Mohawk River near Schenectady

Share your fishing adventures, especially ones using antique tackle!
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NJFisherman
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Mohawk River near Schenectady

Post by NJFisherman »

No story...was hoping someone would make a recommendation on where to put a boat in and how I would approach it. My in-laws live near there and I'm going to drag the boat up next week. My prior largemouth and smallmouth experience is large impoundment Tx/Ok/Ark and I'm guessing things are different...Dave Lucas p.s. If I am abusing the site please guys don't hesitate to deep 6 this one...
Reel Geezer
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Post by Reel Geezer »

Contact ORCA President Jim Schottenham, in case he doesn't read this. I know Jim used to fish the Mohawk.
NJFisherman
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Post by NJFisherman »

Phil - thanks! Turns out Jim fishes the Mohawk often and has won several tournaments on it. There might be a fish story to come...
NJFisherman
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Post by NJFisherman »

There are a couple of stories in this one...like the quart of chartreuse paint I bought to paint one zara spook (Jim said this was THE color) and the more important actual fish catching. The last time I posted was after the July 4th weekend and Jim had put me on the fish or at least in the right general direction. I was very happy catching 5-6 nice smallmouth on both Saturday and Sunday morning - maybe three 2 pounders in there. I could not get the spook to work very well - a tiny fish and a strike was all I could get out of a couple of hours of walking the dog. Even the bubble gum fluke seemed to be a bust. Of course, these were probably the right lures...just the wrong fisherman. ':)' No matter, I eventually found the right one after seeing a little crawfish under the dock.

Flash forward to last weekend...two hours on the water and nothing. Fortunately I remembered Jim's number was in my tackle box and I placed a quick call. Jim, who happened to be working this Saturday morning (if you call evaluating old reels work!) and was more than happy to help me out again. I explained how the conditions had changed and he tossed out a few ideas. You could call this "Jim's dial a fish". So, I managed 5-6 again (right place, wrong lure - again - man I need to get Jim out here and see how he does it). I am a happy guy at this rate. Sunday turned out a little better - I returned to the spot I had pinpointed with Jim's help and with mother-in-law in tow, I got my 6 small mouth by 9:30 at which time she wanted to go back to the dock. I quickly returned to my little spot to finish off the morning fish. That's when it got real interesting...over the next 2 1/2 hours I landed 20 more smallmouth! The best one, below, was a FAT 3 pounder!

I can't thank Jim enough for directing me to the fishing holes...he'll need to show me how to fish a few lures that I seem to be unable to use right. Thanks again Jim.':D'

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Reel Geezer
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Post by Reel Geezer »

Nice fish.

Jim's dial-a-fish. I like that. A bubble gum fluke was a winner for me a couple of days ago.
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Jim Schottenham
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Post by Jim Schottenham »

Glad it worked out Dave, though it sounds like you don't need any help - finding the fish is just half the battle. Good fishermen know how to adapt to the conditions, which is just what you did. Great job!

The dial-a-fish service for Lake Champlain and Saratoga Lake is also available - for a small fee (I'm easy, any early sidemount reel will do!)
:D
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