Tennity's Guide Service & Fishing Charters

Weather has stabilized and the water temperature is steady. Bass just completed a spawn and are on the bite. When it was raining with overcast skies on Saturday bass were very active. Sunday with bright and sunny conditions slowed things down but you could still catch a nice sack. Melody managed to put a 4 lber. in the boat Sunday evening.
A mix of baits worked with wacky worms and baby brush hogs fooling the bass. As usual, the baits were Zoom products. There are many great baits in the marketplace to choose from, but these baits offer 20 per package and a long history of quality with the ability to trick bass into biting.

It is October 13th as I sit here writing this “Thank You” to all the folks that have fished with us in 2016. I wish all of you could experience 50 bass fishing trips, but sometimes those green fish have different ideas. Starting in the spring, several folks had these days on the water and as the season progressed the catch ratio dropped with the last few trips working to catch 12 to 15. The bass get conditioned to fishing pressure and we find it necessary to change locations and baits. During this process, we also have to change presentations. Some of these presentations are quite difficult to learn in a short period of time, such as a 5 hr fishing trip. In some previous blogs, I offered suggestions that would help to make your guided trips successful in the future. Practice casting, pitching and flipping in the yard by your home. Set out targets at various distances, then spend 15 minutes per day practicing. You will be the recipient of some smart aleck remarks, such as, “how they biting?”,  “catch any?”, but know that when you are on the water, your catch ratio is going to increase.

Each one of you that spent time with us is very special. We hope that in the process of spending time on one of our boats, that you have, above all, experienced a fun day. Secondly our goal has been to teach you some new methods, baits and provide general information, to you, the effect the environment has on bass. Once again this year, Honeoye has experienced an algae bloom that made it harder to catch bass. By switching a Texas rigged bait and shaking it in place, the bass could locate our offering. If you went to different areas of the lake, usually clearer water could be found, making the fish easier to catch. We hope you learned how sunshine, clouds or wind determines where we fish and the methods used. If you have forgotten some of that information, call us and we will be happy to refresh your memory.

Happy Holidays ahead and if you are coming to Florida this winter, we guide for BASS in the central  Florida area, an hour south of Disney and close to Legoland. Check our website, http:centrafloridabassinwithfrank.com  and have a great winter season.

Frank and Melody

Honeoye has been good all year, even with the algae bloom. The best and most consistent bait has been a Zoom Baby Brush Hog in green pumpkin color. Fish have spent a majority of the time in the 8ft depth. The lake water is starting to clear up and the wacky rig is starting to catch a few. Spinnerbaits, buzz baits and small crank baits will also work. Move in and out until you find the bass location as the water temperature is dropping and the fish are moving around.

Conesus is almost a carbon copy of Honeoye, except the bait colors are different.Watermelon red has been very good all year. Zoom trick, finesse, and shaky head worms have worked well. When flipping and pitching weeds, we used Brush Hogs and Baby Brush Hogs, both in watermelon red.

Canandaigua started slow, picked up later and only kicked out some small bass last weekend. Wacky rigged Zoom trick worms fished from 3 to 2o feet fooled some very nice largemouth.

A big thanks to all the folks that chose our guide service this year. We hope you enjoyed the time spent with us on the water and look forward to future fishing adventures with you. If you come to Florida during the winter, consider a bass fishing trip in the center of the state. Our Florida web site is centralfloridabassinwithfrank.com. We would love to take you shiner fishing.

Be safe, wear your life vest and maintain a proper lookout.

Frank and Melody

If you haven’t read my last post, please take the time to read it and put the wheels in motion to improve your angling adventures. You will be surprised how much better your outings will be, if you just spend a little time practicing. Now for the fishing reports.

Honeoye is being a little stingy right now with her bass. The water is stained from an algae bloom and at times the bass are having trouble locating your bait. We are still using wacky rigs with dark colored Zoom Trick worms and Texas rigged Zoom Baby Brush Hogs. When using the worm, give it plenty of time to sink and then make short horizontal pulls of a foot or less. If you are using the creature bait, let it sink to the bottom and shake your rod tip, but do not move the bait, keep it in place. This will send out vibrations that the bass can feel and they will come to the bait. If you feel a light tap or pressure set the hook hard and bring the bass up toward the surface, otherwise you will lose most fish that get into the weeds.

Conesus is very good right now with bass biting in all areas of the lake. On our last visit, we mainly fished the south end using wacky rigged Zoom Trick Worms and Zoom Shaky Head Worms. Bass were on the weed edge and you had to be exactly on the edge with your presentation. Later in the day we flipped the weeds farther north and culled several times. We used Zoom Baby Brush Hogs which we modified. Never be afraid to experiment with your baits. Just showing the bass a little different bait can bring good results.

We had not been to Cayuga in quite some time and the lake was pretty rough first thing in the morning. A quick trip to the island produced nothing, so I moved south to an area we had caught bass in the past. Using a Stanley spinnerbait, I started catching some bass. It was a mix of keeper fish and shorts. In late morning, I switched to a ZMan chatter bait and caught several nice bass which allowed me to do some culling. I made another trip to the island with no results, so I went to the west side of Cayuga Lake and started flipping a Zoom Brush Hog which brought a 3.60 into the boat. By that time I had to return for the weigh in, but if I had gone west earlier, I could have caught more big fish. The bite was slow, but I caught 15 bass, several pike, a perch and a rockie.

Be safe, wear your life vest, and maintain a proper lookout.

Honeoye Lake and Finger Lakes Fishing

Today I am going to give some instruction that will increase your catch ratio when you go angling alone or with a fishing guide. As a guide, I work very hard to find fish that customers can catch, and it bothers me when a day of fishing does not meet the expectations that I wanted. Here are some things that you, as a client, can do to help make the day a huge success.

When you fish out of my boat, it will be with artificial baits made of plastic. You will be using a wacky rig, a Texas rig or possibly a dropshot. None of these methods require a PHD to use properly and effectively, but some practice on your part will pay huge dividends.

A trip to your local sporting goods store is the first step. Purchase a practice plug and tie it to your fishing pole. Spend about 15 minutes per day out in the back yard practicing your casting, flipping, and pitching. You will generally not have to cast over 30 feet, but accuracy is the game changer. By doing this, on the appointed day, when I say cast to that weed edge, or flip in that pocket, or pitch to that clump of weeds, you will have developed a fair amount of ability and your catch ratio will be higher.

This is the computer age, and if you do not know what flipping and pitching methods are, spend the time to copy instructions from the internet. If you have practiced at home, we can refine and polish the presentation of your bait while fishing. I find it almost impossible to teach two to three people even the basics of these methods in a five hour fishing trip. Fishing is similar to anything else in life, the more you work at it the better you get.

Now for the fishing report. Canandaigua Lake produced some nice largemouth bass at the south end on recent guide trips. We used wacky rigged Zoom Trick worms with a weighted hook. Bass were caught from 8 to 20 feet of water.

Conesus Lake has been producing some nice bags of largemouth bass using wacky rigs, Texas rigs and tubes. The wacky and Texas rigs had Zoom plastics and the tubes were Bass Pro Tender Tubes. We used trick worms, shaky head worms and baby brush hogs.

Honeoye Lake has been good to the folks fishing with me. As usual some days are better than others and the skill level of the anglers has a definite relationship to their success. There are days when an afternoon trip is better than a day trip. High bluebird skies seem to slow the fishing, but if you can fish the heavier weeds, you can expect more bites. Several trips the past two weeks have produced 12 to 30 bass per trip. Wacky rigs have worked in the cleaner water and when we have to dig in the weeds, I switch to Texas rigged baby brush hogs. The baits used were all manufactured by Zoom. Again, no, I am not sponsored by Zoom!

Good fishing, wear your life vest, and maintain a proper lookout.
Frank

We have been very busy for the past month on several of the Finger Lakes and especially Honeoye Lake. July 24th we took a couple on Seneca Lake and caught a nice mix of smallmouth and largemouth bass. The smallmouth were caught on tubes and the largemouth on wacky rigged trick worms. The next day, a trip to Skaneateles Lake gave up 20+ smallmouth bass, but most were smaller buck bass. A fun time using a spinnerbait and mixing in a Texas rigged green pumpkin baby brush hog.

Early July we spent time on Honeoye Lake and Canandaigua Lake. The little lake produced great numbers of medium sized bass on Zoom trick and finesse worms. When the bass buried up in the weeds, the green pumpkin baby brush hog worked. Mixed in with the plastic baits was a double willow leaf spinnerbait that worked. The first two trips on Canandaigua were a test at best, but now that the water has warmed, it is producing some good numbers using plastic baits. The same Zoom worms being used on Honeoye.

Honeoye Lake has been the producer and the best place to teach people what the “bite” feels like. Very seldom do you feel an actual bite, but more of a pressure, so set the hook. Sometimes it is weeds and sometimes those weeds swim, so do not question whether it is a bass or weeds; snap your wrist and set the hook.

We have had variable conditions on the little lake (Honeoye)  this year, with water temperatures rising then falling several degrees. Water levels are down due to the lack of rain, and we have a slight algae bloom with the weeds growing. Through all of this, I have found the evening bite usually better than a daytime bite. Overcast days and low light conditions seem to position bass so they are easier to locate and catch.

Tennity’s Guide Service is not sponsored by Zoom baits, but I will tell you that they make some of the highest quality baits in the marketplace. Their color selection is second to none, and the price is very affordable. When you can purchase 20 quality worms for less than $4 versus 10 baits for $7, it is a no brainer.

DO NOT TAKE A KID FISHING, TAKE A KID CATCHING. Kids can get bored or lose interest very easy. If you do not know how to fish, the folks at the big box store are not your best source of rods, reels and terminal tackle. Bite the bullet and do an evening fishing trip with your daughter or son so they learn  some basics about fishing. Start them on the right path and make it a family project to expand your angling knowledge and skills.

Good fishing, wear your life vest, and maintain a proper lookout.

Frank

It is opening day of the NYS 2016 bass season and a quick update will clue you into what has happened in the past two weeks. The water temperatures have been going up and down like a yoyo for the past few weeks making bass activity hard to predict. Saturday evening, June 11, the water had warmed and the bass were active late in the day. Sunday, the wind blew and the air temperature dropped. Honeoye Lake water temperature dropped 9 degrees in just a few days, which had a dramatic effect on the bass. The bite became slow, but as the water warmed this week, the bass became more active.

To catch more fish, use a slow presentation, flip weeds, and as the water warms during the day, fish edges with a wacky rig. Both Tuesday and Friday produced good results, but it was important to fish slow. Zoom finesse worms and Zoom Baby Brush Hogs were the proven baits.

Conesus Lake was in the same general condition as Honeoye Lake, the exception being Conesus is deeper and it may take longer for the water to warm back to the temperatures that make bass active. Even though the lake was in a slump, we managed to boat several largemouth and smallmouth bass in the 3 to 4 pound class. Zoom finesse worms were the most productive baits there, too.

This past week has been very busy with our clients from Ohio. On Tuesday evening we had dinner and hit Honey Lake for three hours of bass fishing. John and Susan hadn’t lost their touch, managing to put 31 bass into the Ranger. All bass came on Zoom finesse worms.

On Wednesday we spent the day fishing for bass and huge panfish. The count for total fish caught was 125 with at least 50 to 60 being bass. They used the same Zoom worms for bass and some homemade jig spinners that had a 1/32 ounce jig. We put a 1 1/2 inch Bass  Assassin, a fake type minnow, on the jig as a trailer. The panfish baits were fished on ultralight poles with 4 lb. test Bass Pro mono line.

Thursday, the Ohio folks took a break from fishing. This allowed another couple vacationing from PA to fish. The weather was marginal in the morning, but overall it played into a great day. Pennsylvania can be proud of Dean and Jennifer as they caught approximately 40 bass. The weather was overcast and the bite slower than I had anticipated. They were using the same worms that had worked previously, but I made a color change to a darker worm and the bass seemed to be able to see the worm better. The number of bites came faster and the size of the bass increased.

Susan and John wanted to try a different lake, so I checked the weather forecast and Friday was going to be perfect to fish Conesus Lake. We started fishing at the north end and worked our way south. As we drifted along with a slight breeze, we changed from worms to Bass Pro Stikos, and the bass were more inclined to bite the green pumpkin. At days end, the bass count was 30 and the panfish about the same. The biggest largemouth was a 5.49 and the largest smallmouth was 4.44. There were several largemouth in the 3-4 pound weight range and some of the smallmouths in the 2.5 to3 pound class.

Saturday was a surprise day for me. I took Susan and John to the southern part of Honeoye Lake and the bite was slow. We moved several times, always catching bass, but not in the numbers I expected. After a break for lunch, we fished the northern section of the lake, and when we quit for the day, the bass count was at 30 and panfish just about the same. Zoom finesse worms and Bass Pro Stikos both worked.

In all, the week was successful for all four of our clients.

Good fishing,

Frank

Bass fishing started off a little on the slow side May 18th. The water temperature had dropped again and the bass were in a negative mood. We managed a mix of bass and pickerel, but it was a day when you earned every bite.

By Sunday May 22nd, the water had climbed several degrees and the bass were active. We managed 42 bass in a five hour trip with a gentleman from California. Monday was a carbon copy and 39 bass were fooled by a group of three repeat clients.

On May 27th, a lady from Rochester along with her mom and dad from the Keystone State, put 47 bass in the boat during a five hour trip.
The following day a family from Mt. Morris took home a nice mess of panfish.
Sunday, I had a trip to help a new resident and his long time friends get acquainted with Honey Lake. We used his party barge, but his depth finder was not working. This made it difficult to find the proper depth and structure, but they had a good morning and learned several new methods for catching Honeoye bass.
Various baits worked with Zoom trick and finesse worms the top producers.

Weather at times has made the spring of 2015 a test to catch fish, but the good news is they have to eat and summer is coming soon. Honeoye has been like a yoyo with the catch rate going up and down as the conditions change. Warming trends have turned the bass on and cool nights have slowed the bite. It has been our experience that the afternoon bite has been superior to the early morning catch ratio. Many different colored worms have been working, so just experiment until the right selection results in getting bit. Presentation seems to be more important than color, with dead sticking and then just a slight movement of the bait triggering most of the action. Fish very, very slow, but pay attention to what the bass want. If they strike the bait on the fall or grab the worm and swim off, they are active and you can fish faster.

Conesus has been much like Honeoye with the same weather patterns keeping the water cold and choppy. Tuesday we managed a few largemouth and smallmouth but you had to work for them. Saturday was cold and windy, but the fish were more active. We managed to catch two tiger muskies, 1 pike, lost a pike, had 3 follows from pike and boated several nice largemouth and smallmouth bass. Spinnerbaits worked the best, taking several of the pike, bass and tiger musky. Retrieve speed was medium with a slight pause now and then.