Reports

Got out today from around noon till dark. I worked the southern portions of the lake, primarily for pike. For some reason, the fly I had on wasn’t triggering any good grabs for me. I had 4 nice fish follow in my fly and not hit it. One fish does that and I think “it’s the fish”; more than one and it’s a “me problem”. So I tried a few different things. I eventually went to a chartreuse/gold deceiver tied with bucktail and an epoxied head. I was just getting ready to motor up the lake when I decided to take a couple more casts and the fly got hammered! I was in around 10′ to 12′ of water and could tell it was a really good fish. I had it hooked solidly in the corner of the mouth and landed the fish – it was a nicely proportioned 38″ beauty. I think that’s my 2nd. best pike on Cayuga. It had a musky look to it – no spots; it was kind of blue and faded looking, but definitely a pike. I took a couple quick photos and released the beast unharmed. That was it on the day.

Around 3 or 4 years ago (check the reports from 2005), Cayuga had a strong class of 25″ to 27″ northerns. The fish that are still around are probably 34″ to 40″ beasts by now! If my buddy Mike and myself combine our last 3 fly-fishing trips for pike on Cayuga, we’ve caught a 38″, 35″ and a 33″fish. Those are good pike! We clearly don’t have the Seneca numbers on Cayuga, but the size here is better on average. I’m certain that Cayuga Lake currently holds some 40″ plus fish pushing over 20lbs. I did see a few bass cruising the shallows today. Once we get some steady north winds I’ll be giving the landlocked salmon a good go.

bass cayuga lake Northern Pike