Otisco Lake 5/4 + 5/5
Got out with “Bobberman” Perry and his pal Dave for two full days of Tiger Musky fishing. Perry and Dave used to do Seneca Lake trips regularly with me, but the musky fishing has been so productive on Otisco Lake that that’s where they want to fish most of the time these days. This is the earliest (in the season) Tiger trip I’ve ever done with Perry. For those of you new to these reports, Perry and Dave bring their own bait, outfits and know-how with them and I more or less provide the boat and occasional suggestions.
Fishing was good for us on Monday. The guys had some giant golden shiners and it was great not being bothered by non-target species. We probably had 5 good hits, with 2 fish landed. The first was a solid 28 1/2″er and the second was a very solid 35″ thick musky. Great fight on the 35″er and I was stoked to put my new giant Musky net to use. It’s a hassle to have onboard, but it makes netting big fish a cinch.
I get some inquiries for musky trips, but it’s not a big part of my guiding. After last year’s 46″ Tiger, I decided that I needed to get the proper equipment to handle these fish safely and effectively. I can’t have a trophy musky jumping out of the net.
After putting all my gear away Monday, I took some casts from shore and was quickly rewarded with 3 nice perch in the 9″ to 10″ range, a solid smallmouth and a largemouth. A lot of fun could be had here casting around the shoreline of the lake with some panfish jigs.
Tuesday’s fishing was tough. The front that came through was very mild. Reports over the weekend from Otisco Lake Marine was that the fishing was tough. I felt we got lucky on Monday. But we tried a few different areas Tuesday without a single hit.
Either way, we had beautiful days on the water with amenable temperatures and no rain. NY State’s pure strain musky season now opens on June 1st. I’ve never been a huge fan of fishing Waneta Lake in the summer due to all the camps that surround it, but I may go out and give it a shot with some casting gear and maybe even the fly-rods sometimes in June. If I like what I see, I may do a couple trips there. I’ve been asked before to do some. Funny, I haven’t fished it once since landing that 50″er a couple falls ago. Time sure flies.