Otisco Lake 7/18 + Seneca/Sampson 7/19
Otisco Lake 7/18:
Got out with my buddy Jarrod at 5:30 am. We worked our musky lures hard, mainly on the north end of the lake. Didn’t have a hit or follow. We worked the south end and Jarrod had a 25″ fish grab his swimbait, but he wasn’t able to hook it. He caught a decent white perch on the N. end and we decided to fish for those around noon after 6 hours + of no musky action. I set up a dropshot rod and he went with a blade bait. Wouldn’t you know that he caught a 17″ walleye and I caught some bass? It’s a good example of how “multi-species” angling helps make an angler better! Word is that a 44″ 21lb. Tiger was trolled up on the 17th. So the big fish are in there!
Seneca Lake 7/19:
Fished with Chris and his daughter Kristen for 1/2 day. The laker bite was pretty good in the AM off Sampson in 75′ to 90’+ water. Young Kristen lost her first couple fish but landed a nice 30″ laker with a little “battle help” from Chris. Chris landed 3 nice eating sized (20″) fish before we headed in. After the trip I did a little casting for pike and picked up a nice one on a swimbait in around 10′ of water amongst a lot of weeds. Lakers picked up and I managed to land a few in short order on the west shore in around 80′ to 90′. Plenty of lakers are around in the mid portions of the lake. Surface temps are around 76! Who says Seneca Lake doesn’t warm up?
One of the reasons I love fishing Cayuga and Seneca Lakes is that the fish are safe to eat. Testing is done around every 5 years on Finger Lakes fish. Trace contaminants show up from wineries, but they are below Federal Guidelines. Results just came back from Cayuga’s lakers and not only are they safely below Federal Guidelines, the levels are LOWER than they were 5 years ago! That’s great news for the FL Angler. You can feel good about eating fish out of Cayuga Lake!