
May 2nd was a big day for me personally and hopefully a historic day for NY kayak anglers. Kayak fishing is not new to NY, there have been anglers utilizing kayaks to catch fish for a long time. But on May 2nd, ten guys showed up at Tully Lake for the first gathering of a new chapter of Kayak-Anglers.com.
Kayak-Anglers is an organization out of Pennsylvania. It all started with six guys near Pittsburgh, who went from a small club to a conglomerate of 5 chapters, spanning two states, and over 150 members in three short years. Their success comes from their enthusiasm and passion for growing the sport of kayak bass fishing.
Kayak-Anglers is an organization out of Pennsylvania. It all started with six guys near Pittsburgh, who went from a small club to a conglomerate of 5 chapters, spanning two states, and over 150 members in three short years. Their success comes from their enthusiasm and passion for growing the sport of kayak bass fishing.
On Jan 8th, a phone call resulted in an opportunity to start a chapter here in CNY and Kayak Anglers of Central NY was born. With the help of KA members and infrastructure, we got to work here in NY. Organizing local anglers, creating a schedule, promoting our events, gaining sponsorships, recruiting members, and increasing the awareness of our sport. The experience and people have been awesome. The interest has been overwhelming and kayak fishing in NY is ready to explode!
Tully Lake, May 2nd. This was not an official event but rather a social get together. A chance to reunite with friends and meet new ones. A chance to hold a "practice" tournament and knock the rust off a long cold winter! The weather was good, the water was clear, and everyone was excited.
Tully Lake, May 2nd. This was not an official event but rather a social get together. A chance to reunite with friends and meet new ones. A chance to hold a "practice" tournament and knock the rust off a long cold winter! The weather was good, the water was clear, and everyone was excited.

After registration, we had a quick captain's meeting and discussed the format of how official events will run. To be honest, I was nervous the morning wouldn't go smoothly but luckily it did. We agreed to meet back at 3pm for "measure-in" and then everyone headed out on the water.
This was only my third time on the water since the ice left the lakes, so I was chomping at the bit to catch a few fish. The water temp was around 54 degree and the surface was like glass. Immediately I thought the bass would be aggressive and biting. I quickly found out that wasn't the case.
This was only my third time on the water since the ice left the lakes, so I was chomping at the bit to catch a few fish. The water temp was around 54 degree and the surface was like glass. Immediately I thought the bass would be aggressive and biting. I quickly found out that wasn't the case.
The north end of Tully Lake is narrow and has deep water that transitions into a spawning flat. The idea was to start shallow and work out deeper until I ran into them. One of the other anglers I was with started shallow, so I went deeper along the drop off. I could see the bass cruising and I was graphing them out deep but nothing was biting. In fact, whenever I threw a moving bait like a jerkbait or crankbait . . . the bass spooked and took off. Something wasn't right, so I left.
My past history on the lake in the spring had over powered my original plan. I knew of an area where I have caught nice bass before, so I checked it out. The middle part of the lake is a large flat, with deep water surrounding it. Bass like to spawn on the hard roots of the reeds that grow in the summer. I knew there would be bass on or around it. The water was clear and shallow. I tried to be as stealthy as I could but every bass I saw, saw me first and scattered. I tried anchoring in one position and let the cruisers come to me but I soon lost confidence in this decision. So it was time to move. Again.
My past history on the lake in the spring had over powered my original plan. I knew of an area where I have caught nice bass before, so I checked it out. The middle part of the lake is a large flat, with deep water surrounding it. Bass like to spawn on the hard roots of the reeds that grow in the summer. I knew there would be bass on or around it. The water was clear and shallow. I tried to be as stealthy as I could but every bass I saw, saw me first and scattered. I tried anchoring in one position and let the cruisers come to me but I soon lost confidence in this decision. So it was time to move. Again.

The wind had picked up and there was a nice steady breeze, so I let it drift my kayak across the flat. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a piece of wood. It was no bigger than my arm but arched off the bottom. Without thinking, I picked up a 3/8oz black/blue jig and pitched it to the wood. My jig never sank more than a foot when I felt it. The best feeling in the world. Thunk. The strike rattled through my line, rod, and hands. I set the hook and a healthy 15"er came to the yak to be measured. I looked at my phone, 11:58am!
Unlike bass boat tournaments where they weigh the heaviest 5 fish, in kayak tournaments we measure our 3 longest bass. This was just great I had fished almost four hours and only one measurable fish. And, only three hours left. Hate to admit it but I was in panic mode.
I headed to a shallow reedy bank in hopes that there might be some more scattered wood. I thought I might be able to duplicate my last bite. After several casts it was easy to tell the fish weren't there. I was about to leave when a friend and fellow kayaker came through a narrow cut. I shared my struggles and how I caught my fish. I guess fishing was tough period. He had spent the whole morning in the southern end of the lake but zero fish. We decided to paddle to a near by bay and see if we could figure something out. It was now 12:38pm.
I took one side of the bay and he took the other, both of us fishing jigs. Minutes later, my friend landed a nice 16"er off an old stump on the bank. That was two fish, on a jig and next to wood. It was not much to go by but at least it was something. I immediately hit every wooden dock in that bay. It seemed like every other dock held a fish. I ended up with 5 bites, 5 fish. Two of them were just over 14" and the rest were in the 13" range. I had my limit and a pattern but only an hour and a half to fish.
Frantically, I covered as much water as I could and hit every dock I could but couldn't upgrade. I knew of a large fallen tree that extended into deeper water but I saw another angler fishing down the bank. He was further off shore and I waited until he left. With time running out, I paddled over and anchored just off the deeper end of the lay down.

I pitched my jig towards the base of the tree in shallow water. The braid on my reel caught on itself and my jig landed halfway from my desired target. I decided not to reel it in but let it sink to the bottom but it never made it. I didn't feel anything but saw my line moving sideways. After an awkward hook set, up came a 16.5" largemouth. Not huge but it turned out to be the longest bass of the day. I culled one of my 14"ers and rushed off to try and cull the other.
Nothing doing . . . the time was up. I headed to the launch to prepare for our measure-in and awards. Although the weather was great, the bite was tough across the board. Nobody found a huge female in the 18-20" class. Most the fish measured were males, who were up shallow looking for places to bed. We announced the winner(s) and raffled off prizes donated by our sponsors. Before everyone headed home, we took some pictures and discussed our up coming official events. You could see the excitement on everyone's face and there was even a little trash talking. All in all, our first get together was a great success and it was hard to feel anything but extremely proud of what we have started!
Final Results: 1 - Matt Lacey - 45.75 in 2 - Jeff Bobbett - 45.75 in 3 - Guiseppe "Juice" Barbieri - 45.50 in 4 - Randy Bergin - 45.00 in 5 - Larry LaClair - 43.00 in 6 - Tony Carden - 43.00 in 7 - Don Judy - 42.75 in 8 - Matthew Brockett - 28.75 in 9 - Dan Brockett - 14.25 in 10 - Patrick Connelly - 13.75 in |