Reports 7/3 to 7/5
7/3 AM: Did 1/2 day on Cayuga Lake out of the State Park on the North end. I met Ed and Bob at the launch at 7:30, but we didn’t start for another hour or an hour and a half due to some license issues with Bob. Bob has some disabilities so the game plan was for me and Ed to fish, then when I hooked a fish I’d hand the rod to Bob so he could reel it in! Fishing started off pretty good for mainly pickerel and it was a lot of fun to watch Bob get excited reeling in the fish. Bob dropped what was probably a good bass on a Senko. We had bass (Ed got a nice one over 2lbs on a bass bug and fly-rod.) and even a couple pike hit/follow. One pike was decent (probably 30″), and the one we landed was around 22″. Perch and sunfish/gills were also hitting. Best lures for us were spinnerbaits and lipless cranks.
7/3 PM: I headed over to Seneca Lake to meet Rob and Dennis. They were up from Ohio and we shot out of Geneva for a crack at some lakers. Lake trout action was very good and the guys landed some nice fish including a 31″ fish that was fat and probably over 11lbs (which we released.) The fish were feeding heavily and they were full of bait. We had a great time and called it a day as T-storms/rain moved in. Fish ranged from 45′ on out.
7/4: I did a long day with the Herman clan. We started at 5 am with Karl and his dad Jim. Karl is 7 years old and John Herman assured me that he was a mature young man very interested in fishing. Well, John was right. Karl did a great job and we started out with the guys handing Karl the rod when they hooked fish (after they landed a few themselves!) Karl had fun landing fish, and he even missed one himself. After landing 5 nice lakers on jigs, Karl hooked one himself! He had a riot reeling in the fish that was a Keuka beauty – just under 27″!
At 9 am I ran the guys back to the dock and picked up Alexi and Steve. (Hopefully I’m keeping the names straight.) We shot back to the bluff and the lakers were still hitting for a bit. Steve told me he’d be happy with one, but he wound up with 2 nice fish. Alex dropped 2 – through no apparent fault of his own. Best fishing was in around 105′ to 110′ of water.
At noon I dropped the guys off and picked up the last group, Dave and his daughters Emma and Elise. The gals are young – in 4th and 5th grade and they love to fish. I was very inspired and impressed with the job the gals did – they were great young fishers! Elise managed a laker around 16″ which wasn’t an easy feat with the cranking winds (over 20 mph out of the west) and the rocking boat wakes/jet skiiers all over. We fished hard and wound up back at the dock around 4 pm. It was a great time, working with all the kids and watching them fish and in most cases, land some nice fish.
7/5: We did a full day starting at 5:30 am with Kirk and his wife Rebecca. Fishing started slow on Cayuga Lake out of Taughannock, and I didn’t mark much. Kirk started things off with a laker around 14″ – a rare Cayuga dink. Fishing remained slow until 10 am (which is why I recommend a full day!). After 10 am the fishing picked up considerably and a couple nice lakers came to the boat – a 28″ and 30″ fish. Then we got another dink, and then a couple more nice 25″ fish. So the fishing basically got better as the day went on. Fun trip! Best action was deep – around 85′, though we got fish from 65′ (the dinks) out to over 90′. Bait moved in (as did the fish) as the day went on. 48/50 degree water was deep – in around 80′ and out.