First day of bass

[PaJack]

When is the first day of bass in NY? Thanks...:D

[Bill Gunn]

General regulations...

Black Bass (Largemouth/Smallmouth)

3rd Saturday in June through Nov 30 12” limit 5

Dec 1 - Fri preceding the 3rd Sat in June Catch and release only Artificial lures only

http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/fr08statewide.pdf



But if you are fishing Lake Erie, their a little more open, they let you keep one trophy for mounting in the month of May.
Around here almost nobody keeps any, their so common. I think thats why they get so big, here's a 20 I caught this week while walleye/perch fishing...

http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL2250/777751/2652330/363540307.jpg


Black Bass (Largemouth/Smallmouth)

1st Saturday in May through Friday before 3rd Saturday in June 20” limit 1

3rd Saturday in June through November 30 12” limit 5


December 1 through the Friday preceding the 1st Saturday in May Catch and release only Artificial lures only

http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/fr08greatlak.pdf

[PaJack]

Thank's Bill! My son-in-law wants to head "north" for bass this year...:D

[Bill Gunn]

Are you going to be around Buffalo in Lake Erie?

If so,I can make a map of good spots to try. Like I said Erie Has tons of them. There's been a bunch of fishing shows taped near Buffalo harbor, and they catch 6lb+ all day long.
Of course it's still "fishing", any day can be a star :) , or a bummer :(

[Bushman]

Bill, you mentioned perch fishing and St. Croix rods. They are made here in Park Falls, WI. and we can pick up any rod that they make at the show room. What is your favorite perch fishing rod? We get into the sheep head or a smaller catfish when we are perch fishing, so the rod needs to be stout enough to do a hook set at 25' and be able to handle some of those rough fish. Thanks.

[Bill Gunn]

I started out with the Avid 6'6" lite action.
AVS66LF2 6'6" Light Fast tip 2pc, line 4 - 8, lure 1/16 - 1/4 oz. weight 2.8 handle#2, list price $160 (I don't pay list)

We fish for perch in 40 to 70+ feet. It's hard to get the perfect balance for sensitivity at these depths, yet still have enough flex in the rod so you don't loose them 1/2 way up.

I've gone through 5 of these over the years !! (Long story, NOT the rod's fault)

Then I tried a friends ultra lite for a while, but it was to flexible for what I wanted. The Legends are to stiff for me, and are one piece rods. I tried them at the Toronto Sports show.

I tried one of these Trophys, they use to be made in China, but St. Croix told me their made in the USA now.

TRS66LF2 6'6" L Fast 2, 4 - 8, 1/16 - 5/16, 3.3, 2, $70

At first I liked it, Like I said before, as you go down in price, the same "action" rod, has more flex to it, but weighs a little more.
I bought a second one (we can fish with 2 rods in NY) and used them last Fall.

To be honest, I think I like the Avids better, they give a little bit faster hook set, and you can detect those tiny, tiny little nibbles perch so often do.
I like that a lot, even though the trophys have better flex that is very forgiving when trying to handle 2 rods when the action gets going fast.
Erie is a fantastic perch fishery, I've honestly have had days when it took me 2 1/2 hours to get my 2nd rod in the water, because the fishing was so good you couldn't get time to bait it up :p:p

We often get the big small mouths by accident when perch fishing. They cause line tangles when 2 guys are fishing 4 rods out of the boat, but the St. Croixs handle them easily. I use 4 lb fireline main line, with a 10' leader of 6 lb Seaguar Florocarbon. I even boated a 9 1/2 lb catfish I brought up from 53 feet last summer with the Trophy rod. That was fun, but I was hoping it was an 6 to 8 pound walleye :(

The reel I got last year I like a lot. It was rated the best new reel in 2008 in Field & Stream (not why I bought it though, I got mine before I see the article). I looked at, and tried a lot of different reels before this one. The Shimano Stradic in the 2000 size works good for me. They don't make the 2000 any more, I think the current 2500 size is the same as my 2000. It's almost as fast as Bass Pro reel, and even more smoother action (at almost 2X the cost, but it's not needed).

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_98312_100001002_100000000_100001000_100-1-2

I got the 1000 size. It gets the perch up fast from 50+ feet. 3.1 feet per crank. Nice smooth working reel. I'll be ordering a 2nd one when I get back from striper fishing next week.

Bill

[Bushman]

Bill, I have wiggled those Avids and liked them, but they are one piece rods in the size that I was looking for and I don't like one piece rods for fly-in fishing trips. For perch fishing though, I would just keep the rod in the shed at my father-in-law's place on the Bay, so it wouldn't matter. I do like the for ever warranty on those upper end St. Croix rods. A guy I shoot with broke the tip off this up in Eagle River and a quick side trip to St. Croix in Park Falls got him a new one, no questions asked.

I'm a Shimano spinning reel and Fireline guy too. I have a 2000 Sustain that would work okay, but I replaced it with a 2500 Sustain because the bail (or is it bale?) was hitting my knuckle on the 2000. I am surprised that the smaller 1000 picks up that much line per crank. That is one of the reasons that we went to larger reels to pull out the slack faster or back reel.

Interesting about the fluorocarbon leader. I picked up a spool of that last year, but have not tried it yet. We were getting so many bite-offs from the northerns that we went to 10# camo Surfstrand stainless leader for lure preservation. Problem solved and the walleyes don't seem to mind either. Thanks for the rod info.

[PaJack]

We are planning to go to the Finger Lakes,do you know any hot spots...:confused:

[Bill Gunn]

Not for bass, I do know a few spots in Seneca and Keuka for perch.