A smallmouth bass breaks the surface after being caught using a crayfish on Oneida Lake’s South Bay. For decades, Oneida Lake’s claim to fame has been its walleye fishery.
In recent years, though, it has developed a national reputation as a bass lake. This spring, Bassmaster Magazine listed Oneida at 14th on its list of the 100 best bass lakes in the country.
On Aug. 23-26, B.A.S.S. is finishing its eight-tournament Elite Series on Oneida Lake, which will include crowning one of the circuit’s pros as Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year. For the first time, the tournament will hold its final weigh-in at the New York State Fairgrounds in Geddes.
All of that will be televised on ESPN.
“We are very excited to welcome B.A.S.S. back to Syracuse,” said Tracey Kegebein, a spokeswoman for the Syracuse Convention and Visitors Bureau. “According to our (calculations) this group will spend an estimated $2 million in our community during their event. This includes lodging, food and beverage, attractions, shopping, transportation and other direct spending.”
With the opening day of New York’s bass fishing season set for Saturday, three experts were interviewed about what makes Oneida so great for bass fishing, and why B.A.S.S. keeps coming back.
Those interviewed were:
š Randy Jackson, associate director at Cornell's Biological Field Station in Bridgeport;
š Chris Bowes, senior tournament director at B.A.S.S.; and
š Mike Cusano, of Clay, a local bass angler and former president of the N.Y. B.A.S.S. Chapter Federation.
One angler's catch of smallmouth bass awaits a weigh-in at Oneida Shores Park during a tournament last fall. Oneida Lake hosted bass tournaments on 66 days last year.Contributing factors
"Our research showed that the lake's smallmouth and largemouth numbers started coming on in the late 1980s and'90s," Jackson said.
A big factor was the introduction of zebra mussels, which changed the water’s clarity. As the water became clearer, the lake’s weeds — good holding areas for bass, particularly largemouths — increased dramatically. The clear water also benefited the fish as they searched for food because “bass are sight feeders,” Jackson said.
In addition, about a decade ago, the rusty crayfish, an invasive species mostly likely introduced by anglers emptying their bait buckets, overtook the native crayfish population. That provided the smallmouth bass with a wealth of food. Gizzard shad, another invasive species, also arrived on the scene, providing even more to eat.
Jackson said Oneida had bass tournaments on 66 days last year.
“And these fish aren’t stocked,” Jackson said. “All these tournaments are catch and release. Although there’s a lot of pressure, the lake doesn’t realize it. It’s not like walleye fishing, which requires more intense management (and stocking).”
Finally, the gradual warming of the lake in recent years has benefited young bass, Jackson said.
Reeling'em in
Jackson said creel surveys show an average catch rate of 0.8 bass every hour on Oneida.
“That’s roughly one keeper bass an hour. That’s an average, covering all levels of anglers,” Jackson said.
Cusano, who fishes the lake regularly and has organized and participated in a variety of bass tournaments on it, said the lake doesn’t have the huge largemouths that you see in the southern lakes. But it does have a hungry population of largemouth and smallmouth in the 2- to 3-pound weight class.
He said Jackson’s creel survey was taken during the hot summer months and that the average is probably more like three fish an hour in the late fall.
Pr Angler Mike Iaconelli, of New Jersey, hoists a couple of nice largemouth bass he caught during the Bassmaster Northern Open last September. The B.A.S.S. Elite Series returns to Oneida on Aug. 23-26.The tournaments
Bowes, who is a native of Westhill, grew up fishing on Oneida.
“Oneida Lake is a diverse fishery as far as techniques you can use to catch the fish. You can be drop-shotting in 20 feet for smallies, or flipping in the grass for largemouths — all within a couple of minutes of the Oneida Shores launch,” he said.
He said the pro anglers on the B.A.S.S. circuit fish a lot of man-made reservoirs that have little variation in their bottoms. He said Oneida is a natural lake with a good mix of rocks, shoals and weeds.
Bowes said B.A.S.S. keeps coming back to Oneida for a variety of reasons. Apart from the fishery, the area’s Syracuse Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and the Onondaga County parks department has been “extremely accommodating. There’s great lodging, restaurants and other fishing friendly businesses “within a short range of the boat ramp.”
In addition, the moderate temperatures are a welcome relief from the heat in the South, where many tournaments are held.
“We’re particularly excited about our partnership this year with the state fair,” he said. “We’re hoping to draw in a whole new group of fans.”
Bowes said pro anglers love coming here, because even though the fish are not as big as they are down South, they catch a lot them.
“I’d just be guessing, but I’d say 90 to 95 percent of the pros, with their diversity of techniques, limit out each day,” he said.
“That’s unheard of.”
With the great numbers of fish caught within a smaller range, Bowes said, the end result is a competition that’s often determined by a few ounces of weight.
“That makes for great television,” Cusano said.
Ranking the bass lakes
Three of the top 15 bass lakes in the United States are in New York state, according to Bassmaster Magazine:
1. Falcon Lake, Texas
2. Lake Okeechobee, Fla.
3. Lake Guntersville, Ala.
4. Lake Erie, Mich./Ohio/N.Y./Pa.
5. Lake Champlain, N.Y./Vt.
6. Lake Amistad, Texas
7. Lake Minnetonka, Minn.
8. San Joaquin Delta, Calif.
9. Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
10. Clear Lake, Calif.
11. Rainy Lake, Minn.
12. Pickwick Lake, Ala./Miss./Tenn.
13. Lake St. Clair, Mich.
14. Oneida Lake, N.Y.
15. Toledo Bend, Texas/La.