By Joe Greco, www.newyorkfishing.com
Although I have been quite consumed with fishing on Lake George the past couple weeks, I always have walleye on the brain and mid-summer can be a fun time to target them. My favorite spot to fish summer walleye is “The Dead Sea” as they call it, The Great Sacandaga Lake. The GSL is truly a beast with endless rocky-sandy humps and bars, fluctuating water levels and little to no weed growth at all. This can make finding fish challenging if you don’t know where to look.
Many anglers think you have to go out in the evening or at night to catch walleye and during the summer peak period fish can be caught all day. In fact, my most productive time to fish during this period is right in the middle of the day. Bright sunny skies and muggy weather conditions push fish down deep and concentrate large schools that can be very vulnerable to stealthy live-bait rigging tactics. On calm days with such conditions I like to spend time searching for a biomass of fish hanging out on deep structure and fish it precisely with lindy-rigged live leeches. Using a ½ to ¾ lindy weight, a Sampo ball bearing swivel tied to about 4 ft. of 8lb. fluorocarbon leader and a snelled #2 red octopus hook, I slowly work around structure with my minn-kota I-pilot until I am hovering right over the pod of fish. A live leech hooked through the front suction cup gracefully pulled along bottom will be irresistible to any fish it slithers by.
With hardly any weed growth to hide under most fish at this point in the season will relate to deep main-lake structure, changes in bottom composition and edges of the old river channels. Fishing deep contour lines in the 25 to 35 ft. range using bottom bouncers and worm harnesses or three way rigs with small stick baits is another great summer method. This method will help you cover more water and is more productive on windy days when the fish are more active. I like 1 to 3 oz. bottom bouncers with worm harnesses and slow-death crawler rigs can all you need some days. I like the Okuma dead eye series bottom bouncing rod for this in the 7ft. size-medium power. They have a nice fast-action tip but lots of back bone capable of controlling up to 4oz. bouncers when working deep structure. Take note that this year the water level is unusually high so your spots in 30 feet of water will likely be more like 35 to 40.
Saratoga Lake during the months of July and August can be challenging for many anglers. For a little 3 mile-long lake, it takes quite a beating from local bass clubs and somehow year after year continues to produce quality fishing. The bass have seen every crankbait, spinnerbait and worm you can imagine by now and successful anglers often change up their tactics to be successful. Trying something a little different be it speed of retrieval, depth, color or location can provide action when others are striking out doing “the same old thing”. Key in on weeds and deeper weed growth with cooler water that is off the beaten path which may hold over-looked pods of fish. Try slowing things down with finesse plastics or spider grubs in natural colors rigged on 1/8oz weedless tungsten jig heads. Another option is fishing fast with crankbaits or lipless cranks and trying to trigger a reaction strike from fish that aren’t really in the mood to feed. Mix it up and try new things, it may be the solution to getting more bites when the pressure is on!
