Cayuga out of Taughannock 8/21 PM and 8/22 AM
Similar conditions both days on Cayuga – overcast with moderate to gusty south winds. Fished with the Hermans on Tuesday evening. Usually something good happens when they are on board (a 29″ brown last year and 24″ rainbow this past June!) and last night was no exception. Eleonore nailed a beautiful wild 31″ laker! This hasn’t been a great “trophy laker year” on board (in 2005 we seemed to get 31″+ fish somewhat frequently), so it was nice seeing this slob. We released it unharmed. John landed a couple as did Eleonore. Fish were chasing nicely. Any laker over 30″ is a very nice Cayuga fish! Over the past 2 years I’ve gradually gone up in the line strength we’ve been jigging with. I started using 8lb.Spiderwire XXX in 2005 and clients caught 30″ to 32″ lakers almost every week, with Alec Johnston’s 34″ to 35″ fish being the largest. In 2006 I went to 10lb and then 12lb.test later in the season. I did this due to the many break-offs we were experiencing. In 2007 it’s been braid with 12lb. XXX leader. We’ve had next to no break-offs – maybe one or two every month. BUT, the number of 30″+ lake trout we’ve caught has declined steadily since 2005. Coincidence? I’m not sure. Though I am taking note. I will probably start spooling up some reels with lighter line again and see what happens! My guess is that the lighter line results in better jig action “on the fall”.
Today was a trip with Al and his son Dan. The wind was pretty nasty, but Dan started things out with a nice 30″ fish. A couple more were landed and one good fish was lost near the net. Quite a few nice bites were missed too. Hit detection and immediate hookset are some important aspects of jigging! Baitfish were abundant. Best action on both days was in deeper water – probably nearly 80′ to 95′ or more. This is typical for this time of year and by early October we are catching lakers in upwards of 110′ or more. Our fishing was within a few miles of the park on both days. We had a lot of fun on both trips with the big lake trout that were hooked! These fish ran under the boat and I thought we’d lose both of them!