Reports

Well I felt we could get a little redemption today after yesterday’s tough fishing – bite-wise and weather wise. Guided a 1/2 day with Bob and Joni. I went over the techniques as best I could before we got started at 6:30am. Joni had a hit on her first drop with the jig – though she wasn’t quite sure at the time. We had a good morning and Joni managed to land 3 nice fish up to nearly 30″ and her husband Bob landed one. They missed quite a few hits and lost a few as well. Good day for their first jigging effort. The fishing was good and the fishwere feeding; stomach checks on our two kept fish confirmed this. Ran into Alec (http://cayugafisher.net) at the ramp and he had a stellar day on the lakers – landing nearly two dozen fish! He found an area that had a boatload of fish and landed fish on 11 consecutive drops! That might be a record. He is a very accomplished jigger, putting in lots of quality hours and always experimenting with presentation and trying new areas. He clued me onto a few things that have been producing well for him lately and I took note. Sometimes when guiding day after day it’s easy to do the same stuff over and over – especially when we get results, but it’s great to keep trying new things – especially given how many of these lakers have probably seen our plastics! 😉 I took a trip up to Bass Pro Shops and picked up a whole bunch of different things that should produce some good lakers. The type of day that Alec had is by no means an impossibility this time of year. Hit things right and it’s very possible both in the morning and during the evening. My client Mark D. had a day like this last year around the same time frame. Those of you interested in a trip should know that Alec is a former client of mine and he still holds my boat record for the heaviest, longest lake trout caught on it. He landed a 34″+ fish two years ago in mid-July while out with me (see the report from 7/25/05). So he’s always had the “mojo”! I expect him to do well during the upcoming Red Cross derby.

Best fishing was from 65′ to 75′ of water. I believe we have a thermocline set up. My temp probe is in the shop, so I don’t know for sure. I should note that for all intents and purposes I’ve been guiding without decent console electronics for the past week. My Eagle 480 is acting up. For the money it’s a great unit, but I wouldn’t call it “professional grade” by any means. I will be updating my electronics soon, but for now I’ll be running Eagles. Electronics are very helpful for structure fishing, but even with no or poor electronics, fish can be caught – and in good numbers. It’s been good practice and we’ve had some very good fishing in areas where we aren’t marking any or many fish.

cayuga lake