Cayuga Lake 6/27 + 6/28
Cayuga/Dean’s Cove 6/27: Guided 1/2 day trip with Andrew and his 11 year old son Matthew. We started (and pretty much finished) the day with overcast skies. Fishing was as tough as I’ve seen it all year. There were baitfish on both shores -lots of bait. Lake trout marks were few and far between. The guys did a good job with the technique, the fish just weren’t hitting for us. We worked both shores and did a lot of searching for fish and jig dropping. Matt hung in there and we fished as long as we could, but despite our best efforts the rare “skunk” finally reared its head for us.
6/27 PM: I can’t say I was brimming with confidence when I picked up Jay and Jimmy at the Long Point Boat Launch (I do occasional “pick-ups” as a courtesy) at noon. I knew what areas WEREN’T working, that’s for sure. But we had a full 8 hour day booked and there was a lot of lake to cover. Skies had brightened (cleared up) a bit and as far as I was concerned it was a new day, but doubts lingered. The guys were good sports, but Jay just had both his hips replaced and Jimmy told me he couldn’t stand for long. So my jiggers would be sitting during the entire trip.
We started around Long Point and didn’t have any luck, apart from one hit on a spoon – which already trumped any action we had all AM! I decided to motor south and work mid-lake areas, and that’s what we did. And it was the right call. On the east shore towards AES, Jimmy had a hit reeling up. He fought the fish expertly and I was relieved and thrilled to see a 30″ laker in the net. I nearly dove in order to get the fish in the net! We marked a lot of fish and bait – it was night and day compared to the AM trip, which is the drawback from booking 1/2 days. We don’t get a chance to cover all our bases.
Jimmy noticed a clicking noise on his reel. He handed me the rod and I tested it out by dropping down a jig. Just as the jig hit bottom and I jigged it once I felt a hit. I set the hook and had a good fish on. No clicking problem on the reel! As I played the fish, Jay hooked up so I handed Jimmy the rod and went to net the fish. We landed another 30″ laker and a 25″ fish. Other fish landed on the day incl. another 30″er, a 25″ and a 19″! The fish are fighting great – really ripping out some drag. We even had one jump near our motor! Crazy lakers.
6/28 out of Taughannock: Guided Matt and his brother in-law Mike on Cayuga. After finding the fish yesterday evening I figured we could put a “whuppin” on them today. We had incredible numbers of chasers this AM, and some good hits but the guys just couldn’t hook them! Later in the AM the fish got more active after a slowdown. Mike had a nice laker up near the net, but it broke off before I had the net ready, due to a net tangle/problem with the handle. Matt nailed 3 nice fish. The guys did well with the technique last year on Seneca out of Geneva, but for some reason just weren’t in sync today. I ran into my friend and rod builder Mike Canavan and he reported excellent fishing this AM. Best action was from 65′ on out. We had chasers in upwards of 110′ of water. Baitfish are abundant! Cayuga is just LOADED with bait from end to end.