Beautiful day, but the bass did not want to play. Catchin’ was still pretty good - a bunch of pickerel, including 4 in the 18-20” range, and a 12” yellow perch. Caught all the big guys on a Rapala popper. Sorry, no pics - haven’t figured out how to hold a 20” squirmy, slimy pickerel in one hand and the phone in the other.

After a couple of slow days - only a couple of pickerel - Sunday turned out to be an excellent fishin' and catchin' day. Got these three guys plus a 19" pickerel. (I actually was a lot happier than I look - the wife says I need to work on a smile.)

Nope. Haven't gotten up the energy to transport the kayak. White Lake gets pretty busy as the weather warms up - lots of jet skis, water skiers, big pontoon boats. I prefer our quiet, electric-only private lake. Have been thinking about trying Lake Superior at some point. Looks like it should hold some nice bass.

Finally got back on the water. Beautiful day, managed a couple of hours late afternoon. Not much action - landed this guy (2 lb 10 oz smallmouth), and got an 18" pickerel up to the kayak, gave him a sec to get himself off the hook so I didn't have to deal with him. Heading out again tomorrow.

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We’re actually on Black Lake, just down the road. Never fished on White Lake - probably because I’m not an early riser, and the power boats and jet skis do take over once the sun’s been up for a while. No 8 lb. brown trout, but small electric motors only, quiet, lots of bass, pickerel, and crappie, and all the good spots are less than 15 minutes from my dock in the yak.

After a long break I started fishing again 20 years ago, when we built a home on small private lake in the southern Catskills. The fishing - and the catching - from late April thru early November have been great. I can count the skunks on one hand (well, maybe 2), largemouth mostly in the 3-4 lb. range with the occasional 5 pounder, and lots of pickerel, many 20" and over (including a 27" beast). I'm really looking forward to putting the yak back in the water when the ice clears out. That said, I've been thinking about those 10+ pounders I see being caught down south in all those You Tube videos - in Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Texas. My idea is to spend maybe two days on one of those great bass lakes with a guide, boat and tackle included in the deal. I've done some looking online, but it would be great to get a more personal recommendation. Anybody done anything like that? Suggestions?

Went back out to the rock ledge, but no bass. Did land a 22" pickerel, which helped. Headed over to a nearby shoreline with some rocks and a steep drop off, and caught this guy (2 lb., 7 oz.) and and another 3 pickerel - two babies and a one a hefty 20". Caught everything on a craw-colored lipless crank. Including a photo from our dock as the sun was going down.

Great weather continuing in the northeast, so headed back up to the Lake. Pretty good late afternoon - 2 pickerel and these two guys, both about 16" and a little over 2 lbs. Caught them in just 2-3' of water in the middle of the lake, along the top of an underwater ledge/ridge that extends about 100 yards out from a piece of rock that juts out of the water. Looked like the kind of hard structure a bass might like! Also including a shot of the lake taken shortly after sundown as I was heading back in.

Got out on the lake for a few hours over the weekend. Lovely weather, great colors, only one bass. Still beats doing just about anything else!

Went out again yesterday about the same time - quiet, temp in the mid 50's. No interest in the squarebill, but did catch this guy on a topwater. Also thought folks would enjoy this shot of the lake - it was a lovely early evening, nice fall colors.

210 acre lake

Got out in the kayak for about an hour and a half last night before sundown. Temp in the mid 50's, calm, mostly cloudy. Caught three nice ones between 2 and 2 1/2 pounds on a squarebill, including these two.

Went back to same spot as yesterday, got another 18” pickerel on the crank bait, but bass were not interested. Saw a likely patch of lilies, switched to the wacky-rigged Senko, and hooked this guy on the first cast.

Exploring some new parts of the lake, trying out some new baits. Most of my success comes from fishing a wacky rig around the edges of lily pads. Yesterday I tied on a crank bait, went looking for bass in 6-10' of open water where I'd heard there were some submerged tree stumps. Caught these two plus a couple just under 2 pounds, and a nice-sized perch. Also fished a swim jig around some docks and weeds, hooked a healthy pickerel, got him up to the kayak, trying to figure out how to get him in, when he got his teeth on the line and escaped with the jig.

Had dinner plans, so could only get on the water for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Pretty slow, but did manage to put this one in the boat.