Going fishing with the Bear out on Seneca Lake

LODI POINT, Schuyler County, New York, USA - After my fishing triumph at Ballard Pond a couple of weeks ago, (when I caught a 17 1/2 inch bass) I was more than receptive when John Bills (AKA the Bear) suggested that we do some Seneca Lake fishing.

And so one morning last week at 5:30 a.m. Yes, 5:30 a.m., we set out from John's house in Hector with his daughter Jen's boyfriend Karl half-asleep in the truck and John's nice bass fishing boat in tow for a morning of chasing the elusive small mouth bass out on the lake.

The emphasis here is on elusive.

We launched at Lodi Point State Park, heading up the lake to some shallow areas that are supposed to be prime small mouth bass territory.

The emphasis here is on supposed to be.

Karl and I had been warned that summer isn't the best season on the lake. But we had a fine morning anyway on the water, with the only fish boated by John, and barely a nibble otherwise. The small mouth bass he did land was below the 12-inch New York State minimum and so we popped him back in the water so he can grow up to be legal.

We'll do another fishing trip with the Bear this summer, I think. But in the meantime, I think I am going to take my container of worms back up to the farm ponds in the hills for some sedentary fishing from the banks for the not-quite-as-elusive large mouth bass.

And it's quite likely I will take my gear to the ponds at 5:30 p.m, than 5:30 a.m.