CAPTAIN TONY BUFFA FISHING CHARTERS
Fishing Report #15
10/26/09
Hello to all my faithful and patient readers:
Yes, I'm back at the keyboard, done with Ontario until spring 2010 and on Oneida for OctoberCast. First let me thank all those who fished with me during brown trout and salmon season. I am grateful for your support and patronage over the years. Now it's time to focus on the little "O" (my home and where it all began).
The water temperature is already a very cold 51.4 degrees Fahrenheit, the yellow perch are schooled in the shallows and weed oriented, and the walleye night bite has begun. Can you think of a better way to celebrate fall in CNY? Perch by day, walleyes by night, and if you hunt then there's a real dilemma unless you subscribe to the Tony Buffa mantra "sleep is for winter". At any rate, the cold water has triggered a very nice fishing opportunity on Oneida. I would like to say that the walleye night bite is in full swing but that would be misleading. We have had good nights and slow nights. Seems as though the walleyes are on their own schedules and not ours. Some nights the walleyes come at dusk, other nights they come at 8:00 P.M. and later. When they do come, they seem to show a preference to weeded areas, hence we have been using the Jr. Thundersticks, Challengers, and Rapalas vs.. the Bass Pro Shops XPS Laser Eye Suspend Nitro Minnow. As the weeds die back the Suspend Nitro Minnow will get its fair share of "night duty".
Some nights the walleyes don't come but the perch day bite certainly kept Phil Roe and Dale Tabot from Hamilton, NY busy. Their catch of seventy yellow perch also came from DelMarter Bay in nine feet adjacent to the weeds. Fathead minnows ( 8 doz. ) were devoured in a matter of 4 hours. Had we not run out of bait I'm sure we would have topped the 100 mark. If you're looking for a deer processor, Phil is known to run a very professional operation in Hamilton, NY. He has his own "mini meat packing company" equipped with a hanging room, walk-in coolers, and commercial smoker. Phil's smoked venison products are the best you'll ever try. He can be reached at (315) 824-1426.
Jose Figueiredo, B'ville, NY, Eric Manning also B'ville and Mike Trait, Clay, NY got in on the afternoon/night bite on Saturday, Oct. 24. After a windy and wet Sat. morning we had our doubts on whether this outing would even begin. By 2:00 P.M. the wind had subsided and the rain completely stopped. This time the weather forecasters got it right! We started the day in 12 feet of water, again in DelMarter Bay jigging blade baits (Sonars & Bass Pro Shops XPS Lazer Blades) gold. Smallmouth bass, walleyes, and yellow perch were very active in the shallows. By nightfall the jigging bite stopped and we managed a couple more eyes on the fire tiger Jr. Thunderstick and fire tiger Challenger. In the bottom left of the photo there is a clearer shot of the 101 RipTide.
