Seneca Lake out of Watkins 9/12
I went out of Watkins today from 11 am till around 5:30 pm doing a little scouting before scheduled pike guide trips Sunday and Monday (which were just cancelled.) I was very impressed with the great pike fishing. I landed plenty of fish – at least 12 to 14 nice northerns, and I lost/missed another 15 or more. I did NOT go back through productive areas! Just kept working down the lake! Fish range from around 8′ to 15′ of water. My best action came on swimbaits fished on 1/2 oz. Sworming Hornet jig heads. Spinnerbaits produced a couple, as did a swimbait fished on a 1 oz. jig head. The pike are hitting aggressively (gobbling! 😉 and wire leaders are a MUST! I had 3 bite-offs on 40lb. Maxima shock leaders before I went to wire (TyGer Wire). After that, there were no bite offs. Also in the mix was a pickerel and a couple 12″ to 14″ smallmouths (caught in a “non-pike area”.) The good news for pike aficionados is that there are some small pike in the mix – so we’ve had some successful spawning on Seneca recently. A lot of last years (and this spring’s) 29″ northerns are now around 30″ to 32″! It’s fantastic! Please practice catch and release on these fish – let’s work together to keep Seneca Lake a tremendous pike fishery! Water temps ranged from 65 to 67 degrees.