Eric Rosario.com

Weather: Cloudy & Windy, 72*
Water Temp: 71*
Baits: Nothing Worked!

NEWBURGH, NY -- Went out today for my second continuous day of fishing with my brother only to be skunked! We arrived at 10AM and it was relatively windy with boat control a little difficult. We threw spinnerbaits for about two hours because the wind made it difficult to fish any soft plastics. At about 12pm the winds seem to die down so we started using plastics again and I hooked into something, presumably a pickerel, because it broke off pretty easily. The only other action we had was a blow up on a Spook which I threw because it got so cloudy it looked like it was 6pm. We struggled to find fish and when we left at 3pm the boat keeper said no big fish came out today.

We left SKUNKED! This is my first skunking of the year thanks to Washington Lake!

Weather: Cloudy 68*
Water Temp: 71*
Baits: Popper, Tubes

LUDINGTONVILLE, NY -- Met up with a friend from nybass.com to fish White Pond this morning. We got to lake at 6am and launched shortly thereafter. We began fishing the weedy shoreline I wanted to fish with killer results! I was throwing a topwater popper and my buddy was throwing a grub style bait and a small profile buzz bait. The fish were killing top water, however they were very small. I originally started throwing a spook but the fish continuously missed the mark when they struck and it was because (1) they were small and (2) they simply didn't want to chase after the bait even though I was fishing it relatively slow.

This had to be the top lure of the day...



We had about a dozen fish each within the first two hours of fishing the weedy shoreline; all short fish. We continued fishing the Eastern shoreline toward the rock piles I wanted to fish but we noticed there were lots of rocks all along the Eastern shoreline which produced nothing; maybe one or two fish. We seemed to manage fish from old beds that we could still see but they only held small fish. We still could not find a legal keeper, even though we had no intentions of keeping them. We picked off another dozen or so fish from the vacant beds and one or two from actual rock piles.

This was your typical fish which is not even photo worthy but I guess I take pictures anyway since my wife is a photo buff.



We ended the day at 11AM with about 30 fish total; more or less. The action was so non-stop the first few hours we lost track of the count because we were just having so much fun!

Weather: Sunny 80*
Baits: Tube, Frog

WAPPINGER FALLS, NY -- Launched at the lake 6AM sharp hoping to find some bedding bass.

Started off on the North West end of the lake. Since I had never fished that area it turned out to be an interesting morning as there was a small island in the corner where I picked off a few fish and the shoreline is loaded with laydowns. Just about all my fish came from some form of timber that the fish found security near until I set the hook then they fought for their lives. :o)

I caught one fish on a frog from some mats that fish were blowing up through and the rest came on a giant tube I like to throw on a very light weight (1/4 ounce) and a red bead for sound. Was I throwing the bait on beds? I'm not entirely sure but I do know some came off beds. I was fishing very close to the shoreline but kept my distance. I figured if I can see the bed, he can see me!

They simply loved my tube today!



I fished the entire shoreline on the main lake, but did try the area past the bridge (RT9) and only hooked into one fish. All the fish seemed to be in the main lake relating to timber. I fished until 11:30AM when the wind started picking up ending the day with 10 fish which is a complete shocker for Wappingers (for me at least). Most fish were actually pretty big at about 3lbs (the one I did weigh was 2.8).



Wappingers Lake is DEFINITELY on my radar now! :o)
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Weather: Cloudy 73*
Water Temp: 65*

SYLVAN LAKE, NY -- Decided to visit a "new" lake today! There are tons of lakes in the area but many fall under the jurisdiction of state parks which require park permits so I decided to try Sylvan lake since it wasn't too far and it was new (I never been there before).

Arrived at the lake about 8:45AM and found the small parking and boat launch. During the peak season I'd suggest you get there early because if I had to guess I'd say maybe 6 cars fit in the parking lot; yes it's that small ("Early bird catches the worm"). The lake is a perfect circle shape and has about 90% of its shoreline consisting of a flat no deeper than 5ft that goes out a few hundred yards toward the center of the lake. So if you were to look for deep water 12FT or better you will have to troll almost to the center of the lake where it gets very deep. The boat access area is open to public, however for car top boats only!



Once I was on the water I had to decide where I wanted to go. I made a b-line right for the shoreline with trees and lay downs since I'm just comfortable fishing some kind of cover and/or structure. I was well into fishing by 9:15AM and couldn't find a bite for about 2hrs but I was moving a lot to get an idea of what the lake contour was like and depth. I finally realized the fish were in full spawn on the lake as I saw tons of them cruising around and sitting on beds. My first fish came off a bed that I force fed my Manns -1 crank.



By Noon I was on a pattern of fishing for fish that would be on beds or guarding beds. I started heading back in at 1PM and had hooked up with a total of seven fish for the day; not bad. I'm always satisfied with one fish per hour, more is always better and less is a tough day for me. All fish averaged about 2lbs with my biggest being 3lbs. I look forward to returning to this lake in peak season when sun is blazing and vegetation is in bloom. Half the fish hit the Manns -1 and the other half gently moved my senko (I saw the line move before I knew the fish had the bait).

Weather: 83*
Water Temp: 59*

NEW PALTZ, NY -- Wasn't going to fish today but needed a fix, even a quick fix so I headed over to Chodikee about 5pm; launched by 5:30pm (fished for about 2hrs).

Sun was setting so it started to get cool and the wind started to pick up. I threw a spinnerbait since plastic would have been a challenge to fish in the wind but got no takers. With much hesitation yet determination I threw a jerkbait which has proven to be useless for me since I bought one. Well the ice was broken because I got two fish on a jerkbait; Yipee! I got one pickerel and a bass, I did loose a bass on the jerk which would have made it 3 fish but heck my confidence went up a few notches catching any fish on the bait.



Chodikee at this time of year has zero lilly pads and the few times I've gone to the lake I'm finding that I prefer to fish it when it is loaded with lilly pads. The pads give an alternative option of fishing because there is very little cover and/or structure throughout the lake. Sure if you've been there you'll say I'm crazy cause all you see are some kind of plant life all along the edges of the lake but that is all dead this time of year so it only makes me wonder, "Where are the fish hiding?"

As for me, I'll be avoiding this lake in the early Spring & late Fall since it has proven to be killer in dead Summer.