Reports

Got out on my own for a short trip.  I started just before 1 pm and finished just before 4 pm.  It was cold and at times snowy out.  The high was around 34 degrees and with the wind it made for a fairly trying day out there.  My main objective was just to get out on the water for a bit and check on what was happening on the lake.  The water level is low again, after the one foot rise last week.  My depthfinder’s thermometer has been a bit jumpy lately, but the reading was 43 degrees for water temperature.  That is warm for this time of year.  Back in the 1960s and 1970s, according to Earl Holdren’s Finger Lakes fishing book, typical January water temperatures would be around 33 degrees.

Fishing was pretty slow.  I worked some shallow areas for lake trout to start then gradually moved deep.  I had a couple half-hearted hits.  I didn’t have any action deep where I fished.  Keep in mind it was a short day and I didn’t move around too much.  It was cold and wet out.  I worked some shallow areas hoping for a laker or two for the table and wound up landing two nice salmon – one at 19″ and one just over 20″ (with some pretty heinous lamprey scars.)  I kept both salmon, since the foreseeable forecast is for pretty cold temperatures and would like some fish to eat.  Nothing in their stomachs.