Guided Joe, Larry and Kevin for a 1/2-day trip getting underway at 9:30 am. Last night's low temperature hit 26 degrees, so I didn't feel any need to start super-early. The guys are steelhead fishermen and would've been up for it, but I didn't see it as necessary. Cayuga Lake's water level continues to drop quickly. The launch is still launchable, but you start to have to deal with the old uneven concrete slabs, which need to be replaced. A town official I talked to said the repairs would cost about $40,000 and although he puts it in the budget every year, it always winds up getting cut. Maybe in the future, we could get 400 anglers/boaters to each donate $100 for new slabs. The town could then give us free launch passes for 5 or 10 years. Who knows, but that might make too much sense. I'll mention it next time I buy my seasonal passes. Depending on the size of your boat/trailer, you may have no issues for a bit, but I believe the lake level will still be dropped quite a bit more. After that, we're looking at Taughannock and Long Point State Park for public launches during the low water.
It's always great seeing the guys. If you follow this website, you'd recognize Larry from the giant Owasco Lake pike he nabbed two years ago. I had a shot of that fish up on my homepage slider until a week or so ago. I try to post photos of recent catches on the slider, or of what I'm looking forward to. During the winter, I may put up some vintage shots of trophy or special fish from the past. Usually I just dig through my archives and try to find something that will work...
Fishing was very good today. It wasn't as hot as the last two trips (but those trips were pretty ridiculous,) but it was still good. We started off hot with a triple! Two of the three fish made it onboard. Perhaps dealing with the 27 degree weather would have paid off, but I think we'll take that hit. The guys had a solid double-digit day with fish running up to 31". Larry had the hot hand to start, then it was Kevin. Joe had a lot of hits and topped off the day with a nice rainbow trout that put on some acrobatics for us. We did have one lake trout spit up a gizzard shad. We did not mark much bait today, so who knows how long this bite will hold up. Surface temperatures are at 49 degrees. It's fly-fishing time for salmon!
