Skaneateles Lake 11/9
Got out on my own from around 11:30 am till dark. I love to fish this lake in November. Give me a few hometied hair jigs and a fly-rod with some olive buggers and I’m a happy man! The lake was rough and launching was a pain in the butt. The docks are out and a strong southerly was blowing. I shot south and worked along the shore. Things started slow and then I started picking up a few fat smallmouths. I landed a beautiful 21″ rainbow – maybe the nicest looking rainbow I’ve caught! Just as silver as could be, robust (fat) and sleek with tons of spots on it. I quickly released the fish (without taking any photos). Rainbows were around and I dropped quite a few – both on jigs and the fly. I just couldn’t hook them solidly.
Lake trout were also in the mix. Windblown points were just carpeted with beautiful wild lakers ranging from around 16″ to 20″. Some big (up to 15″!) perch were mixed in with the lakers. These perch love to eat lake trout eggs – so if you can find lakers, you’ll find perch. Nice smallmouths were also in the mix. Some trollers I talked to dropped a nice landlocked salmon. Water temps were around 53/54. Perfect! I caught most of my fish in around 8′ to 23′ of water give or take. November in this region is beyond compare!