Skaneateles Lake 9/13
Did some “prefishing” for a scheduled guide trip this weekend. I found plenty of smallmouths surrounding the perimeter of the lake. Most fish were small, though I did see at least a dozen good fish (15″ to 17″+) mixed in with the scrappy dinks 😉 I fished from around 11:30 am till dark. I probably landed at least 20 to 25 fish, with only 1/2 dozen to 10 being 12″ or over, and most of those JUST 12″! Best smallie was around 16″ and I did land a nice chunky largemouth that was also around 16″. A small olive colored X-rap worked very well, as did green pumpkin or watermelonseed super flukes, green pumpkin tubes, perch crankbaits, a jig head and finesse worm and assorted drop shot plastics. Yes – pretty much everything worked. I did try deep water with jigging spoons w/o luck. I also did some deeper dropshotting. I didn’t have time to jig lakers though I would have liked to have. The thermocline was around 70′ down. BTW – Perch anglers reported “finally finding them” in 50′ of water. Wind conditions were calm today. I expect windier conditions to activate more of the big fish. This bassin’ should also improve markedly week by week as water temps decrease.