Seneca out of Watkins Glen 12/29
Got out from around noon till 4:15 pm or so. Quite a few duck hunters were out (opening day of the season). I tried a little fly-fishing for salmon, though I wasn’t expecting much with the winds I had. No luck there. I did see one salmon caught by some perch fishermen – down on bottom around 30′. Wind and sunlight play a factor in salmon coming up top to feed – I had neither today, but I keep trying anyways hoping for a straggler.
I really wanted pike, so that’s what I did. Both gear and fly-fishing produced fish. I had the best luck using a Flo. Red Lunker City Shaker in the med. size on a 1/2 oz. head. Fish were on deep weededges. Find good weeds and you’ll find plenty of fish. They were nice sized ranging from around 23″ to 32″ – most around 27″ to 29″. Fly-fishing was tougher since fish are pretty deep (over 20′). A leadcore setup worked very well, but I need to iron out a few bugs. I caught some good fish, but the set-up just wasn’t super-efficient. Lots of missed fish and follows. Setting the hook was tough with my 8 wt, so next time I’ll try a 10 wt. Fly-type and leader length also need to be considered and messed around with – but either way, fishing was excellent! Water temps are at 41 – 40 on the south end. Perch action was slow for the one boat I talked to. BTW – the pike were fighting great! Warming or steady water temps – even when cold really help.