Seneca Lake out of Sampson State Park 4/25
Guided Jeff and his friend Steve for the full day today. We targeted lake trout starting at around 8:30 am. Good numbers of fish were along the 120′ break and also from 140′ out. The guys managed to land a half dozen lakers, nearly all in the 22″ to 24.5″ range. We had a mix of hatchery and wild fish with only one lamprey coming up. Various colored Flukes, Shakers and Swim Fishes worked well on 1.5 oz jigheads. FYI – The AM bite was slow, but things picked up as the wind died down – which is often the case.
We had an hour left in the trip and the laker fishing had really slowed, so I took the guys to an area that gave them a chance for some browns or salmon. On a stickbait, Steve hooked a beauty that jumped at least 4 to 5 times. After a great battle I netted the fish that was around 24″ and a shade under 5lbs. It was a nice silvery salmon – though it looked an awful lot like a brown. I’ve seen a couple fish that both fit the same description – maxillary like a brown, tail similar to a salmon, spot pattern more like a brown. A check on the vomerine teeth revealed it to be an Atlantic.
Shore fishing looks to be pretty good right now. I heard a bit of talk about salmon around Sampson. Quite a few fishermen were working the walls over there. No sign of much bait yet. H2O was 44 degrees around the mid-portions of the lake.