Cayuga Lake 6/2, 3

Got out on my own for 4 hours on Tuesday out of Myers, then guided a double (half-days) yesterday out of Long Point State Park.  Here's the breakdown:

 6/2:  I went to scout the fishing out of Myers Park on Tuesday.  I brought lake trout jigging gear as well as some trout casting tackle (bladebaits, tube jigs, stickbaits et.al.)  Respectable numbers of lake trout are in the mid-lake zones but I still haven't seen a major push of fish downlake yet.  After dropping a good lake trout, which I literally had in my net (it swam out before I could lift it...) I set up for some casting.  Water temps were 60 degrees in the Myers Marina but quickly dropped to around 56/58 as I headed up lake.

I managed to get a lot of hits on the jigs I was casting.  No doubt that a few of them were small brown trout - I did see a follow or two.  I stuck with larger jigs, since I'm not interested in catching sublegal or barely legal trout for the most part.  I did not have any solid hook-ups with the exception of a perch.  Switching out to tube-jigs got me a lot more bites.  I was hoping to catch a rare mid-lake smallmouth, but never hooked any.  Anytime I thought that I'd hooked a possible bass, I wound up with a 12" to 13" perch!  Unless anglers have been living under a rock for the past few years, it's pretty well known that Cayuga Lake has become one of the best, if not the best perch lake in the state.  Oneida Lake and Lake Erie would be the other major lakes that come to mind.  I wound up catching around a half-dozen big perch - most were 12" to 13"ers and in great shape.

The perch are feeding primarily on round gobies but also on crayfish.  This year, due to low water, poor ice conditions, a lot of wind and a lot of rain, the perch likely didn't take the beating they usually do from the hundreds of perch die-hards.  Either way, the lake has turned into a jumbo perch factory.  Locations aren't that important.  Neither is the bait/lure selection.  They are hungry and devour everything.  My fish came on a 3.5" tube better suited for bass.  I would love to know the growth rates on these fish - it is likely superb.

I remember the old days of perch fishing Seneca Lake.  Guys would bring a variety of baits - minnows, plastics, "oak-leaf bugs," and more.  No need for all that stuff on Cayuga.  They don't seem to be too picky.  I don't guide perch at all, but I may start perch fishing a bit more on my own given how close Cayuga Lake is to where I live, how big the fish are and how great they taste.

6/4 AM:  This morning, starting at 7:30 am, I guided Bill and his wife Linda.  They do some kayak fishing and were hoping to get some lake trout to eat as well as learn some techniques.  Fish remain somewhat scattered - there are a lot of fish in shallow water, mid-depths and out in deeper water.  With current water temperatures, the lake trout have the run of the entire lake other than the northern 6 or 7 miles and the very south end.  They can go where they want, when they want, to feed on whatever they want.  All of that makes fishing easier and harder.  It's easier because you can set up anywhere, oblivious to the water temperatures and catch a laker.  Harder, because without a thermocline, fish are all over the place and getting into a bunch of them can require some searching, some bait and some luck.

After I explained the technique, Bill and Linda dropped down their jigs in shallow water.  Linda noted that her jig was "stuck" and came up with her paddle tail bitten off the her jig body pushed to the hook bend!  That was actually pretty funny.  More hits were had but the fishing wasn't great.  Bill wound up landing a couple then we tried some other areas and deeper water.  Bill wound up catching his limit, including a 29" fish that weighed 10 1/2lbs!  That's a fat laker!

PM:  I rarely do doubles these days, but I had a last minute call from Alex, who is very busy throughout the year with his winery, so I'm happy to accommodate him.  He's a great guy as well and we always have a fun time.  He fished with his friend Bill;  they both joined me last year in September.  We wound up having some good fishing, but tougher "catching" today.  We had a lot of follows right up to the boat from shallow lakers.  We also had some half-hearted grabs out deep.  The bluebird (cloudless) skies and lack of wind didn't help us.  Once the wind kicked up a bit we got into a few fish.  Alex caught a couple of nice lakers and Bill caught a big one similar to the one the other Bill caught this AM!   Big Fish Bills were who I guided today!   Fun day and they were hitting better when the guys had to hit the road.

I do have this Saturday and Sunday available.  The weather was incredible yesterday - not too hot, not too cold.  We also had abundant sunshine.  Midges appear to be just about done, so very few bugs are flying around (they don't bite, but are a nuisance!)