Owasco Lake 9/28
Ridiculous fishing on Owasco Lake with Greg yesterday. Over 30 fish were landed and as many if not more were lost and we could have kept going and going….but we tried some other things towards the end of the trip. Fish and bait are stacked and active in around 75′ to 90′ of water. 80′ to 85′ was probably best. Lakers are hitting on bottom and chasing jigs and spoons actively. The bite varies during the course of the day basically from just good to obscenely great. We’ve kept limits of fish the last couple trips out and my smoker is getting a workout.
These fish just don’t seem to be growing much to me. Fish with a left pectoral clip on Owasco were around 26″ last year (On Cayuga that same class of fish was 27″ last year and is 28″ this year). On Owasco they are the same length this year but thinner (negative growth!). A huge percentage of fish have an adipose clip. These may have been surplus lakers that were stocked in the lake around 5 or 6 years ago. Once this class of fish “moves through” the fishery, the lake trout growth and fishing should return to normal. For now, enjoy the hot fishing! No matter what the fin clip, most fish are running 22″ to 26″. They are nice sized fish and fight good. It’s probably the best fishing for lakers I’ve ever seen in terms of sheer consistency and numbers throughout the day and on a day-in/day-out basis.
There’s a ton of bait on the north end of the lake and the bait varies in size from 2″ fish to 5″ fish. Nearly any type of plastic or spoon will produce. Fin-S Fish/Fluke type baits, super flukes, swim baits, twisters, tubes, creature baits etc… Colors like white, white ice, natural gray, chartreuse and gold all work great.