I used to consider brown trout somewhat of a bonus fish for us on Seneca and Cayuga Lakes during the late fall through spring fishing calendar, but given what I’ve seen thus far during the winter of ’25/’26, they seem to be becoming more of a mainstay species, at least on Cayuga Lake!   NY State DEC changed the strain of brown trout that they were stocking statewide (in both streams and lakes) a couple of years ago.  These fish really seem to be thriving!  Browns caught in the lakes typically run around 15” to 20″ long, though we’ve caught them up to 27” on flies and upwards of 30″ on jigs. In Lake Ontario they run much bigger.

Cayuga Lakes give up some monster browns on occasion – fish pushing 17lbs!  Brown fishing was slow here for the most part from 2021 – 2023.  Despite being “double-stocked” a few years ago, we didn’t seen the returns that we were hoping for.  However, the fishing for them improved in 2025 and 2026 looks very promising.  We encounter them at times while jigging during the summer for lake trout.  I can custom-tailor trips for lake trout that will give us better opportunities to catch some browns.

For many years Owasco lake was known as “THE Lake” for big inland browns. Browns have been coming back steadily on Owasco Lake since the walleye population collapsed and the lake trout stocking was reduced. We landed a couple beauties over here in 2022 but only an average-sized fish or two in 2023.  However in 2024, clients Leo and Ada landed a monster that was 31″ long and 14lbs and 7oz!  In 2025, my client Mark got into a group of some massive browns over here!

Seneca Lake has produced its share of giant browns over the years – especially in the 1990s, 2000s and early 2010s.  Getting the lamprey population under control is helping to improve the brown trout fishing here.  More browns have been caught here recently including some nice fish pushing 10lbs.  I ran into some while smallmouth bass fishing here in 2025!  They are doing well on Seneca Lake!

Browns occasionally get caught on Skaneateles Lake.  They are not stocked here but wild fish will drop into the lake on occasion from the lake’s quality tributaries.  Canandaigua Lake also produces some decent brown trout every year.  They are stocked here, but the returns to the creel are not as good as what the DEC is hoping for.

Browns stack around creek mouths in October and November on Cayuga and Seneca Lakes as they prepare to spawn. These fish are oftentimes in a negative mood, but a little wind can turn them on.  I’ve had some success fly-fishing spring browns on Lake Ontario. Conditions need to be right to have success targeting these fish, but for the serious lake fly-fisher it’s a worthy challenge.  Fall run browns can also be fly-fished on Lake Ontario around creek mouths.