Reports

Fall is definitely in the air!  We’ll see if this coming cool-down helps mitigate some of July’s heat.  I can still remember the blazing hot summer of 1979.  Lo and behold, that winter wound up being brutal – just as cold as can be.  I remember the Branchport Arm of Keuka Lake having ice late into the winter season.

I did an afternoon trip with Justin and his now fiancé Kelli. They were first out with me two years ago, then had to postpone/cancel last year in September when a strong case of the flu knocked me out for around 10 days.  Today was tough fishing mainly on the count of the wind and overcast conditions.  Lake trout tend to be “solar powered” in the Finger Lakes, especially when going into the fall.  We were somewhat limited by the wind in where we could fish effectively.  We worked from Ithaca up to King Ferry, including fishing around Taughannock Park.  Fish were just very neutral to negative.  They may have had trouble tracking the jigs at times, so Justin tried some different tactics (like slowing down his presentation) and got hits.  That being said, the fish just didn’t seem to want to eat.

Two fish did eat, however.  They both were old, old lake trout!  Once in a while we catch a dark fish that’s in fair to poor condition weight-wise, has old lamprey scars and is very soft to the touch.  Sometimes I have clients that want to keep these fish, but I’ve filleted a few over the years for people and the flesh is generally very poor quality.  Justin and Kelli were hoping to nab dinner tonight, but as luck would have it, the two “nursing home lake trout” were the only ones that wanted to eat for us.  Oddly, both hit high up in the water column.

My availability going into September remains very good.  I just had a postponement due to a client contracting Covid, so please check my “Availability” post if you were looking to book in September.  I plan on fishing Cayuga Lake for the most part, but if the fishing continues to fluctuate, I have no qualms moving over to Owasco Lake.  People are always free to fish where they choose to, but during most years, Cayuga Lake is the place to be in September.  We’ll see if that remains the case for 2024.  I hope it does and think it will but if not, I’ll be on Owasco Lake, which is often very hot fishing in September!