Cayuga Lake 4/23 + 24 AM
Guided AM trips on Cayuga Lake out of Myers on Monday and Long Point on Tuesday. Fishing remains spotty for salmon/browns and solid for lakers.
4/23: Guided Tyler and his friend Scott for a half day mainly trying to target salmon. We had reasonable wind in the AM when we started (just after 8 am.) Scott had a follow from a solid brown trout and perhaps one other hit but that was it. Conditions dictated that we gave the laker jigging a try so we set up for that. Both of the guys had some hits and momentary hookups. Scott was able to capitalize on his and landed 3 solid lakers. We switched back to salmon and saw a few and had one follow but that was it. Fun day, but I wish we’d had more wind and/or we could’ve fished later in the day but I had to teach.
The numbers of loons on the lake have been staggering this year. My buddy Mike mentioned to me that they are big fish-eaters, which I know. But my mind was a little bit blown when we (Scott and I) watched two salmon swim by – one of which was possibly a 2 footer, getting chased underwater by two loons. The loons are cool to see and hear and should be gone in 4 or 5 weeks so I don’t see them as much of a problem.
4/24: Today was a laker jigging trip with Paul and Cindy, who brought along their grandson Dean. We had some very good deep jigging today with around 7 solid lakers landed and a bunch more missed/dropped. The bite was slow to moderate and steady. 135′ to 155′ was best for us today. We were long gone by the time the forecasted high winds materialized. A great trip!
Fishing for salmon/browns remains tricky. ​Water temps are cold – still around 37 to 38 in much of the lake. although the south end and creek mouths should be warming up considerably. Temps around the south end to Taughannock were around 39/40 yesterday. In the wintertime, salmon tend to be pretty aggressive and not to hard to catch once we locate them, especially on sunny days with some steady wind. But as these fish transition towards the spring, they do not seem as aggressive. Of course I don’t expect fish to hit if they are being chased around by loons, but even prior to the loony arrival fish had become tentative. Bite windows are important. I expect the coming warm to hot weather to get these fish on the feed. We’ll see.