Got out here for just over three hours starting at 12:30 pm. With winter seemingly winding down and spring hopefully just around the corner, my plan today was to check out casting and fly-casting opportunities mainly for browns and salmon, although lake trout and rainbows are always welcome. Cayuga Lake had other ideas for me - the lake was dead flat and it was foggy out. Conditions really dictated lake trout jigging.
For starters, Cayuga Lake is very low right now. Even if most launches were ice-free, anglers would have a tough time getting their boats off of their trailers and out. The surface temperature was around 36 degrees. Around a half-dozen boats were already on the water as I prepped to launch.
I would recommend using trolling motor power only to exit the marina. There was also a portion of the bubbler hose just protruding above the surface about halfway from the launch to the bridge.
I spent maybe an hour casting blade baits and jigs in one area, but did not have any action. I was hoping and waiting for the forecasted winds to appear, but they never did. Friends on Seneca Lake had a nice light chop with a westerly funneling south. Penn Yan was reporting east winds! And on Cayuga we had calm conditions - go figure.
I expect a very good spring for deepwater lake trout jigging with our abundant trout population and very cold winter. The Finger Lakes are all crystal clear right now and it's a sight to behold. I found good numbers of lake trout on the usual flats up by the power plant. I encountered fish from 110' out to at least 150'. The larger ones were shallow and the couple that I picked up deeper were younger fish. My first one was a 30.5 incher that fought great! I was very happy to kick off my open water jigging season with that fish.
Once we get the forecasted rain and subsequent run-off from melting snow, I think our lake levels will improve. The Canal Authority lowers Cayuga Lake more when we have a heavy snowpack in order to account for the extra run-off from the snow-melt. My guess is that they will keep the lake low. We shall see. I expect launching to be possible out of Long Point by the end of this week, but I have no idea how much ice is there in the harbor. If not for the bubbler, you wouldn't have been getting out of Taughannock today, that's for sure.
