Reports

Fishing on Cayuga Lake has been good over the past two days, with moments of very good fishing.  It’s better than it was at the beginning of the month, but it’s still not quite up to par, but it is very good in general.

8/22 AM:  Guided a 6-hour trip starting at 7 am with Dave and Dapper Dan from yesterday’s trip on Skaneateles Lake.  We were hoping to get into a brown trout or two, but didn’t have much action on them except for a follow or two.  Lake trout were quite cooperative and the guys did well on the lakers.  The guys had a friendly competition going and we literally got to the last drop (of the jigs) of the day.  Lo and behold, Dapper Dan tied into an amazing rainbow trout!  Man, did this fish fight – it did a couple steelhead like blistering runs with some great acrobatics!  The fish came on black (rainbows LOVE black) and was a wild fish measuring 25″ long!  Terrific way to end the trip.  Dave cleaned the fish today and reported well developed egg sacks in the female lake trout plus plenty of alewives.

8/23:  Today was a full-day trip with John and his nephews, Kyle and Kevin.  The same group was out with me twice in the last two weeks – the most recent being our Owasco Lake trip which featured steady, heavy rain and moderate to strong north winds.  Nobody was complaining about the weather today – it was drop-dead gorgeous outside!  We’ve been experiencing cold, crisp nights (great sleeping weather) interspersed with warm, dry days.  A few trees are even showing some signs of changing color!  Bald eagles and ospreys have been daily sights while out on the boat fishing.  Can’t beat that!

We spent our day in the lower 1/5th of the lake, also hoping to get a brown today.  We had a follow or two from what were likely browns, but no takers.  First fish of the day was a small wild rainbow that John landed.  After that, he added a lake trout or two.  Fishing was good throughout the day with a nice, steady pick of lake trout running up to just under 30″.  High point of the day was working some shallower water for browns when I looked over and saw that Kevin was hooked up with a good fish!  The north winds of the past few days made for some odd temperature profiles.   Yesterday (with Dave and Dapper Dan) we had 70 degree water down to 75′, then 44 degree water!  There wasn’t much of a thermocline – just a sudden temperature break.  Today was the opposite with plenty of cold water in shallow, so we were catching lake trout in 45′ of water today.  We had a ton of bait under us when Kevin hooked up.  The fish stayed down but fought well.  I figured we were in warm water, but when the fish didn’t come right up, I knew it wasn’t a brown.  There was only one species I felt it could be, and I was right – it was a sturgeon!  I slipped the net under the fish – which gobbled a chartreuse silk Lunker City Shaker in the 3.25″ size.  Sturgeon are best left in the water and de-hooked there and let go, but this was a smaller fish (around 32″) and I wanted to get it onboard to check it out for any tags.  The fish was clean and they just lay there in your hands without moving.  They’re a very gentle fish.  For young Kevin (and most of us!,) a fish like this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so I had him hold it for a few seconds while we snapped a couple photos before letting the fish go.  The scutes along the back are very sharp!  It was cool having a chance to really look over the fish.  I dehooked my big one from around 6 or 7 years ago and never took it out of the water.  Prior to that, Dawn Dittman at the Tunison Federal Lab let me hold a little 10 incher for a few seconds that she had in a fish tank.  They are a tough fish!  Very primitive!  Needless to say, this fish made our day and I notified DEC of our location and sent them a pic (that isn’t necessary, but why not? They like to know.)

After that fish, the rest of the day was more lake trout.  The past two days were both double-digit days and Cayuga appears to be getting back into the typical August/September swing of things.  I still have a day or two open in August, but am tempted to close the month of after this run of trips and enjoy a day or two out on the water myself.  September is starting to book up, but still features good availability.  Book now for best options!