Cayuga Lake out of Taughannock Park 12/1 midday
I don’t get too many calls for winter fishing trips when the air temps are going to remain in the upper-20s and low-30s. I’m happy to do mid-winter trips as long as air temperatures aren’t too brutal – highs in the low-30s are fine without too much wind. Some sun certainly can make a big difference. I don’t go out with forecast highs in the 20s or below. Too much can go wrong! Launching can be tricky. Bunks freeze. Gear can fail. Fishing equipment malfunctions. Things get frozen. Stuff onboard doesn’t work sometimes. Launches are icy (and I do bring salt and tools if needed.) The lakes can be super low, which doesn’t make launching easy. It goes on and on. Guys do it on the Niagara River – good for them! It’s not my cup of tea and never will be. And I have been out on my boat when the air is blowing and it’s 22 degrees, so I do speak from experience!
Today was the result of a late booking by Zach, who has tried to get out with me in the past, and his friend Matt – who is more of a casual angler. Zach is hardcore! It’s rare that I ever get casual anglers this time of the year so it was nice to see. We targeted lake trout. The wind forecasts called for some strong gusts out of the west, so Long Point – where most lakers are this time of year, would have been snotty. We primarily worked the west shore today north of Taughannock. Finding the fish was easy today. We got right on them when we started (after our boat run) at 11:30 am. Areas from 100′ to around 150′ had good numbers of lake trout. Surface temperatures on the lake are at 49 degrees – still warm for this time of year.
Unfortunately the bite left a lot to be desired. Fish were very neutral. They chased jigs to some extent, but hits were few and far in-between. We changed up a lot of things and Zach spent a lot of time just trying along bottom. Both guys had a fair number of hits, but they weren’t solid. Matt dropped one decent hook-up. Zach landed two fish, but both were very small. Matt needed to get home for some things he had planned so we cut the trip short. I was optimistic and would have kept the guys out longer, but Matt was a trooper given the weather.
Cayuga Lake is low but not absurdly low like it was at times early this year. Launching would be very tough on the north end or out of Myers, but Taughannock was a cinch. With the right conditions – generally steady weather, light to no wind and some sun, lake trout fishing can be solid this time of year. It’s not nearly as consistent as the March – early May “hot bite,” but can still be worthwhile. Now’s a great time to chase landlocked salmon on Seneca Lake. We should be getting a short break or two in this weather in a week to ten days.