Keuka Lake 10/10 + 10/11

Reports

I’ve been spending so much time on Keuka Lake lately, I may as well rent a motel room in Penn Yan. The lake is fishing very well, so for now I bite the bullet and make the drive.

10/10: Guided Rick and Gary for a full day starting around 8:30 am. They’ve joined me in the past for a handful of laker trips and it was their first time on Keuka to jig lakers. Fishing was very good to downright excellent on the day, both at the Bluff and around Branchport/State Park. The guys landed 20 solid fish and lost/dropped a bunch as well. That’s the way laker jigging goes. The amount of bait on this lake remains impressive! Fish ran from around 17″ to 23″. Fun day and great weather.

10/11: Got out with my friend and rod-making buddy Mike Canavan and his son Ryan. We had tougher conditions today with overcast skies and next to no wind all AM long. We fished around 6 hours from 8:45 till around 2:30. I fished as well. We did well on the day despite the tough bite with around 12 to 13 fish landed. Mike and Ryan used lighter mono today and that may have made a big difference, because they landed the vast majority of the fish. I did play around with some different plastics and colors, but I whiffed on most of my opportunities. Best two fish were Mike and Ryan’s 24″ers. They enjoyed the October action on Keuka. Keep in mind that experimentation can pay off when the bite gets tough!