., Team FishGator.com, Team Malibu Kayaks Pro-Staff

03-27-12, 10:23 PM	#4
bassinbob BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Pitts. Pa. Posts: 3,801	Beautiful pics and fish./ __________________ you can have my fishin rod when ya take it from my cold dead hands

03-28-12, 07:11 PM	#7
MallenManson BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Beulah, Michigan Posts: 6,431	Very cool, Blue! Is that a Mirage Pro Angler in the 1st pic? I want one of those in the worst way!!!! __________________ Bass fear me. Women pepperspray me.....

03-27-12, 08:32 AM	#2
lilmule BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Buchanan,Tn Posts: 2,685	Believe it or not you can catch them topwater when that shallow like around that algae slick on a frog,nice outing ,nice fish.

03-27-12, 10:41 PM	#5
lilmule BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Buchanan,Tn Posts: 2,685	Cool water one does not see activity generally yet have caught fish on both floating ribbets that one can work slowly and even one on a buzzbait at 51F water.The frog takes some type of greenery the buzzbait rocks in the sun,shallow water for both to occur. One or two fish a day so not a pattern for numbers. That looks like it great water a bit later in the season.

03-28-12, 11:01 AM	#6
WatterBoy BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Owatonna, MN Posts: 2,280	Nice pics and report, BD. Congrats on a great day of fishing!

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)