Amawalk 2010

[Dae_Ma]

It's been awhile since I posted on this site, and fishing about the same amount...Amawalk was the best for me this last summer, averaging 10-15 bass per day from late May until the water was down in late August.  The best average was when the weeds grew so thick that I was almost on top of the fish, standing in my boat.  I took a crayfish trap and loaded it with frozen Whiting, tossed in and came back the next afternoon and found over 30 in the trap.  My friend suggested we use them for bait but I said,"Lets just use imitation plastics and eat these for dinner."  This verified that the one of the most abundant food source in Amawalk was Crawfish...we brought out the old stock YUM 3.5 Crawbug in natural,  which they stopped making in that color, and it was non-stop catch and release for most of the season.  Largest Largemouth was 6 pound 10 oz,  and Smallmouth 6 pound 4 oz. caught and released first week of June...sorry no pics...but we have had  lost larger fish, some due to poor hook quality,  wire jig hooks are good for penetration but under stress they do straighten out...I can atest to the size of the bass that broke surface were at least 7-8 pounds.  Another go getter when the skys were a little dark and slightly breezy was a Black and Chartruese Willow leaf spinnerbait with chartruese/pearl double tail trailer and to add a custom touch we replaced the secondary blade with painted chartruese.  We went out a total of only 8 times last year and had missed out completely in 2009 due to shifting to saltwater fishing on Fire Island.  2011 will be a search for that 10+ pounder.  Tightlines All.  BOOYAH!!!
D.

http://www.cabelas.com/craws-yum-crawbug-3.shtml

[johnjav]

wow that sounds awesome.  Do you have any pics of those hogs?  Would love to see them. 

-john

[Dae_Ma]

I had them on our LG cellphone but unfortunately it got wet before we unload the pics.   After writing the post, I realized that I'm down to 3 YUM Crawbugs in Crawdad color, so I went on a search, ebay, amazon, Bass Pro...finally I found a place in San Fran. had 8 packs left...I bought them all, I hope that local Walmart and Kmart will stock them.  Will post some pics from our 2008 trips..but as luck would have it, when you hook the really huge ones the camera or phone is at home or in the truck   

http://www.histackleboxshop.com/Yum-Crawbug-Lure-3-25-inch-p/yum-crawbug-lure.htm

[johnjav]

What size hook are you using with those crawdags?  I may give them a shot this year.  I hear you with the camera.  I forget my camera all the time.  This one time I caught this really short but extremely fat LMB and my camera battery was dead.  I was pretty disappointed.  Thanks for the tips with this lure. 

You ever try the crawfish lure from livetarget?  I have heard good things about it.  I think i may pick up one or two for this season. 

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Koppers-Livetarget8482-Crawfish/703899.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dlivetarget%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=livetarget&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

[pbd]

Is this post for real or an advertisement?

[VinnyH]

Is this post for real or an advertisement?

My instincts are that it's an excellent take on crawfish in Amawalk. The Yum craw plastics have always been decent for me in many of the NY reservoirs. At Kensico I've used a "Rockraw" crawfish plastic with a lot of success. Frankly, crawfish are more logical than worms. Not that bass are logical.   

Best to All,
VinnyH

[Woody]

Love to see a picture of a 6lb 4 oz SM...
What kind of scale were you using? That is a HUGE SM
Wood

[Biz-R-OWorld]

Love to see a picture of a 6lb 4 oz SM...
What kind of scale were you using? That is a HUGE SM
Wood

me too !

[Dae_Ma]

 I Don't know how to do multiple attachments for photos...but here is an Amawalk SM from 2008.

[Dae_Ma]

LGM...the phone pics really don't do the size of the fish justice...all are weighed with Rapala Digital from bass pro shop.

[Biz-R-OWorld]

yea, its hard to tell how big they are without a ruler next to them or anything.

[Dae_Ma]

What size hook are you using with those crawdags?  I may give them a shot this year.  I hear you with the camera.  I forget my camera all the time.  This one time I caught this really short but extremely fat LMB and my camera battery was dead.  I was pretty disappointed.  Thanks for the tips with this lure. 

You ever try the crawfish lure from livetarget?  I have heard good things about it.  I think i may pick up one or two for this season. 

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Koppers-Livetarget8482-Crawfish/703899.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dlivetarget%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=livetarget&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

Worm hook 3/0, heres a great video online on how rig the Crawbug    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R4fcXLpaXw .  I have probably over 4-5 bins of crankbaits, but the best ones I've had luck with were Rapala Shad Rap Jointed,  Rapala Jointed CD-11 (I just found out that these are rare and extremely hard to find...I have 3), Rattle Trap in Sexy Shad, Crawdad, Chrome Sexy Shad, Bill Dance Image topwater shad.  

[KenH]

Dae Ma,

Where did you set your crayfish trap? From shore or from boat?
And how deep did you have to put it down? Time of year?
Sorry for all the questions but that's something I've been planning
on doing for a while.
Thanks

Ken H

[Dae_Ma]

Ken,
Here is where I get my traps from...I've used the other cheaper ones but they escape, especially if you leave them over night.
http://www.trapperarne.com/

Amawalk and Cross River has  lot of rocks along the shore...one of the best places I've found, if you're gonna leave in morning and pick it up later in the day, is at the rock beds around the boat ramps...colder the water the longer you have to soak the bait trap...best times are when the water gets to about 64-66+, full moon nights...in the hot summer days late afternoons and shaded area are good.  With the traps I have I 'll leave over night with cut up locally caught panfish, if I don't have whiting...I really think we should crayfish our Reservoirs more,  great eating...I hve noticed that rotting chicken leaves a funk in the crawdads when you cook them.

[KenH]

Dae Ma,

Thanks very much.
Which model trap do you recommend? I see there are a number of them.
I'm surprised that you can catch them during the day, as I always thought
you HAD to leave it overnight.
You mentioned water temp(presume surface) of 64-66 which would be usually
mid May going into June in our reservoirs.

Thanks
Ken H