July 4th - 14th fishing report

3 lb 2 oz July 7th

Denise with bass north of RT 58 bridge. 

 Great Blue Heron

 3 lb 1 oz

 Two Loons

 3 lb even

Sundown at Black Lake

 Lakeview



A nice 11 day vacation at Black Lake.  We really needed it.  The weather was great and we had a great time as usual.  On the fishing front, the bass still have lockjaw.  The bite is just not that good this year.  We had a few nice 3 pounders during the week, but no real big bass yet.

Thursday July 4th -  Caught 12 bass for the day.  Best for the day was 3 lbs even caught in Big Bay.  Hot and humid day.  Lake was flat most of the day.  We did get a brief down pour around 9:30 am but it only lasted about 15 minutes.

Friday July 5th -  Caught 8 bass in the morning. Also caught a Dogfish (Bowfin) in Red Point Bay.  Caught 1 pike too.  No evening fishing.  Had to install another new kitchen window in the cottage.

Saturday July 6th -  Caught 18 bass for the day.  Another hot and humid day at the lake.  The bite was a little better today.  Fished Mineral Point and Conger Island.

Sunday July 7th - Caught 12 bass for the day.  Did well at Apple Island area.  Best for the day was 3 lbs 2 oz.

Monday July 8th -  Caught 23 bass for the day.  This was the best day for us.  Had 16 bass in the morning.  A location a south Bigge Island was buzzing for awhile.  Also, Pin Island area was decent in Upper Deep Bay.    Best for the day were 3 lb even and 3 lb 1 oz.  Wind changed from the North today and lasted a few day.  Normal winds are typically southwest.  Weather was beautiful today.

Tuesday July 9th -  Caught 7 bass in the morning.  Fished MP Bay, RP Bay and Jennies Island.  I must say, Jennies Island has really sucked for us this year.  We only fished 20 minutes in the evening because a storm blew in.

Wednesday July 10th -   Only caught 4 bass today.  Fished 6 am to 10 am.  Weather turned windy and rainy for awhile.  No evening fishing.

Thursday July 11th - Caught 12 bass for the day.  The bite is slowing down again. 

Friday July 12th - Caught 4 bass for the day.  Can you say SUCKY?  I can!  Decided this was a good day to install another new kitchen window in the cottage

Saturday July 13th - Caught 12 bass for the day.  All caught north of the RT 58 bridge.  We landed one 3 pounder.  We usually don't fish north of the bridge, but decided is was a nice day to try it.  The lake was flat with hardly no wind.  Found a decent weed bed where we landed a few nice ones.  The lake is also in full bloom and turning green in many areas. 

Sunday July 14th -  Last day of vacation.  Only caught 2 bass.  Had 1 Dogfish (Bowfin) and 1 pike too.  Blazing hot weather today. 

114 bass caught during this trip.  All released unharmed, of course.  The fishing has been very poor this year.  Most years we would catch at least double our count this year.  But that fishin'!  You never know what will happen.  We still had fun times though.  Until next time folks...  Fish On!

June 28th - 30th fishing report

Bella goes fishing June 29, 2013



 

Lake view June 29, 2013

 



No bass pics from this trip.  :(

Friday June 28th -  A real soaker!  Rained over 12 hours straight.  No fishing.  The good new is the lake level dropped 18 inches since last Sunday.

Saturday June 29th - Fished 7am - Noon.  Caught 16 bass.  The bite is picking up.  Fished the mouth of Fish Creek, Dwaynes Island, RP Bay MP Bay.  All bass were under 3 pounds.
Fished 6:30 pm - 9 pm.  Stayed near Conger Island the whole time.  Only caught 2 bass.  West wind was a pain in the butt.

Sunday June 30th - Fished 6:20 am - 11:30 am.  Denise stayed at the cottage with Bella so I fished alone this morning.  Caught 6 bass.  Biggest was 2 lb 13 oz.  Beautiful day today, but time to go home.

All and all, we had a nice three day weekend.  The bass are finally biting better.  We got lots of yard work done and put down some mulch.  Lowered the dock about eight inches a pushed the boat hoist out a little deeper.  We'll be back Wednesday night for an 11 day vacation.  If time permits, I'll put up some pictures during the vacation.  Until next time folks...   Fish On!

June 15th - June 23rd fishing report.

Denise with Lunker of the week, 3 lb. 6 oz.



3 lb 4 oz. I don't know why the hell I am posing like this!



 3 lb. 5 oz.  A more conservative pose!  LOL!

 

6 oz.  At least I'm having fun. :)

 Denise bundled up!  Definitely had some cool evenings.

Denise on a nice day at Browns Bay.



 

OH CRAP!  I have work to do.  Bass opens in the morning!

Yup!  Water level is WAY up.  Photo by my brother from his boat before we arrived.

 

 Crusing out of Upper Deep Bay in the evening, wife took this awesome picture.





Simply stated, the opening week of bass season was not good.  In our eight season at the lake, our catch count was not even close to prior years.  We only caught 60 bass for the whole week.  To give you an idea how bad that is, last year we caught 218 bass during opening week.   The fishing may be bad because of the excessively high water level and lower water temps.  The lake is 2 to 3 feet above average for this time of year.  When we arrived Friday night our dock was under water.  Had to do some adjustments to get it above the water.  The lake level finally dropped about 1 foot by the end of the week.  It still needs to drop a lot more.  Best 3 bass for the week were 3 lb 4 oz, 3 lb 5 oz and 3 lb 6 oz caught by my wife.  There was really no hot spots for opening week.  Our best day was 12 bass. The bass definitely had lockjaw!  I am hoping the bass are biting better our next trip to the lake this weekend.  But, of course, any day at Black Lake is certainly better than a day at work.
Until next time folks...Fish On!

Dock and boat update June 1st, 2nd, 8th & 9th

Launched the boat June 8th

Put the dock in June 1st

 Dock and boat hoist bunks with new carpet

 Storm clouds moving in June 1st

 

We been busy the past couple weeks trying to get ready for BASS SEASON.  Seems we are always scrambling towards the end of May and first couple weeks of June.  Finally got the dock in on Saturday June 1st.  Then we put the boat in Saturday, June 8th.  Somehow we managed to get those jobs done in between rain drops.  We've had quite a bit of rain this spring, especially the past two weeks.  The lake water level is slightly above average.  A big change compared to last years drought.  Anyway, Bass season opens this Saturday, June 15th!  Rain or Shine!  The only weather that could keep us off the lake is high winds.  We plan on fishing 8 days straight.  Well, I suppose we will take breaks to eat a few meals and get some sleep.  ha ha ha.  That's all for now folks.  Stay tuned for fishing updates and pictures.  Until next time...   Fish On!

Cottage opening Memorial Weekend May 25th - 27th

Lakeview from the deck May 26th.



Floated the boat hoist in the water.

 

On the road, heading north.

 

All loaded and ready to head out.

 

Cottage is open for the season.  Woo Hoo!  Let the fun begin.  Did lots of work and cleaning this weekend.  Put the boat hoist in the water.  I made a new barrel floating system to get it in to place.  It's much easier than the old prying system.  Next week we will put the dock and boat in the water.  Till next time folks...       Fish On!

Dash for Cash 2013 Announcement

 The Log Cabins announced this years Dash for Cash Tournament will be Sunday, September 15th. Launch time will be 6:25 a.m. Maximum entries will be 144 teams.

Tournament morning 2012

Fish On!

NYS Largemouth Bass record 1987

New York State record Largemouth Bass picture, John L. Higbie, 11 lbs 4 oz, 1987.



Newspaper articles below from 1987:

From the Albany Times Union:
UNADILLA MAN LANDS RECORD
Section: SPORTS, Page: C16
Date: Sunday, October 11, 1987

John Higbie of Unadilla in Otsego County had an excellent season, catching a bass weighing over eight pounds about a month ago. But little did he know that before the season was over he would land a lunk bass that would dwarf his eight-pounder.
After catching the first largemouth, Higbie took it to the taxidermist, then told all his fishing partners he would never keep another trophy largemouth unless it was larger than that one. Higbie's friends gave him a high quality fish scale and a tape measure just to hold him to his promise.
A month later, Higbie was fishing a private lake in Otsego County when another big bass engulfed his large homemade spinnerbait. After a long battle, Higbie finally boated his second lunker bass in less than 30 days. But he didn't realize just how big it was until he weighed and measured it.
First he measured the huge bass. It was over two inches longer than his 8- pounder. Next he hung it from the fish scales. Then it struck him that he might have just caught a state-record largemouth bass.
Higbie might not have realized that the second lunker was as big as it was if his friends hadn't given him the scales and tape measure. If he hadn't had them in his tackle box he said he may have simply "returned the fish to the water."
Higbie brought his lunker largemouth to the DEC fisheries office in Stamford, where the species was confirmed and then entered in the Department of Environmental Conservation's record fish program. The bass weighed in at 11.26 pounds, about eight ounces heavier than the previous record largemouth bass caught 12 years ago.
The bass was 25.5 inches long and had a girth of 21 inches.
Obviously, Higbie will have the fish mounted.


From The Tri-Town News,
VOL. 146 - NO. 38 SIDNEY, NEW YORK — THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2012

UANDILLA
25 YEARS AGO

September 23, 1987

John Higbie of Unadilla met
up with fate last week while he
was fi shing at a nearby lake.
Higbie caught a large-mouth
black bass that weighed 11
lbs., 4 1/2 oz., which was good
enough to break the state record
of 12 years by at least one
half pound.

From The Tri-Town News,
VOL. 146 - NO. 51 SIDNEY, NEW YORK — THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2012
UNADILLA

25 YEARS AGO
John Higbie, Unadilla,
broke a record for reeling in
a largemouth bass in the 42nd
Annual NYS Genesee Fishing
Contest. He broke a 12 year
state record with his 11 lb. 4
oz. bass.