Author Topic: walleyes thru the ice in Conesus Lake (Read 4934 times)

himhofh · « **on:** Nov 26, 2011, 08:50 AM »

I love fishing Conesus but I can't find the walleyes. Any idea on where they hide in the winter?
Looking forward to another great year of ice fishing on Cinesus.

conesusguy · « **Reply #1 on:** Nov 26, 2011, 10:03 AM »

This is a great topic and hopefully some of the more experienced conesus guys will comment to help. I live on conesus lake and will be hitting it hard this winter in hopes of learning to catch the elusive conesus eye. I've heard a lot of people say that the lake is so full of alewives and the food source is so great that it makes it hard for a waldo to take bait. I did not see or hear of any being caught through the ice last season, but in the spring when I checked on the spawning run they were so thick in the creeks you could walk across on them and there were some really large ones as well.

I've also been casting a variety of stickbaits from shore at long point and vitale park wading for the last 2 months and have not hooked into one, although I did get my first tiger musky which I have seen people doing very well catching them through the ice and the color of some of them is just breathtaking.

If you ever want someone to fish with pm me and maybe we can learn this lake together. This is only my second season ice fishing and I am still pretty young but I am relentless and obsessed with fishing and with time I will become a great fisherman. I hope guys with more knowledge than myself will pipe up and give us some hints or better yet their honey hole! (jK)

MAJOBER · « **Reply #2 on:** Nov 26, 2011, 10:07 AM »

good luck with the honey hole! Not that this really helps cause its a big lake but i can recall someone posting last year about finding them consistently on the west side, southern 1/3 of the lake..... night fishing.... in my experience probably fishing transition areas....

plowman · « **Reply #3 on:** Nov 27, 2011, 05:47 AM »

Used to fish Conesus many years ago for perch. Never tried for walleye there. Couldn't find many big perch back then. Sort of moved on to bigger water. Conesusguy, sounds to me that you will have no problem figuring out that lake. I'll have to watch this thread and see how you are making out. Maybe you should come up to Chaumont Bay for a weekend fish. Check out the Northern N Y thread.

10bucketbigwillie · « **Reply #4 on:** Nov 28, 2011, 06:01 PM »

never had much luck.

meatman · « **Reply #5 on:** Nov 28, 2011, 07:52 PM »

caught a 7#er at the south end fishing for northerns a few years ago. they are always up the inlet in the spring. they used to catch them pretty good in the spring trolling rapalas. they are in the lake but i think they just follow the huge schools of alewives around.

GAMBELL · « **Reply #6 on:** Nov 29, 2011, 08:43 AM »

Open water, they are typical walleye. Once the ice covers that lake, they disappear. In many years of fishing Conesus, I have never caught one on the ice. I did see a nice 5lber caught on the North end a couple years ago during the Avon Anglers derby.

conesusguy · « **Reply #7 on:** Nov 29, 2011, 03:00 PM »

Where do you think they dissappear to? Do they prefer high DO (dissolved oxygen) levels or a certain temperature? Do alewives go deep in the winter? Anybody?

BTW thanks gambell for all of your help last season. I'm sure I will have more questions for you this season.

jrmPikeFreak · « **Reply #8 on:** Nov 30, 2011, 05:52 PM »

They are very pickey in this lake. Night fishing during open water no problem catching them but try and catch them during they day is very unlikely. I learned how to walleye fish this lake from a very experienced fisherman and he has never caught one during the day. For some reason they dont feed during the day on this lake. The elwifes definatley have some thing to do with it. I did see some eyes during the day last winter and was watching them on the Aqua-vu, they would come up to my jig look at it then swim away. I put a live minnow on and nothing, nomatter what i used nothing. so this winter im going to go back to that area and fish it at night and see if i can get some.

perchslayer37 · « **Reply #9 on:** Nov 30, 2011, 07:34 PM »

yea id have to say night fishing for eyes is the best way to go just like other spots ive fished with eyes got nothing during the day for at night slayed em

iceman_phil · « **Reply #10 on:** Nov 30, 2011, 07:42 PM »

I fished the south end several years ago and talked to a DEC officer who more less said the same thing about the walleyes roaming the lake eating alewives much like trout and salmon do on the great lakes....

Phil

GAMBELL · « **Reply #11 on:** Dec 01, 2011, 06:18 AM »

Conesus is full of alewives. No reason to take a jig. They also are more than likley following schools of alewives that scatter more in winter and spend time in the deeper parts of the lake. I have tried many times to find them. Looked in the deep water a couple times and found small schools of bait with the flasher but no luck on the walleye.

eiderz · « **Reply #12 on:** Dec 01, 2011, 10:32 AM »

Try an overnighter trip. Many lakes where walter has lockjaw during the day are productive at night. Target an area where you believe they hang around during the day, probably in deep water, which is adjacent to a rocky point or shallow sandy shoal. A really good area to target has 30 or more feet of water within a couple hundred yards of shore, a rapid rise from 15- 10 feet or so near shore and then a gently sloping rocky bottom to the shore. The walleye tend to move shallow at night and cruise around looking for baitfish or crawfish particularly in the rocks. The fish hang right at the drop at dusk, then start to move in as it gets dark- fish the drop late day then move your tipups in after dark. Plan to put tipups in 2-5 feet of water near the point or on the shoal at full dark, the shallow ones will challenge your ability not to ground a power auger. Pre-drill all of your holes well before dark so as not to spook the fish as they move in late in the day.

A couple of tips- Make sure you have a warm shelter/shanty or you'll freeze to death, literally. Put it as far from your spread as possible, preferably on land because the fish are super spooky in shallow water, your creepers will spook them every time. Use hole covers so you don't have to constantly clean the holes, quiet catches walter at night-you are a hunter! Buy a set of tipup lights like the lil' shiners or arctic fire, avoid shining your tipups looking for flags, the fish don't like light either. Obviously use an alewife for bait if possible, otherwise use a hardy bait like a golden shiner, we have had no luck with buckeyes because they seem to die really quick. Relatively light leaders, 8lb or so, and no drag on the spool and minimal weight on the line because they can feel resistance a lot easier on a short line-sometimes you will only have 18" of line off the spool. Be prepared to wait hours for a bite, it might happen right at sundown but some lakes have a middle of the night bite or sunrise bite. When you get one flag you will likely get a couple because they many times cruise through as a school. Good luck, and here's hoping for ice soon!

conesusguy · « **Reply #13 on:** Dec 01, 2011, 04:05 PM »

Is it true that Crappie are often found near structure where walleye's hold? Has anyone heard or experienced this? If so I plan to target/jig for crappie and set tipups into dark.

eiderz · « **Reply #14 on:** Dec 01, 2011, 05:57 PM »

Quote

Is it true that Crappie are often found near structure where walleye's hold? Has anyone heard or experienced this? If so I plan to target/jig for crappie and set tipups into dark.

We have often times caught crappie on our tipups in the deeper water (10-20') when targeting walter. I tend to think all fish like the structure such as the dropoff I mentioned in the previous post. We have had luck jigging them at night in the deper water in front of the shallow water spread but it was generally incidental catches because we were bored, or ran out of beer. When targeting crappie, night is a great time to catch them but they seem to school best in 25-35 feet of water where we fish.

ConesusPikeCatcher · « **Reply #15 on:** Dec 04, 2011, 10:39 PM »

Honestly i put in prolly 30 hours of targeting just walleye thru the ice in conesus last year. Targeting meaning roaming around with my vexilar off a couple of different very steep rocky points as well as flats jigging. I had zero success. You can try all you want but its worth just hoping in the truck and driving the 2 hours to oneida. Like everyone else has said.....to much bait. Also i might add i have fished conesus hard for the last 7-8 winters for northerns and have never caught an eye thru the ice and have only seen 1-2 accidentally caught and im talking fishin hard 3-4 days a week all winter. Caught an eye last week tho!!!!

jimski2 · « **Reply #16 on:** Dec 05, 2011, 08:04 AM »

Chautauqua Lake walleyes are caught through the ice in the first couple hours after daylight or before darkness. 20 foot shoals near deep water are good as are near creek mouths. Jigging Raps, spoons all tipped with a minnow head seem to be the most successful. Get a lake chart and look for a good site. Shoals are good to start with. A flasher is good to show if they are suspended so you are not wasting your time fishing the wrong depth. Oneida Lake is a good place to watch the better fishermen catch walleyes.

OneBucketMike · « **Reply #17 on:** Dec 08, 2011, 02:37 PM »

Quote from: 10bucketbigwillie on Nov 28, 2011, 06:01 PM

never had much luck.

Calling yourself BigWillie was a bit much but now to jump up to 10Bucket is a bit over the top!!! Did Devo put you up to that???
As for walleyes, I haven't seen them caught through the ice lately either. We got them 30-40 years ago in the late afternoon out from the inlets South end-used 7' rods back then with big sweeps with homemade concave spoons (I think one was called a lucky 7??). Bottom line for me is that if Mr. Gambell can't catch them, then they can't be caught!!!! Cya....

devo · « **Reply #18 on:** Dec 10, 2011, 07:01 AM »

For a new guy trying to catch walleye, Conesus should be your last choice. Like OneBucketMike said, we've fished there for over 30 years and I've never seen a walleye come through the ice. We fish pretty hard too. Try Honeoye or make the trip to Onieda for the walleyes.

conesusguy · « **Reply #19 on:** Dec 10, 2011, 03:38 PM »

Quote from: devo on Dec 10, 2011, 07:01 AM

For a new guy trying to catch walleye, Conesus should be your last choice. Like OneBucketMike said, we've fished there for over 30 years and I've never seen a walleye come through the ice. We fish pretty hard too. Try Honeoye or make the trip to Onieda for the walleyes.

Thanks for the heads up Devo and CP Catcher. I'm going to lay off a bit on them on conesus and mainly taget gators and tigers. I don't remember hearing of many if any eyes thru the ice on honeoye last season, are they difficult to catch on that lake? it's just over a few hills to get there for me but I've avoided honeoye because me and me pa only got 1 perch there on 2 trips last season. Onieda is a hike for me and hard to justify with all the water sources located under 50 miles. Also a friend of mine caught a 10lb eye on hemlock this summer would that be worth trying?

fishmaster13184 · « **Reply #20 on:** Dec 10, 2011, 07:41 PM »

I fished honeyoye alot and only got 1 eye last winter fished oneida once and caught my limit

OneBucketMike · « **Reply #21 on:** Dec 10, 2011, 09:02 PM »

Quote from: conesusguy on Dec 10, 2011, 03:38 PM

Thanks for the heads up Devo and CP Catcher. I'm going to lay off a bit on them on conesus and mainly taget gators and tigers. I don't remember hearing of many if any eyes thru the ice on honeoye last season, are they difficult to catch on that lake? it's just over a few hills to get there for me but I've avoided honeoye because me and me pa only got 1 perch there on 2 trips last season. Onieda is a hike for me and hard to justify with all the water sources located under 50 miles. Also a friend of mine caught a 10lb eye on hemlock this summer would that be worth trying?

Agree with fishmaster13184 that Honeoye is no sure thing for walleyes and it can be very finicky at times-bass (season is expanded there) are more likely to be caught nowadays there. Not claiming to be an expert about Hemlock but like Conesus haven't heard of any caught through the ice there to speak of. Good luck whether you try to fish and maybe you will be that lucky guy on Conesus who catches a walleye while fishing Pike. Cya....

bosco2 · « **Reply #22 on:** Dec 10, 2011, 10:38 PM »

I fished Honeoye frequently last year and did very well on Perch most days out once I finally found a good area. I ALWAYS got there well before sun-up and set up for Walleye and then would transition for Perch as daylight set in. Just one eye last year and that was my very first fish of the season. After that, nada!! No more eyes. I fished with a buddy a couple times and exchanged reports with him a few other times. He uses the Aquaview and told me that he had several on his camera and they showed absolutely no interest in any of his presentations. I think there are die hards and old timers with tight lips who may regularly do well there.....but I'm not one of them. I think I've only iced 3 total. The best action seems to be for Bluegill on the south end. Whole villages set up there off the boat launch but that's not my bag. I'm more inclined to set up on the north end at dusk with a lantern for Crappie.

conesusguy · « **Reply #23 on:** Dec 11, 2011, 03:27 PM »

Quote from: bosco2 on Dec 10, 2011, 10:38 PM

I fished Honeoye frequently last year and did very well on Perch most days out once I finally found a good area. I ALWAYS got there well before sun-up and set up for Walleye and then would transition for Perch as daylight set in. Just one eye last year and that was my very first fish of the season. After that, nada!! No more eyes. I fished with a buddy a couple times and exchanged reports with him a few other times. He uses the Aquaview and told me that he had several on his camera and they showed absolutely no interest in any of his presentations. I think there are die hards and old timers with tight lips who may regularly do well there.....but I'm not one of them. I think I've only iced 3 total. The best action seems to be for Bluegill on the south end. Whole villages set up there off the boat launch but that's not my bag. I'm more inclined to set up on the north end at dusk with a lantern for Crappie.

So the night crappie bite is pretty good there? Anybody have any suggestions for targeting crappie on conesus?

bosco2 · « **Reply #24 on:** Dec 11, 2011, 07:30 PM »

Not fantastic but years ago I'd heard it could be productive so I gave it a try. Got skunked my first time and then found a program that has gotten me fish every night since. Not huge numbers or large fish but plenty of keepers. For the last couple years it's been a great way to get a few hours of fishing in on weekdays after work. I only started two winters ago so I'm still learning and trying to mix it up and try new locations/tactics but I always seem to get at least a few so I'm happy with it. I don't know about Consesus. I've never fished it through the ice.

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Author Topic: walleyes thru the ice in Conesus Lake (Read 4934 times)