Seneca Lake out of Geneva 4/21
Had the day (Easter) off today and conditions looked good for checking on the laker jigging on Seneca. I’ve found the lake trout fishing on this lake to be fairly poor over the past three years – at least compared to how we did here in the 2000s and up through around 2013 or 2014. And it’s certainly poor compared to Cayuga. The fishing here is gradually improving but we are likely a year or two away from a major uptick. DEC nettings have found a good class of mostly stocked lakers here that will be catchable next year. As I’ve often said, and my archived reports will attest – I love fishing this lake and am happiest when all the Finger Lakes are fishing well. It gives us more options, more variety and takes pressure off of the current “hot lakes.”
I checked out the northern portions of the lake, midway down towards Sampson and the area off of Sampson State Park. I marked fair to good numbers of fish everywhere I went. Most were deep – 120′ to 150′ . Fish were moving for the jigs but not hitting well. This has been the case here for years – it’s what I hear from my fellow jiggers. My friend Mike’s theory is that these are likely small, undersized (sub-legal) fish. He may be right. Because fish should be hungry enough to grab a jig now – they are just coming out of their winter dormancy. As far as I could see, baitfish haven’t moved in yet to any major extent. That being said, I landed a very healthy, completely clean laker a few miles south of Belhurst. I kept the 22″ fat fish and it weighed around 4lbs 14 oz. It was stuffed with alewives. On the day I had one or two other hits. I dropped my jig over dozens of fish.
I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to fish lakers here this year, especially if I were already on the lake doing other stuff. There are enough fish around (if they are catchable-sized) to provide some good fishing. But until I see otherwise, it doesn’t appear to be worth a special trip given how good Canandaigua and Cayuga are. But time will tell. The beauty of the wild fish this lake is capable of churning out is impressive. They are the nicest looking wild fish in the region – bar none. I’ll be trying the jigging here again – likely after pike season opens and I’m on the lake fishing northerns. I gave the perch fishing about 2 hours today and didn’t find any. Only three other boats were on the lake on the day that I saw – two were perch fishing and one looked to be setting up for lakers. Water level was excellent. Surface temps are 40 to 44.