Air Temperature: Mid 60’s in the morning to mid 70’s later in the day
Water Temperature: 63-64 degrees
Notes:
The weather this morning wasn’t awful but it wasn’t what I’d call great either. It was overcast with a decent breeze and threatening rain at any time. Today was only a half day for me because I needed to head back on home later in the afternoon.
We started fishing up near the ranger’s station and just trolled around the various islands there.
As with everyday this week… the fishing was slow… I did manage to land a nice smallmouth bass and a nice largemouth bass as well along with a few smaller fish.
A bit later in the morning my friend landed a very nice largemouth bass as well that was nearly 4 pounds.
All-in-all, we’ve had trips where we caught “hundreds” of smallmouth over the course of the week. This year was certainly different but definitely a lot of fun fishing with great friends. I can’t wait to get back here again some time in the future.
Today’s fish catching baits were: Senkos ! Yup… that was basically it.
Oh – I almost forgot… the evening before we were out at the sirens and we had an awesome flyby by a military helicopter !!!
Weather: A simply beautiful day… rain moved out… wind was none to very light and the sun was out
Air Temperature: Mid 60’s in the morning to mid 70’s later in the day
Water Temperature: 56 in the morning up north. 63 in the afternoon down south
Notes:
This Monday morning was picture perfect… a simply glorious day. Bright sun, little to no wind, almost zero boat traffic out on the lake… as good as it gets.
A nice, morning cruise in the Nitro Z18
We again started out up in the northern islands sections where we were fishing the day before. But, as nice as the day was starting out to be… the fishing was basically unchanged. A fish here, a fish there… no complaints for sure but damn… this place is loaded with quality bass but where were they all !?!?!?
Well, here’s a few pictures of some of the smallmouth bass we caught this morning.
We fished until about 2 PM and then headed back to the cottages for some food and some refreshments.
After our afternoon lunch and refueling stop, we went back out onto the lake to see if the action would be any different later in the day. This time, we decided to head on down south of the cottages to the waters around the Norowal Marina. In year’s past, we’ve had some success in this area fishing for Northern Pike.
The area is a large “no wake zone” with some shallow water, a channel, lots of docks, some weeds and access to deeper water.
My friend and I started out casting spinner baits. He was using a perch-colored spinner bait and he caught several nice Largemouth bass shortly after we began fishing the area. I was throwing a white spinner bait that normally produces very well. After he’d caught his third fish to my none I was beginning to question my choice of color. Then… BAM… something hit my spinner bait just as I’d begun to retrieve it. After a few cranks of the reel handle the fish realized it had been hooked… it was then that my line tightened up quickly and my rod bent over quite a lot. I knew I’d hooked something big because the fish was staying down under the water and taking drag whenever it caught site of the boat. My friend was on the front of the boat and casually asked me “You the normal net or the BIG NET ?”… just then I managed to get a look at what was at the end of my line… a huge Northern Pike… It took off running again and I simply stated “We’re gonna need the bigger net” … I fought the fish for a few minutes longer while my friend dug the big net out from wherever he’d stored it. This is what we netted…
Awesome 8 pound Northern Pike
I’d hooked an awesome eight pound Norther Pike !!! What a fish ! My personal best by far ! What a way to end such a beautiful day ;^)
Today’s fish catching baits were: Bluegill crank baits, Senkos, jerk baits and spinner baits.
Weather: Overcast, light rain, slight breeze but not too bad
Air Temperature: Low 60’s in the morning to about 80 later in the day
Water Temperature: 56-58 degrees
Notes:
The clouds thickened up over night and some light rain moved in on us. The rain was light and the wind had died down so we decided to head on out and do some fishing.
We ventured a bit further to the north on this Sunday morning. Our first stop was a place known as “Three Sirens” Island. We’d had good luck here on prior trips and expected to have some good luck this time as well. We caught some smallmouth bass up in this area but they were very scattered… as in we’d catch one here, then one more ten minutes later over on a different rock pile and then nothing. We’d move a bit and then we’d pick up another fish or two and then nothing…
Next, we decided to head back south towards the cottages as the rain wasn’t showing any signs of stopping (although it was still just light rain) and the fish weren’t biting all that much up at the Three Sirens.
Our next stop was a stretch of the lake called ‘The Narrows’. It’s a location full of many small islands and rock piles with both shallow and deep areas to fish. Here, too, we’d had great success and caught many fish. Today, however, the fish here in ‘The Narrows’ were acting the same way as their fishy friends up at the Three Sirens… we’d catch a smallmouth or two in one spot than nothing. We’d move to another spot and the same pattern would repeat itself.
On an odd note, I think I set a record for the most Rock Bass caught in a single trip… for whatever reason, they loved the lipless crank bait I was throwing. At one point, I think I caught a rock bass on six consecutive casts.
As it got to be around 1 PM, the weather wasn’t getting any better and neither was the fishing. We officially called “Miller Time” and headed back to the cottages. Also, due to the rain, I unfortunately didn’t take any fish pictures today… Oh well, I guess I will just leave you with a few shots of the cottage life..
View from the front of the cottage – it’s wet out there !
At least, there was some excellent food and beverages awaiting us…
Today’s fish catching baits were: White/blue lipless crank baits and jerk baits.
Weather: Sunny. These was a breeze on the lake that picked up pretty good as the day went on along with the wave action. Clouds started moving in as well.
Air Temperature: High 60’s to about 80 by the end of the day
Water Temperature: 58-59 degrees
Notes:
This was a return trip to Lake George. I’d fished here a couple of times over the past ten years or so as part of the yearly bass fishing trip my friend’s family takes. Each year they spend a week on a bass lake in the upstate New York area.
This lake is simply gorgeous. It’s big, it’s deep, it’s surrounded by mountains and dotted with islands. The water is also crystal clear which make for some amazing underwater views. Oh, and the fishing is typically fantastic too !
Our morning started early, about 6 am, as we left Massachusetts for the 5 hour drive to the cottages we were staying at.
My cat wanted to go fishing with me…
We stayed at a place called ‘Candlelight Cottages’. The cottages are well kept, the docks are solid and have space for many boats and the owners are very friendly and helpful. I highly recommend the ‘Candlelight Cottages’ if you are ever looking for a place to stay on Lake George.
We arrived there some time around noon and checked in. We then proceeded to one of the large marina’s nearby to launch the bass boats. There’s a very good, easy to launch from marina just a few minute’s drive from the cottages. It’s called Norowal Marina. Be prepared to have your boat inspected, and possibly pressure washed as well, by the marina personnel. They are very strict about keeping all types of invasive species of plants and other beings out of the lake.
We didn’t venture too far away from the cottages on this day simply because it was our first day and all we wanted to do was float the boats for a bit, get a little bit of fishing in and then head back to the cottages to finish unpacking and setting them up for the week. As you can see in the image below, the cottages we were staying at are located at the red marker and the marina we launched at is at the bottom of the image. We started fishing up north of the cottages in the Northwest Bay section of the lake.
Up in that northern area there is a river that runs into the main lake and you can find largemouth bass and northern pike up there. We caught a few fish up around that area. All largemouth too. Here’s one of them…
A nice Lake George Larry… to go with Moe and Curly, of course !
We didn’t stay out on the lake too long though. The wind and the waves whipped up so we headed for the docks and the cottages where some hot food and cold brews awaited our return. All-in-all it was nice start to the week !
Today’s fish catching baits were: Natural colored jig with craw trailer, Senkos and jerk baits.
Unlike last year’s club tournament here where the fish were primarily up on beds spawning (see report here) or thinking about it, this year most of the fish were in that ‘post spawn funk’…
Conditions at the beginning of the tournament were actually quite calm. We had experienced a good deal of rain in the days prior as well as some heavy rain the day before. The morning was overcast and quite ‘sticky’… it felt like it could rain at any moment but aside from a very short period of light drizzle, no rain materialized. In fact, about 2 hours into the tournament the clouds went away, the wind started blowing and the sun came out.
I had a non-boater with me today which was an adjustment for sure but fun nonetheless. Five minutes in my non-boater landed a small bass on a top-water bait. That was the only fish either of us would land for the first hour or so.
We’d been fishing up shallow but aside from that single small bass we hadn’t hooked anything. I started casting a lipless crankbait into deeper water and along ridges. I had a couple of hits and then a hook up. However, the smallmouth bass I’d hooked managed to free himself after a few highlight reel jumps… Damn! …
Our luck started to change as we managed to land about six more bass from a pocket up at the far end of the pond. I had four largemouth. Although they were keepers, they were barely keepers. This would turn out to be my theme for the rest of the day. My non-boater had 2 fish that were just about 2 pounds each.
I moved around a lot over the remainder of the day. Shallow, deep, rocky, mid-lake flats, humps, you name it. I did manage to catch a lot of fish. I didn’t count them all but it had to be close to twenty. The only problem was that all of the fish I was catching were small… keepers but barely. In fact, this was not only my theme for the day but it was the theme for most everyone else as well. Lots of fish landed but no monsters.
On the positive front, this was the first time I managed to catch a limit, and easily this time, in one of my club tournaments. Things could be looking up !
"The Captain's Cask"... 
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