Seneca Lake out of Sampson 11/3 + Cayuga Lake out of Long Point 11/4
Pike action continues to impress on Seneca Lake, albeit for mostly cookie-cutter 23″ to 27″ fish. Perch action is good throughout the region by all accounts. Lake trout fishing is still very good at times on Cayuga Lake. The lakes are super quiet and there are still some nice colors around. Air temperatures have been cold to cool. Overall it’s fall fishing at its best!
11/4: Seneca Lake out of Sampson – The original plan was to fish pickerel/bass out of Union Springs but Kevin and Drew decided to hit Seneca after seeing my report of top-notch pike action over there. I’m happiest as a Finger Lakes guide when the pike fishing is good on Seneca and the landlocked salmon fishing is good on Cayuga. That’s when there’s no place else I’d rather be.
We fished some different areas than I’d hit with Terry on Wednesday. Fishing wasn’t hot and heavy to start but it had its moments. After moving around and making a few runs the fishing picked up with a vengeance and the guys were expecting hits on every cast. Their expectations weren’t out of line! We quit an hour early after the guys had caught their share of northerns. We didn’t keep count but they caught a lot of fish. From what I’ve seen so far, hot pike action is available just about lakewide. I haven’t fished the lower third of the lake yet, so sooner or later we’ll see what’s happening down there.
11/5: Cayuga Lake out of Long Point – Guided David in the AM starting just after 8. He bought a nice boat and will be retiring soon and is looking to get serious about doing more fishing. He wanted to learn the laker jigging today. Loons were everywhere this morning, which was nice to see. The fishing didn’t start out too fast but he had a hit here and there. The first fish landed was a chunky gorgeous 20″ male rainbow. It was a fin-clipped fish. Stocking really helps Cayuga’s rainbow trout population (unlike the stocking on Keuka Lake, which mainly feeds lake trout.) Next fish was an undersized salmon. After a little lull, the lakers came alive and he landed 4 nice lake trout. Fun morning!
My PM trip was with Oleg and Yuri, who joined me back a few years ago for some good laker jigging. As is often the case in the late fall, the PM bite (actually mid-AM to mid-PM) was hot. The guys got into some really nice fish for the first 2 hours of the trip before the bite slowed back down again. Two 28″ to 29″ lakers were the highlight of the fishing. Another four smaller (but not small) fish were landed.