Cayuga Lake out of Cayuga State Park 7/10
Did a full day with Jim – the target species were bass, lakers and gar. Casting for bass wasn’t exactly “hot ‘n heavy” in the AM, after hitting our first areas with just a pickerel to show, I figured it’d be best to try lakers before the morning bite dissipated. Jim had a couple good hits from lakers early on, but he wasn’t used to the fish hitting so lightly. He picked up one fish around 16″ and after slow responses from other fish, we checked on some gar areas. Jim’s a worldwide fisherman – probably the most well-versed “fisher” I’ve ever had on my boat. He’s fished Peacock bass and other species in South America; he’s fished Africa; the Gaspe’ Peninsula, The Ponoi, Alaska, Costa Rica, Montauk, the Bahamas, the Keys, British Columbia – you name it! He’s an excellent caster with fly gear, spinning and bait casting tackle. We found some gar and he had a few hits and finally nailed his first gar on a fly. The fishing was slow today, no two ways about it. Not a great catching day, but we had fun. After the trip was over, I did a little casting for bass and nailed a 13″ largemouth and a small pickerel. I’d had enough and called it a day. Water levels were good and temps got into the low 80s in some areas. Plenty of gar were around, but nothing much over 37″.