I launched out of Taughannock Park at 12:30 pm. The water level remains very low on Cayuga Lake, but a lot of water is running into the lake via numerous tributaries and intermittent "rivulets." The lake should rise pretty quickly, but the NY Canal Dept. will probably lower it fast as well. Seneca Lake has been fishing great, so why go here today? As a guide, I want to know what's going on both here and at Seneca. Cayuga Lake offers better lake trout jigging day-in and day-out and casting/fly-casting are also good options to have here. On this lake, we can do both on the same trip if we have the time and the conditions.
The lake was not fishing particularly well today. There was a lot of debris - mostly small but some large, on the west shore of the lake and around the south end. Expect plenty around the tributary mouths like Taughannock and Salmon Creek as well. I had a decent number of hits from browns today - most are averaging 14.5" to 16" long. Don't be fooled by these small fish! The 16"ers are common, heavy, gorgeous and they FIGHT! I had one jump three times today. Another one had me thinking it could have been a 22" or better lake trout! I'm not diminishing the battles of lake trout, I'm just saying that these browns are "super-charged" fish. They are fly-fishable too. Best bet here is to wait for some steady warming weather. That will settle the lake down are warm up the nearshore areas, concentrating the fish. Hopefully we'll see some salmon shortly, but I didn't encounter any today.
This Wednesday the 11th, and next Saturday the 14th, are available for trips. I am booked Sunday through Tuesday and next Friday - apart from that, most dates are open. I mention these two days, because the conditions look good for fishing on them.
