Seneca Lake 5/25 – 5/28
I had a really hectic, busy week with an unexpected trip to Phoenix AZ Monday through Thursday, just after doing 8 trips in 6 days. I had to cancel 2 trips and my flights back were delayed way too much. My arrival time in Ithaca was originally 8:30 pm. But I touched down in Ithaca Thursday night just before midnight and had just enough time to hook up the boat and sleep a little bit before guiding out of Sampson at 6 am on Friday! Next day was Derby time – fishing from 6 am till 2 pm with my buddy Jarrod, then guiding from 2 till just after 6 on Saturday and Sunday. Can you say “Fried?” Sure, I knew you could…. Here’s how things went:
5/25 out of Sampson: Guided Mark and Mike – longtime Seneca Lake fishermen for lakers. Normally I’m out on Seneca a lot just before Derby time and have an idea what’s going on, but not this year. Anyways we started just after 6 am and I gave the guys the jigging tutorial – the hows, wheres and whys of this modern style of fishing. We had good water temps and some fish and bait ranging from shallow to deep. The guys did a good job with the technique and landed 5 nice fish up to 31″! The big one wasn’t particularly fat – it likely weighed just over 9lbs. Fishing slowed considerably as the southerlies picked up. Fun trip and the guys were very impressed with the technique and fishing.
5/26 AM out of Geneva: Met my longtime friend and fishing pal Jarrod at the Seneca Lake State Park at around 5:30 am. Derby time officially starts at 6 am and we took our time getting ready. My buddy Mike was fishing the derby with a friend and I also had a handful of past clients, as well as other friends out fishing.
As is nearly always the case this time of year, plenty i.e. a ton of fish were on the flats and shelves from Belhurst area southward. I forgot my temp probe, so we used our electronics to pinpoint fish and/or bait. The probe is a great tool this time of year and I regretted not having it. Fish were very neutral. They were pretty much everywhere though we seemed to find a lot from 65′ or so on out. Jarrod and I landed just 3 fish and nothing over 27″. We had some excitement with Jarrod having a follow from a very large rainbow trout that didn’t commit. My buddy Mike and his friend Jim had a much better AM. They hit some concentrations of fish and landed over a dozen in the first hour and a half. Most jiggers I talked to had a slow day with only a few, and in some cases no fish landed.
PM: Guided John and Ed for a 1/2 day. Again – tough bite but John managed to land a couple fish. Nothing for the board. I didn’t fish after we wound up around 6 pm.
5/27 AM: Jarrod and I started up north again and things started with us each having hits on our first drops in shallow water. Not long after, Jarrod landed a 16″ laker. We ran south and worked areas on both shores. We found a ton of bait and had follows from small salmon. In the depths, suspended – Jarrod nailed a 28″ laker, but it was on the thin side. I landed one too, also out over deep water (thanks to a tip from Craig and Jimmy.) Another 3 fish day.
PM: Guided John and Ed again. We hit different areas and John, again landed a decent fish or two. A few were missed. I landed a couple after we wrapped up. The evening bite was better than on 5/26, but still nothing great. 85′ fow was good.
5/28 AM: Wasn’t sure if I was going to fish, but after seeing that an 11lb laker would top the laker division, I HAD to go! That’s a good fish, but not uncommon on Seneca Lake this time of year. Started at 7 am with some hits shallow. I landed a fish then ran south. Thunderstorms and heavy rain cut my day short after a total of maybe 3 hours and only 1/2 hour in my good area south. I felt good about my areas, but no telling what would’ve happened. It was weird and tough fishing.
Angling Zone friends Jeff and his buddies from northern PA had the top fish for most of the derby – a nice 12lb+ brown they caught jigging. It was topped this AM by a 14lb+ laker taken on the lake’s north end. Past client Andre had two fish on the board, incl. one of the Top 5. Past client Jimmy C. had one of the top lakers caught by a male 20 to 59 year old. I’m not sure what, if any other fish were taken jigging. Top salmon was over 9lbs. Top rainbow was over 8.
We had a good time and it was fun calling and texting friends for updates. Some of the fish were taken on bottom in deep water, others were very shallow. This is one of the toughest times of the year to pinpoint good numbers of fish, since they are so scattered. There are laker friendly temperatures from about 30′ down in areas to the bottom of the lake. The thermocline is showing signs of setting up though it may take a week or two before it’s solid.