Keuka Lake 10/5
Guided Mihai, Bill and Katt for the full day. Mihai and Bill have been booking trips with me since my first year guiding and various work/family obligations had kept them off the Fingerlakes for awhile, so it was great to see them.
Winds were blowing fairly well throughout the Branchport arm so we headed right for the bluff area around 8 am where it was nice and calm. Fishing was steady and very good throughout the day – right from the beginning through the end, which I would consider excellent fishing. We saw one other boat jigging. The guys landed close to 30 lake trout on the day, and with the new 5 laker limit (Region 8 waters only)and DEC encouraging anglers to keep fish, we kept our limit. The guys had two fish in the 27″ range. Most were the usual 19″ to 22″ Keuka fish.
There was a fair amount of bait around and Region 8 biologists have noticed sculpins playing a significant, if not major role in the lakers’ diets here. I cleaned a few fish and did find sculpins present.
The foliage colors around the Bluff areas were incredible and are probably a week to two away from peak. It was an amazing day to be out! Fish bit well throughout the sunny periods, cloudy conditions, wind and no-wind. White swimbaits worked best, but chartreuse also produced. Best fishing for us was from 105′ to 115′.