Cayuga Lake out of Taughannock 10/9
The plan today was to check on Seneca Lake out of Sampson for pike and bass. But as I left my apartment at around 11 am the first thing I noticed was a bulge on the side of my boat tire. The tire was close to failing. In addition, I had a trailer light problem as well. So I fixed what I could and decided Cayuga was a better call. I used to fish Cayuga a lot in the fall. We’d catch bass, perch and occasional pike, along with odd bonus fish like landlocked salmon and/or brown trout. Throw in a little laker jigging and you can get a nice mixed bag. Since we had the big pike boom on Seneca over the last few years and very good bass fishing (and mixed bag stuff) on Skaneateles, I’ve neglected Cayuga, so I was eager to give it a shot.
Water temps are at 58 degrees. I worked the southern portions of the lake for pike starting around 1:15 pm. Nailed a 34.5″ pike on an X-Rap in fairly short order. About 20 minutes later I had a follow from a fish around 27″ to 29″. It had a dark mark on its back. The larger fish was in good condition, but had a reddish appearance to it. I hope there isn’t some pike virus going around. Fishing remained slow for the next couple hours. I had a hard hit and brought a 30″ fish to the side of the boat. It wasn’t even hooked – just wrapped around the line with the Husky Jerk dangling from its side! That was it for the day. I did a quick check for trout/salmon off of Myers Point and Taughannock. I didn’t see anything, but I wasn’t there for long at all. A few nice perch are in the marina at Taughannock.
All in all the pike fishing was typical Cayuga pike over the past few years. Not great but not bad. It’s not the kind of thing I prefer guiding for, unless you’re a die-hard serious pike fisherman who can put in 8 hours for 2 to maybe 6 fish. The advantage is the size – Cayuga has some very nice pike. A 20lber would never surprise me here. There are lots of places these fish can dwell. A TON of good looking water to cover. So it’s more hunting than fishing.