Canandaigua Lake + Honeoye Lake 6/16
Guided the Hermans for two one-half days today. They have a place near Naples NY and have been wanting to fish Canandaigua and Honeoye Lakes during the course of a day, so that’s what we did. I don’t generally guide these lakes, but I do make occasional exceptions. Expect to pay a surcharge due to added travel/time expenses on these fisheries.
We started just after 6:30 am on Canandaigua’s south end (Woodville Launch.) The Hermans had a few hits right off the bat, but no hookups. After an hour and a half, Eleonore and myself heard a loud jump. Sure enough, John had hooked a beautiful rainbow and didn’t say anything. The fish cleared the water 4 times – tremendous battle! After some surges under the boat and a missed netting attempt, I was able to net the 24.5″ 5lb 4oz beauty. After that, 2 lakers came to the net – both wild fish around 3 to 3 1/2lbs each. A little warm water fishing produced a pickerel and perch and maybe a small bass if I remember right. Then it was off to “Poor Richards” for a great lunch.
We arrived at Honeoye Lake’s State Launch around 1:30 pm to 2. Not sure exactly when. There is some serious construction going on there and State employees told me a new (additional) ramp is going in along with plenty more parking. Word is that the launch will be closed for construction after Labor Day! So beware! There is limited launching available at Trident Marine further north. Constuction should be completed by November of this year.
Bass fishing on Honeoye Lake is tough to beat in terms of sheer numbers. The largemouths here are abundant and could use some culling. I like to eat bass though I rarely keep them anymore, with the exception of a few 12″ to 16″ smallmouths once in a while out of Skaneateles Lake. But this is a lake that needs to have some 12″ to 14″ fish removed. There are too many small bass here. Back in the 1970s and 80s we used to catch plenty of 3 to 4lb largemouths and there were plenty of pickerel – now the situation is reversed. We were glad to see some pickerel today and they looked healthy. Hermans caught plenty of fish up to around 2lbs – though most were from 10″ to 12″ long. Sworming Hornets with swim baits, Senkos, Jig/worm and Rat-L Trap type baits all worked great. The usual spinnerbaits and cranks would have been great too today, though we didn’t fish them. This is a great lake to try ANY technique for bass. You’ll gain confidence! Tons of beautiful panfish here too. Just a terrific, fun lake to fish. I miss not living closer! We fished unti 5 pm then called it a day.