Seneca Lake out of Watkins Glen 1/9
Tried getting up this AM around 5:15 am but my body had other ideas. Finally got up and drove over to Watkins and arrived around 7:30. It gets light around 7 to 7:15 this time of year. I figured there would be a few boats on the water, but I think most anglers are waiting for the forecast warm-up this weekend. I was the only boat at the Village Marine Boat Launch and the only boat on the water (on the lake’s south end) till around noon or later. It was COLD out!!! I had no problems launching, but I always forget gloves. I don’t even know if I have a good pair – I usually go without them, but I could’ve used them this AM. As I type this at 9 pm I can still feel the “bone-chill,” and that’s after a hot shower and plenty of hot coffee. My own fault though – I didn’t dress up as much as I should have.
Started with some fishing around the south end for perch. I found plenty of fish, but couldn’t find much size and a lot of them weren’t hitting very good. I only caught around 8 or 9 fish and half were keepers – and not the usual “Seneca Keepers.” They were more like Cayuga or Owasco Lake sized fish. They ranged from around 40′ to 82′ deep. They were clearly more active yesterday. It was too cold to mess much with tackle, so I only tried one method (using plastics.) I stuck with the perch till it warmed up to the point where my guides weren’t freezing up too badly. Then it was salmon time.
I really do enjoy the challenge of finding perch on Seneca, especially the big ones. But Landlocked Atlantic Salmon are my favorite fish and it’s really hard for me to put in the hours on the perch fishing, which may or may not pay off, when I KNOW conditions are prime for fly-casting to salmon. I’ll hit the perch on windier, cloudier days. But sun and light winds spell F-L-Y F-I-S-H-I-N-G for me. If you’ve only trolled for salmon or fished live-bait for them, you’ve likely missed the #1 most fun thing about salmon fishing. The STRIKE! They annihilate flies and of course jigs and stickbaits.
Fishing started out slow for me, but once the winds finally died down a bit and the sun appeared I had a couple hard hits from what felt like respectable fish. I wound up landing 4 nice salmon ranging from a couple 16 1/2″ers to a 19″ and 20″. I had a lot more hits – mostly from smaller fish. The fish are generally in good condition – the bigger ones had healed lamprey scars and some fat to them. One smaller one had some severe gashes on its side – likely cormorants or loon hits. I used a Type 3 full-sinking line and assorted streamers. When I get time I’ll post my Bionic Smelt Pattern on this website, as well as our pike choices. I tried a bunch of areas in order to get a feel for the salmon distribution (at least as well a feel for it as a single fly-fisher can get FWIW.) Time will tell, but numbers seem reasonable. Cayuga should be harboring some good fish, but I’m seeing more Cayuga guys on Seneca lately, so perhaps it’s been slower. I tried a little more perch fishing at the day’s end with no luck. Wrapped up just after 3 pm. Fun day!