Cayuga/Taughannock 9/23 + 24

Reports

Spent 2 very different days out on Cayuga. On Fri. 9/23 we got out for some bass fishing. Water temps are around 69 to 70 on the surface. The bass fishing on Cayuga’s east shore was probably the best I’ve seen in terms of LARGE largemouths. Large deep-diving crankbaits and senkos in assorted colors did the trick on bass that were running from around 17″ to almost 21″! We did get one or two 16″ fish. We probably landed/hooked 4 fish that were in the 20″ range. A lot of bass clearly moved south just before the spawn. I also managed a nice smallie that jumped 2 times out of the water around 3′! Exciting stuff! Fish were in 8′ to 16′ of water. I’ll have some photos up as soon as they are developed.

Sat. 9/24 was a guide trip for lakers that went very well. Totally different weather with the post-frontal conditions. There is still a very good bite around the Taughannock area. Todd landed around 8 fish including a slob laker that was unclipped and probably at least 9.5 to 10lbs. We released the “big mama”. He also got a small brown. Some small fish are starting to bust bait around Taughannock and Myers. Lakers are all over the place, baitfish too. I took him up for some bass fishing and the hot bite from yesterday had slowed a lot. He had one follow of a decent largemouth. We went after the lakers again and had follows and a few hits. Best action was early and mid-morning.

Shore anglers are nailing a few lakers at Taughannock. If you’re going to fish there BRING A COOLER if you plan on keeping fish! Everyone seems to want to put these lakers on stringers. The water is 70 degrees! That flesh will be lousy after 6 hours in that stuff! Kill ’em and put ’em on ice if you’re going to eat them! HUGE difference.