Seneca Lake out of Watkins Glen 4/13
Guided Tony and his sons Dan and John (11 y.o.) today for the full day. I thought laker jigging would be the best option for action, but we opted to try salmon fishing (which we did last year with success.) We did some laker jigging as a back up plan.
Salmon fishing wasn’t easy for the boys (who did 80% of the fishing, with Tony switching off once in a while.) We hit nearly every good stretch with warm water (and some without) that I know near the lake’s south end. Dan was the lucky one today, nailing a 6.78lb 27″ salmon on a Cleo. John caught a freshly stocked brown – that was it. Dan also landed a pike around 24″. One laker was lost. I don’t recommend the south end of the lake for laker jigging. We did mark a fair number of fish and had some chasers, but the fishing is much better further north. I did see a few salmon cruising around here and there, but they weren’t grabbing out lures. Water temps ranged from around 43 to 49. A good rain and some warm days will get some fish concentrating in the nearshore areas, till then it’ll be one here, one there in all likelihood.
I have some great photos of the fish and should be able to get them online sometimes this weekend! It was a beauty, though it did come with an attached lamprey.