Seneca Lake out of Watkins Glen 12/16 PM
Got out on my own for around 3.5 hours today. It didn’t look like a great day for salmon or pike fishing weather-wise but did look like a great day to get out and just enjoy the lake, so that’s what I did. The lake was pretty flat all afternoon long. I had a good time today just fly-casting away trying for salmon. I had a couple hits from what were surely dinks and that was it. When I started fishing today, I did see a nice sized salmon with a large lamprey attached. I don’t think that salmon was going to survive much longer. I saw one fish surface in one area probably grabbing an insect up top but apart from that, I didn’t see much. A friend was out casting spoons and he had a couple hits and lost one around 16″ near his boat. Overall, it was slow fishing.
I had a window that looked good for pike fishing – the wind picked up and skies clouded up, so I ran over to a favorite lower lake pike area. I worked one area for a little while and eventually cast my spoon out around some good weeds and before it hit the bottom, it got railed. I had the fish on long enough to know it was a good pike (over 30″,) before the lure came out. Shortly afterwards I got hit again, and this fish I landed – it was a 31″ northern. The fish was in good condition weight-wise but did have some scars from past lamprey attacks. Lampreys are fairly under control in this lake – certainly when compared to a few years ago, but they are still a factor.
Water level is good. Water temps are 44 – 45 degrees. Looks like we are going to be getting hammered by some rain over the next two days.