Owasco Lake 10/7 + 10/8
Laker fishing remains absolutely incredible on Owasco Lake. Fishing just can’t get much better – though it still helps to pick your days and pay attention to changing conditions. Fished with Gary on Sunday and the fishing got going great about a half an hour after we started at 7 am. Fish were just hitting aggressively and chasing well. Gary wound up landing around 25 nice fish. Our best action was in around 85′ of water give or take 10′. Colors all worked – though white, chartreuse, perch and firetiger patterns were best. I really like the perch colored fin-S fish. Tubes also work great. Fish hit well in the morning, slowed up a little around noon and started hitting great again around 3 pm.
Today’s action started out ridiculously well with Dan and his two daughters Emma and Madeline. The fishing was incredible first thing in the morning with the sunny conditions and very light wind. The gals both caught a bunch of nice fish and a double or two were hooked. Action was best early on in around 85′ then we moved out to around 110′ later on when things slowed shallow. A lot of my former clients have been out on the lake and I appreciate the tips. Ed tipped me onto the deep bite. I guess what goes around comes around! 😉 Fish are active in over 120′ of water.
I did an afternoon trip with Mike and Ralph – both longtime (40 year+) Owasco anglers. I enjoyed hearing the tales of the once legendary cisco fishing on Owasco Lake back in the 1950s. These guys had been doing some jigging with some success. There are a few technical things that can greatly help the hookup rates and that’s what we worked on. The guys caught a lot of fish and I’m sure their future jigging won’t be the same.
Tackle is important while jigging lakers. I suggest long (7′) high quality graphite rods with smooth baitcasting reels. Great rods include Fenwick’s HMG and HMX Graphite rods – they have nice long handles. Bass Pro Shops has some nice rods too. Medium to high end rods are best – leave the Ugly Sticks at home! I’ve had great success with 14lb. smoke colored fireline and around 10′ or more XXX Spiderwire 12lb. mono as a leader. Use a Uni-knot to connect the Fireline to leader. Regular mono stretches too much for adequate hook sets in deep water.