Lake Ontario Oswego Harbor 5/14 + Cayuga Lake out of Long Point 5/15
5/14: We went “Gonzo for Bronzo” – as the Lindners used to say. Arrived at Oswego and met my buddy Terry at noon. We checked on trout/salmon for two hours and had a couple follows that were likely from lethargic lake trout. There were a lot of boats out and “the fleet” was west of the harbor. I try to avoid the fleet (even though they usually know what’s going on) when possible, just because it’s a big lake and there are plenty of fish around elsewhere. I did not drop a temperature probe but we had 48 to 50+ degree water on the surface in the lake. I have had some luck up there on lake trout and salmon in flat glassy conditions (when foggy or overcast) but not so much under high sun. So we headed shallow for bass.
Smallmouth bass fishing was superb in the harbor area. We caught 18″er after 18″er – basically solid 4lb+ goby fed bass. We fished tube jigs. Between the two of us we landed around 25 fish to 20″ and likely 5lbs in about 4 hours. We only had a couple fish under 16″. Most were 17″ to 18″ beauties with great fights and some awesome jumps. It’d be fun to hit Lake Erie’s Buffalo Harbor in late May or June but it’s hard to want to make that 3 hour plus drive when I can do half the driving and catch big smallmouths like we just did.
5/15 Cayuga: Sometime you eat the bear and sometimes it eats you! That’s the way I have felt about the weather lately. We fished last Saturday and didn’t have a drop of rain hit us despite a very ominous forecast. Today I met Jim, Ken and Bob at the launch at 7:30 am and had to wait out some “weather” for a good 90 minutes. We had moderate rain and lightning, so there was no way we were heading out in that stuff. Once the rain cleared we had changeable, but very fishable conditions for most of the trip (until the last 30 to 45 minutes.) The guys wanted to learn the jigging tricks and tips and that’s what we did. A good time was had by all with around 7 lakers landed including a couple very solid 29″ to 30″ fish. Most fish came from the 125′ to 145′ range, though there was a good amount of bait in around 70′. The guys troll the southern portion of Cayuga Lake and reported catching brown trout last Friday that had smelt in them. So that was nice to hear. We’ll keep an eye out for the tasty little fish!