Keuka Lake out of Branchport 4/6
Guided Keith, his son Matt and Matt’s buddy Alex for an abbreviated full day. I knew the wind was going to come up so we met at 7:30 am. It was cold out. Fishing was really, really good from the get-go with Alex having a hit in no time. The guys all did well with around 14 or 15 lakers landed mostly in the 20″ to 22″ range. One dink and a couple around 23″ or better. Depths were all over the map. The lake had loads of fish in the 170′ to 180′ range, but we also had a great pick of fish from around 65′ on out. I never checked shallower, but I’m sure they were there.
White Lunker City Shakers w/ chart. tails as well as all white and all chartreuse baits did the trick for us. Everything was fished on 1+1/2oz jig heads. The wind kept picking up. I went from no drift bag to one and then two. After a while the cold got to Matt – mainly his feet and hands. The wind just has a way of beating people down. I like wearing raingear or something that seals out the air. But we were ALL pretty cold and called it a day after around 5 1/2 hours. Cleaning the fish showed that they were finding some of the lake’s sparse alewive population.
Warm footwear is easy to overlook this time of year and I need to make a point of reminding people. Walking around in sneakers feels great but when standing still, chilly winds have a way of slicing through tennis shoes. I wear winter boots when air temps range from the upper 20s (or lower) into the low 40s.
Keuka is a great lake to fish when high winds are a concern. I avoid the Branchport arm when high southerlies are forecast, but for strong northerlies it’s a tough place to beat! The lakers are super eating out of Keuka too – very low fat content and they just taste super pure. There aren’t many better eating fish around than fresh caught (and not frozen) Keuka lakers!