Seneca Lake out of Sampson State Park 6/22 AM
Guided Russell and his wife Audrey for a 1/2 day trip starting at 7:30 am. I went over a lot of info with them about lake trout habits, locations and patterns before acquainting them with the tackle. The lake was fairly flat with a light southerly thermal blowing. I’m seeing more and more boats on Seneca Lake these days fishing, including more bass anglers. We’ll be talking a lot more about Seneca Lake over the next few years, guaranteed!
The bite was slow for us to start. We marked plenty of fish and they were chasing the jigs but not hitting great. That’s a positive sign, although certainly not as great as getting grabs would be. Audrey lost a decent hookup, then landed a fish around 18″ or 19″ that we released. She then nabbed a 27″er that we kept for dinner/the smoker. She had a tough time with that fish, but not nearly as tough a time as she had fighting her next one! After a long battle and several good runs, I slipped the net under a 31″ BEAST!!! This fish was in tremendous condition! I suggested releasing this fish and we tried, but it was too worn out after the long battle in the warmer surface water, so we kept it. I weighed it and it went 12lbs 5oz! The average 31″ lake trout caught in NY State goes around 10lbs 7oz!
New York State – “Weigh your fish with a ruler”: https://dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/freshwater-fishing/learn-to-fish/tips-skills/use-ruler-to-weigh
These weights come from sampling and fish submitted to NY’s Master Angler Program, so they give a good average on what a fish might weigh of a certain size.
Russell got into a decent lake trout shortly thereafter – a 26″ fish that we also kept. All fish caught were hatchery fish today.
Cayuga Lake remains in good condition with around 4′ of visibility! We’ll see how things progress over there over the next week. I’m out there for half-day trips Monday through Thursday barring any tough fishing due to the bloom.
Russell on!
26" of terrific eating on Seneca Lake
Yes, it's dead - but at least we have a pic! (Live hold photo coming once I get it...)
My availability remains decent in July! Check under “Reports” for “Upcoming Availability.” July is typically one of the top months for Seneca Lake lake trout fishing. Owasco Lake also fishes well this month for trout and we should see some nice rainbows and hopefully brown trout over there, as well as on Cayuga Lake depending on how things shape up with the bloom!