Guided Mark I. for a full-day trip starting around 9:15 am. It was my first time out of Myers Park this season and debris was piled up high alongside the ramps. A man we talked to said that the park staff had pulled wood out of the launch at least 3 times this spring already. Fortunately the lake level is now down around six inches from the low flood level of much of the past three weeks.
We are at the time of year when parts of the lakes are really starting to warm up, so we headed for the warmest water we could find. (Later in the day we found seagulls and cormorants frenzying out a bit in one part of the lake. Some alewives were dying off, likely due to water temperature changes.} Mark started off with the fly-fishing gear (working a 7 wt. intermediate line) and it didn't take too long before he had a couple of grabs. Then in one area, he got hit a couple of times. Mark kept stripping in his streamer, which is what you should do and soon he was tight to a good fish! After a lot of digging, I netted a 25.5" FAT brown that had to be in the 9lb range! This trout regurgitated at least 3 or 4 alewives as Mark fought it.
After that, it was kind of a slow go. I think he had another hit or two. Our wind wasn't great. We took a run and tried another area then came back to our good area. Mark took a phone call, so I took some casts and my stickbait got slammed by a 21" salmon! The trebles on the lure did a number on this fish, so I kept it. It died in the livewell, so it wouldn't have made it had I released it. Upon filleting it, I found the fish loaded with alewives.
Mark went to some spinning gear at times later in the day, since we both thought it'd be a good idea to cover water faster. He had some follows of more big browns (one on the gear, one on the fly.) In our last area, Mark landed a chunky 21" brown on a jig. This year, and probably the next two should be fantastic years for brown trout on Cayuga Lake. We didn't even encounter the numerous 15" to 17"ers that we were seeing back in November right throughout the winter. Mark also nabbed an 11" salmon on the fly-rod, which was very encouraging. I'm hoping it was a recently stocked fish and that they were stocked at that size! If they were, they should have a chance for a future.
