Keuka Lake out of Branchport State Launch
Fly-fished Keuka Lake for around 3 hours today. It was nice just to get the boat out and make sure things are running well. Didn’t have much time to scout potential pike areas. I focused on the north end of the Branchport arm and managed a nice largemouth bass (around 2.7lbs) and a HUGE pickerel (27.5″) on a large white streamer fished on a DC type 6 sinking flyline. Pickerel were pretty active anywhere I could find nice green weeds. This lake has turned from a stunted pickerel factory into a lake that produces some real quality fish. Probably due to the ice fishermen weeding out a lot of the dinks. I’m sure the Penn Yan arm is just loaded with pickerel. Tough to access that branch in the winter without a long run as it usually freezes up quickly and even when it doesn’t freeze it can be tough to navigate the shallow outlet(from the town launch)
Saw a lot of largemouth bass just cruising slowly around the shallows. Water temp was 39 degrees with a few chunks of ice floating around. No one else was out, except a few duck hunters. Didn’t see any pike, but I think with some searching I’ll be able to locate some hotspots.