Seneca Lake out of Watkins 9/13

Reports

Fished Seneca from around noon till 7pm. This lake is absolutely FULL of milfoil! I’ve never seen the weeds up like this on Seneca. I’d had some complaints from homeowners/cottage owners I’d met over at Bass Pro Shops. Saw a lot of bait fish and a few bass in the weeds and around them.

The main reason I went over to Seneca was to try to find where the lake trout went. There are scattered lakers throughout the lower 7 miles of the lake. I found fish at the south end, off Hector Point and in scattered areas north. The most fish I could find were over near Peach Orchard Point. South of the point along Smith Park was pretty packed with lakers. There were fish north of the point too. The action wasn’t great – I only landed one fish, but I had TONS of fish chasing the jigs – albeit lethargically. They wouldn’t move more than 10′ for the jigs. The best bet would be to fish early in the morning. The high sun and flat conditions made the bite very tough. I tried a lot of different things too; I really mixed it up on colors and retrieves. A jigging spoon might be a good call!

I did a little crankbaiting and I couldn’t believe how thick the waterfleas were! WOW!!! They gunked up my line and guides moreso than I’ve ever seen before. Picked up a good pickerel. Lots of nice weedy bassin’ areas. For guiding, I’d fish Cayuga for bass before Seneca. The fleas are pretty much non-existant there. More largemouths too!

Bottom line: Expect good to very good lake trout jigging action on Seneca Lake in the MORNING or on overcast days! Bass fishing should be good as well. I’d work flukes, topwater, senkos and cranks for bass. The fleas are a drag and it’ll be nice when they disappear. The water temps are around 68/69 though they reached a peak of 73 today. I’m patiently waiting for this lake to cool down and the pike to get active and move up!