Oneida trips this fall

[gstott]

I made it up to Oneida a few times this fall before they blew it out with murk and debris. I had some pretty good action at times. The first couple of trips I was fishing lipless cranks and crayfish colored squarebills parallel to shore, banging them off the rocks. Those fish just hammered them. I also got several on jerkbaits, which is always fun.[inline "smallie 2 small.jpg"][inline "smallie square.jpg"][inline "walleye small.jpg"][inline "smallie small.jpg"]
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The last time I went up there, the water was down at least 10 feet while they worked on the dam. I was a little concerned about finding the fish as most of the spots I usually catch them on were now dry land. I was doing pretty well at first throwing suspending jerkbaits.
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I hooked something big on one, and the fish just slowly peeled off line and headed for the bottom. I let it run, figuring it would tire itself out, but it unfortunately must have found a dead tree or boulder down there and I ended up never seeing the fish and was out a Slender Pointer (a killer smallmouth jerkbait). After that the jerkbait bite slowed, but I popped a nice eye snapping a crayfish colored tube off the bottom which was a bit of a surprise. [inline "tube eye small.jpg"]
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Never did catch another fish on it, but a little Keitech Swing Impact on a 3/16 oz head got the job done.
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Oh, and I watched a deer swim across the reservoir. That was pretty cool.
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As I mentioned before, the water is back up, but it's super murky and full of junk, so I think I'm done up there this year unfortunately.
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[wiperhunter2]

Great report and pics gstott, thanks for sharing it/them with us, you sure have that lake figured out, Were those bigger SM bass over 4 lbs?
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[cpierce]

Those are some impressive fish! Looks like you had some great days.
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[gstott]

Nah, just 2lbers but still a lot of fun. Those largies on the other post go up to around 8lbs though.
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[wiperhunter2]

LOL, I was planning on replying to your other post and ask you about those LM. That one looked like a huge fish but I wasn't sure. Congrats on those monster LM from last year. That many fish caught on one trip is truly amazing.
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[gstott]

Ha I was wondering. I wish I'd had a scale but I'm thinking the smaller ones are in the five plus range and that big one 8+ going off length and girth. I bought a scale over the winter but ly the biggest bass I caught this year was only 19" and 3.75 lbs. I think I'm just spoiled after that.
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[gmwahl]

I just came across this report. Good job on a great season up there!

I fished the crap out of Oneida this summer and fall and it didn't disappoint. Lots of good sized smallies, walleyes, jumbo perch, rainbows, and a surprise 10" bluegill (not green sunfish)! It was stellar up there this year and with the exception of the Labor Day weekend we had it mostly to ourselves. Only another boat or two there most days. It peeved me that they dropped it so much, but hopefully they will get the dam fixed quickly and it will be back to normal next spring. It never affected the bite for us, but made it impossible to launch on our last trip, so we just fished the river below.

Perch were always just an incidental catch and we never really targeted them, but this year I had a fishing chum with me that wanted to target them, so we tried. Caught TONS of perch between 8-12" when we tried and always ended up with a few walleyes while targeting the perch.

Seems like the smallies were a little smaller than normal this year though. We still caught several 16" smallies, but seems like the 8-10" size bass made up the bulk of them. Years past they seemed to be more like 10-13".

I'm wondering if it's worth the effort of ice fishing it? I've never tried and it seems like it should be ok.

Mike
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[gstott]

I wish I would have spent more time up there this year. I kept at the largemouth too much and it was just never all that good this year. I had some decent days, but nothing great.

I've been fishing Oneida for I think 8 years now, and oddly enough I'd never caught a perch until this year. I finally caught about a foot longer on a drop shot.

The water was back up the last time I went up there, but it was super murky and full of debris so I just kept on driving. Ended up at Condie which was okay but not great.

I know they want people to keep a limit of smaller bass there to help lower the population so that they can grow bigger. Smallies actually make pretty tasty tacos.
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[gmwahl]

Good to know about the water levels, thanks.

I do my part to keep a limit of the pansized smallies every time I go there. I wish others would as well so that they don't stunt out like they do on so many of our utah waters. The smallies in Oneida are very mild and taste awsome.

I don't keep largemouths when I go fishing for them because I think they taste mossy as a general rule....maybe it's just the water I catch them out of. They are just really fun to catch and send back though.

The perch have always been there and I've caught them ever since I started fishing it over 20 years ago, but I just never targeted them until now. My walleye catch rate has gone up significantly since targeting perch though. I guess they hang out together somewhat?

When the water on the reservoir is murky or conditions aren't good for boats, I usually just head down on the river and catch all the smallies and trout I can handle. I've caught several smallies in the 15-16" range on the river this year as well.

Mike
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[fallsfish]

Glad to hear that you guys did so well this season. I love to fish Onieda and usually get down at least once a season, not this year. Looks like the good fishing is still there.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Greg thats a great post, I feel bad I'm just verily seeing it... Been missing your posts on the other board, but understand why... Looks like you had a lot of fun... I love those smallies... Oneida was pretty kind to me this summer as well... Got one of those nice smallies and an eye and a bow and gills and perch, it was fun mixed bag... Thanks for a fun report, you sure know what you're doing... Later J
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[gstott]

Yeah, I agree on the largemouth not being as tasty. I've kept a mess of them out of Treasureton since they want them gone too, but they were nowhere near as tasty as the Oneida smallies.

I usually fish the river quite a bit, but it was so high this year that I never got around to fishing it.

Yeah, I'm really surprised it took me so long to catch a perch there. I catch them all the time while largemouth fishing, but even with all the small drop shot baits I fish at Oneida, I never seem to catch them. Kind of weird. The sunfish won't leave me alone, but never the perch.
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[gstott]

Thanks, I feel like I struggled this year compared to other years. I'm blaming the crazy ups and downs in the weather. That's my story and I'm sticking to it [:p]
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[SkunkedAgain]

It was a different year for me as well, but if I had a year like you do, I'd think I'd done pretty well. Thanks for the inspiration you set. Later. J
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[gstott]

Well thanks [blush]
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[SkunkedAgain]

You bet, keep posting we love to see nice fish to dream about. Later J
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[gstott]

I can do that [] It looks like I may be moving to Washington state next year though, so it's going to be a whole new experience fishing wise. I'm excited to try my hand at salmon and steelhead.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Wow we'll miss your posts, but that will be fun for you. Good luck but keep posting till then. Thanks J
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