Cayuga/Dean’s 5/9 + Skinny/Owasco 5/10
5/9 – I fished Cayuga Lake out of Dean’s Cove with my friend George and his son Ben. Got on the water around 4pm – mid-afternoon. Sunny, calm and clear conditions – water temp 52-54 on top. Lake trout fishing started out slow; we marked a lot of fish in various depths from 100′ to 140′ but they weren’t responding to our jigs. I lost a fish shallow, but things really didn’t get going until around 5:30 pm. From then until dark we landed 5 nice lakers. Best fishing was around 75′ to 85′. They are feeding on alewives and if you find bait – fish it!
5/10- Guided Ken and Tom on Skaneateles Lake today. I was a little bit concerned that the glassy conditions would make for a tough day. We managed a lost rainbow and a rock bass and smallie in the “glass”. We got a light breeze around an hour into the day and the fishing picked up. Tom caught some beautiful perch – 14″ to almost 15″ and FAT. We let them go, which was nice for a change. Not many people release big spawners, but it’s important to do that with a percentage of fish.
We fished one of my favorite areas on the lake and the guys hooked and landed some keeper sized salmon. Ken then managed the fish of the day – a gorgeous 21″ rainbow that fought superbly! Wow – did this fish put on a show. A great salmon style jump, lots of digging and short runs. We photographed then released this fish. More perch were caught here too. Surface temps ranged from 49 to 53.
Carp and bass are starting to prowl the shallows and the trout/salmon are moving out a bit. I expect trout and salmon fishing to hold up for another two weeks (at least) for shallower casting.
We pulled up and went over to Owasco Lake for a couple hours. Water temps here range from around 52 to 56. Walleye fishing should get good over the next 2 to 4 weeks. We looked for lakers on the screen and marked a few fish all the way out to 140′. In 140′ to 150′ we marked a lot of fish and bait! They weren’t real active, but we worked them for a while and Ken landed one nice 4lb. average Owasco fish. We went shallow again – around 90′ and Tom missed a couple hits. Then it was time to go. At the launch I talked to a local who’d scored in 65′ the morning before. So Owasco fish appear to be moving shallow in the morning/evening, then deeper during the day.