Captain Tony Buffa

Fishing Report #21

08/22/06

A long overdue HELLO to all my fish'in frenz!

First and foremost a very big thank you for all who have kept me so busy that I have not had time to compose and send the usual weekly reports. It's transition time now from Ontario to Oneida and you can expect the weekly reports to resume.

Bandito III is out, on blocks and in storage for winter. I am still thrilled and so grateful to have had the opportunity to move into the 1998 Penn Yan. It has proven to be all and more than I expected. Amenities, comfort, fishability, and seaworthiness have made this a worthy investment. Those of you who have not yet fished with us aboard the Bandito III should plan your fishing trips for 2007 and get back to me soon. Many have already rescheduled for next season.

What about the remaining of this season. "OCTOBERCAST" has started. It is definitely much earlier this year than last. Oneida's surface temperature is a cool 52 degrees Fahrenheit and that's 7 degrees colder than it was last year at this time. Consequently the fishing is also advanced.

Jim Goodman, Syracuse, NY experienced first hand how good the fall bite can be particularly for yellow perch. We boated 42 and kept 32 jumbos. Just before dark, we anchored at Big Isle (a shallow bar at buoy 121) and picked up two 17+ inch walleyes and a smallmouth bass. As you can see in the photo the perch were quite plump. Again my lure of choice for the "night-cast" is the Bass Pro Shops XPS Lazer Eye Nitro Minnow in either black/chrome or blue/chrome. These are suspend models (neutrally buoyant) with a rattle chamber and holographic finish. A suspend lure, when twitched doesn't lift from a striking fish and results in a much better catch to strike ratio. The lures are in the foreground of the picture.

On a recent outing with Tom Barry, Bayberry, NY including his son David, son-in-law Mike, brother-in-law Mark, and nephew Nate we boated 12 walleyes and a pickerel. You can see that the walleyes have indulged themselves all summer. They definitely don't subscribe to weightwatchers. Again the lure du jour (XPS Nitro Minnow suspend model blue/chrome). We anchored in 4.5 feet behind Dutchman's Island and pitched the XPS Nitros with Berkeley Fireline Crystal (the new invisible fireline). No need to leader with fluorocarbon! Let the catch be a testimonial to its efficacy.

We did close out our Ontario season in stride with catches in and out of the harbor. Jeff Shaw, daughter Angela and friend Rachel enjoyed their usual harbor troll for returning salmon. The customary fare of j-plugs, j-13 Rapalas, and Luhr Jensen #5 Diamond King silver plated spoons took these kings on the surface and down to 13 feet.

And for my final Ontario photo. On Oct. 3, Tim Hunt, Wisconsin, Keith Sweeney, Liverpool, NY, Andy and Randy Kroll, Nashville, Tenn. affectionately called "Fishing With Fools" made the trek to 640 feet (11mi. offshore). Finally the weather permitted an offshore run. Heavy winds throughout late Sept. and early Oct. generally denied any offshore considerations. Let's call this photo Fall "Fooliage" in honor of the fools. They even sport fool's logo clothing. Check out their hooded sweat shirts "World tour '06 Fishing with Fools". This was their 15th. annual event. On this effort the offshore was very good to us. We took these kings, and steelhead down 140 to 127 feet over 640 feet of water. Spoons and flies trolled at a modest 2.4 to 2.6 closed the deal. By the way Sweeney the reigning champ from 05 retained his title in 06 with the biggest king.

There is plenty of Oneida season remaining. I intend to fish until Thanksgiving. Also I have dropped the price on the Bandito II to $8000.39 ( a steal of a deal). The 39 cents will get me an extra postage stamp. Nice to talk to you all again and I promise to continue the reports with regularity.

your "nightcaster",

cap'n tony

Tony