Owasco Lake 7/2 + 3

Fishing on Owasco Lake was very good for us yesterday and top-notch today.

7/2:  Guided Bruce for a truncated full-day trip here.  We started at 6:30 am and were off the water around 1:30 pm so he could tend to some business.  Bruce has been getting back into lake fishing after a pretty long break and we've been exploring some different Finger Lakes (starting with Cayuga) and techniques.  Today we did laker jigging on Owasco Lake and then some smallmouth fishing.

Our bite during the first hour of the trip was ok, but it really picked up around 7:30 am.  Bruce landed a couple of good fish then dropped some.  We played around with left and right-handed retrieve set-ups until he found one that seemed optimal.  He then proceeded to land a bunch of fish in a row.  The lakers bit best in the AM, but continued to provide some action throughout the trip.

For bass, we worked a favorite area and he had follows from some smaller (13") fish right off the bat.  He landed one on his first or second cast!  We then worked around a point and he nabbed an 18.5" beauty!  He said that this fish was probably his largest smallmouth bass to date!  We tried more laker fishing and he landed one if I remember correctly and dropped a couple more.  Double-digit hook-ups today on lakers and a couple of smallmouths as well.  The weather was terrific and boat traffic fairly light.  Can't beat that!

7/3:  When I pulled into Emerson Park at 6:15 am, I expected to see a few boat trailers, but only saw one.  Next to nobody was out on the lake fishing!  I met John and his daughter Ellie at the ramp shortly thereafter.  Their family is renting a place on Keuka Lake.  We thought about Seneca Lake today, but I think Owasco Lake is a bit more friendly and predictable.  Fishing was top-notch - the action started when we arrived with hits on the first drops of the jigs.  A couple doubles were had as well.  The first two hours were the best, but the bite stayed decent right up until we left at 10:45 am.

Elliana had her hands full fighting these lake trout!  She really struggled.  She was tired of catching bluegills and sunfish off of their rental's dock on Keuka Lake, but I almost think these lakers got the best of her.  At times the rod was pointing nearly straight down into the water as she worked to bring these fish up.  The best fish of the day was a 30"er!   No direct sign of rainbows or browns today although I'm sure we marked some and had some light grabs from them.

All in all, today was a terrific 1/2-day trip with solid double-digits landed and not many fish lost.  Great colors for us were white/chartreuse tail, black and chartreuse silk.  A lot of our lakers were in colder water than we often find them in.

I still have July 5th open as well as a handful of other dates this month.  August also features very good availability!  With the horrible weather in May and slow fishing then, I am keeping my entire calendar open to guiding over the next couple of months.  No vacation/off days for this guide....