Reports

Got out here for a half-day with Joe and his buddy Bruce.  Guys like Joe have helped keep me busy this winter, and it’s greatly appreciated!  There are very few boats out on Cayuga Lake, the fishing is very good and it’s gorgeous and quiet out there!  You can’t beat it.

I just mentioned doing a lot of our fishing this year around 120′ to 130 or so – well today we wound up deeper, likely due to the super-calm conditions, bright sun and super-clear water.  We had a nice drift on an easterly wind and worked from around 130′ out to 155′ or so, then just repeated ourselves.  Fishing was very steady and the guys had a nice double-digit half-day with our fish topping out around 27″ and likely maybe 7lbs.  These fish are finding plenty of alewives which is good to see this time of year.  The longer photoperiods will start bringing some baitfish in, as well as activating the lakers.

The water level is the lowest it has been all season and my prop wound up digging into the weeds as we pulled back into Long Point.  Given that it’s pretty darn obvious that we aren’t going to have a lot of snowpack, it’d be nice if the Canal Authority kept the lake up a bit more.  There’s no need to go back to the typical mid-winter goal of 380.5′ BCD, which apparently stands for “Barge Canal Datum.”  Anyways, they will do what they do regardless.

DEC is hoping that the weather will enable them to open up the gate on Skaneateles Lake by the end of the week.  If it doesn’t happen then, it shouldn’t be much longer.  DEC Region 8 Diary Summaries should be going out late this week as well.  It’s always nice having that data to look over with a hot cup of coffee.  I had a couple reports come in today – one from Keuka Lake reporting some good shallow blade bait action (these fish are fly-fishable with the right conditions); I also had a lower Cayuga Lake report come in with a nice, big chunky smallmouth being taken.  Lastly Seneca Lake yielded slow fishing again today, with my friend getting just a couple of light hits while casting for salmon – those were likely small fish.  Water temp on Cayuga was 39/40.  Spring feels like it’s around the corner, if not here already!