Keuka Lake 10/25 + 26
Fishing for lake trout remains excellent on Keuka Lake. The lake level is starting to drop but launching remains a cinch. Fished out of the State Park yesterday and Hammondsport today.
10/25: Did a full day with Mike and Koen (from Belgium!) They joined me a couple years ago for some laker jigging out of Sampson. They’ve had some decent fishing this season on Seneca and were looking to get out on Keuka. These guys do some saltwater vertical jigging as well and brought along some different styles of jigs and equipment.
The bite started out slow, but somewhat steady in Branchport with around 2 to 3 fish landed. Good numbers of lakers and bait were around. I prefer the Bluff oftentimes for many reasons and we made the run there after 2 hours. Fishing gradually picked up and the guys wound up landing and releasing a nice bunch of lakers to 24″. I think 23 fish were landed, so action was generally very good. The plastics worked best, but fish came on a few other jig types as well. The Bluff area continues to hold a lot of bait! Surface temps are in the upper 50s.
10/26 AM: I had to shuffle a few trips around due to cancellations and a late booking, but all worked well. I met Don, his brother Bruce and Don’s son Don at the Hotel at 7:45. We knew the winds were forecast to gust up to 40 mph out of the south, so I wouldn’t have launched anywhere else! Going early was a good call and the winds were good for the first two hours. The bite went really well today, despite being confined to the lower part of the lake. We never ventured more than 1/2 mile north. The guys landed 13 solid fish including a 24″+ fatty. We are releasing our largest Keuka fish in hopes they get even bigger.
We had a really good time and Bruce fishes Lake Superior a bit for lakers and I’m psyched to see how he does with the jigging up there. He said that the Keuka fish were very reminiscent of Lake Superior lake trout. The bite slowed a little after the wind kicked up big-time, but the fish were still hitting and we caught fish until we quit. We saw two other boats out. That was it!