Giant Smallies

Before the May 10th Catch and Release cut-off date, Bill Vella and I had a great time fishing for Goby fattened Smallmouth bass in Ontario waters. After May 10th, Canadian waters at 1,000 Islands are off limits to any kind of smallmouth fishing, including catch and release. Legal smallie fishing does not resume until July 10. For New York at 1,000 Islands, legal smallie fishing in any manner including Catch and Release does not start until June 15. Over the three days we fished, May 6-8, we boated too many 4 pounders to count, multiple 5’s and on Sunday May 7, Billy landed a giant 7.28 smallie. All bass were caught in less than 8 feet of water at 49 to 51 degrees. These fat bass were not spawning but cruising just off their Canadian spawning areas. All of the bigger bass were weighed before being released.
Coincidently, on May 7, Bobby Williams was launching with Peter and his wife Tina. Peter was the winning bidder of a “Day on the Water” auction with a Northeast Fishing Great that benefited our Troops c/o the USO. Billy and I had dinner with Bobby, Peter and Tina Saturday night. They had an outstanding day on the water with multiple 4’s, 5’s, 6’s and Bobby boated a 8 pound giant. All of the bigger smallies were weighed and released. Tina, who beat her personal best 5 times, topped it off with a 6.59 pounder!
Bobby Williams, a former resident to the 1,000 Islands area, NYTBF President and BASS Pro, is often on TV fishing with Hank Parker. The next filming started on Monday May 8th and before Billy and I launched, we met up with the crew at the Clayton Town Launch (see photo). Bobalu (Hank’s nickname for Bobby) and Hank were to shoot all week and their plan was to hit the Ontario 1,000 Island waters until the May 10th cutoff date, then, thanks to Native American Will Clute (Mohawk Guide Service), continue filming in Mohawk Reservation waters bordering Quebec for the rest of the week. After day one of filming, Bobby texted me with their results and once again, the results were an amazing 26 smallies including many 5’s, 6’s, three 7’s and one 8 pound smallie that were all boated, weighed and released. I look forward to these Hank Parker shows coming up. The camera man said that the first series will be on You Tube by July, 2023.
Ontario and New York State small mouth regulations are not similar. Anglers cannot target smallmouth bass in Ontario waters, even for catch and release, from May 10 to July 10. Violators face extreme penalties. For New York, anglers cannot target smallmouth bass, even for catch and release, until June 15. For this reason, the annual NYTBF Dick Garlock Memorial Open Bass Tournament set for June 25 out of Cape Vincent will include the following parameters.

• To reduce fish handling by 20% during the spawn, the creel limit is 4 bass per boat
• Anglers can navigate in Ontario waters and even fish for largemouth bass, but smallie fishing is illegal and if caught with them in your livewell, expect to be heavily fined by Canadian officials.
• Best case scenario is to fish in New York waters where you can legally fish for both largemouth and smallmouth bass.

If you are interested in entering the Dick Garlock Open, the fee is $210 per boat and that includes the smallmouth lunker fee. A side largemouth Lunker pool at $10 is optional. The Garlock event is an Open with no need to be a NYTBF member. However, if you join the NYTBF you can enter the June 24th Points event out of the same Cape Vincent location. For joining the NYTBF or to register for tournaments on line, go to www.nytbf.org. Nick Albano, Secretary, NYTBF 917-217-9350