Spring 2006

Get Ready For An Earlier Bass Season

By MELODY TENNITY

Winter is usually the breather a tournament angler needs to rest up and get his wind back, while at the same time planning for his next season on the water. The fact that bass season starts earlier than before means he has to rest faster and order his tackle earlier.
The 2006 fishing season looks good for anglers as the early catch and release bass season gets under way on May 6. The lakes listed in the NYS Freshwater Fishing Regulations handbook for the special early catch and release are: Conesus, Hemlock, Canadice, Honeoye, Canandaigua, Keuka, and Seneca.
Early-season bass are influenced by their cold water environment, so their response can be slow to not at all. By slow rolling a white spinnerbait or fishing with small, green worms, the more aggressive fish can be caught in the warmer waters on the sunny west side of the lake. Another way to catch these fish is with a shallow diving crankbait fished slowly over pre-emergent weeds and in shallow water.
Later in the day, check the northwest corners of the lake where the water is warmer and the baitfish (food) are more active. By fishing these protected coves, an angler can take advantage of feeding fish.These areas get the morning sun and are protected from the northerly and westerly winds. By fishing sunny, non-windy days, providing you have a surface temperature gauge, you'll be able to see the temps rise throughout the day in these corners.
If you think our Finger Lakes don't have bays, take a closer look. Each small point on our wash bowl lakes creates a bay of sorts. Study a section of shoreline the next time your on Honeoye or Conesus. Pick apart one section and learn as much as you can about the slope of the bottom. Early in the spring when the weeds are low, take a look with your depth finder and pick out structure you can't see when the weeds are thick. (I found a sunken boat on the west side of Honeoye.)
Of course, there are other species of fish an angler can pursue on the first Saturday in May, but for bass fishermen, this early season is a chance to learn more about the fish they work so hard to catch and return to the system.
What are they learning? How to catch cold fish with a slow retrieve, bait size in relation to the forage, location of the fish when the temps are lowerand the movement of prespawn bass. It wasn't all that long ago that fishermen weren't allowed to even look at bass before the third Saturday in June.
In January, the DEC offered a list of proposals pertaining to the future of black bass. A few of them were: ''expanding black bass (large and smallmouth bass) fishing opportunities statewide, by establishing a catch-and-immediate release, artificial lures only season from Dec.1 through the Friday preceding the third Saturday in June.'' This would mean keeping no bass caught through the ice on the Finger Lakes after Nov. 30. The regular season limits would remain the same. The proposal has exceptions where the present season would remain the same in certain bodies of water.
For Erie, the proposal is to change the black bass minimum size from the current 15 inches to 20 inches. This would allow for one fish tournaments to still be held on Erie in the spring.
Even trout fishing is being considered under the ''early season catch and release, artificial only'' proposal. This will open waters previously closed during segments of the year to those anglers who love fishing on a different level.
While I was looking through the New York State Freshwater Fishing Regulations handbook, I was amazed at the information offered. It might be a good idea to go through it and take a look at what's changed. If you have a young child starting his career as an angler, sit down and read some of the items together and explain, in your own words, what it means in relation to what you do on the water.
As always, teach your young anglers how to be as safe as possible, to wear their life jackets, and to act as a lookout if you're piloting a boat. And, don't spoil their future as fishermen by keeping them out past their tolerance.
When they're adults, they'll remember and thank you for it.