Got out here for just over 3 hours starting at noon. The weather will be taking a turn for the worse on Thanksgiving. After that, we're into normal (cold!) early December conditions. Although I didn't have what I wanted weather-wise for fly-fishing salmon, I decided to give it a shot. I also brought tackle for perch and gear-fishing deeper water.
By far, the best conditions for fly-fishing landlocked salmon are sunny days with some wind - either north or south. These salmon are "solar-powered" and they tend to activate near the surface when we have those conditions. You can certainly catch these fish on streamers when it's overcast, but it's usually a bit slower. We would see exceptions to that 20 to 25 years ago in the spring when schools of smelt were around. In those days, overcast and rainy days would often keep the smelt around during the daytime.
I gave the fly-casting about a 1/2-hour before calling it quits. I did have a hit or two and a follow from a sublegal fish. They are all over the place and the future looks bright for Seneca Lake's salmon fishing. Decent numbers of good fish are around as well, but I wanted to check out some more likely goby shelves and look around for perch schools. I may have marked a few scattered, small groups of perch, but the conditions were windy, rainy and fairly miserable, so I didn't mess with them. That being said, the MAY have been perch - or they may not have! I tried around a point I hadn't fished in a while that proved hot last year in late-October for perch and had some goby hits. Gobies are everywhere.
On March 31st this year, my client Carl landed a nice chunky rainbow trout in an area I have only fished sporadically over the past 25 years. I wanted to check that area out, so that's what I did. I cast bladebaits and had a few hits - likely from salmon. One felt like a decent fish, but it got off. I landed a smaller salmon. There were more around and I think it will be a productive shelf in the future. It's somewhat sheltered from a south wind, so that's important for me to have as a guide when conditions dictate getting out of heavy wind.
Water temperature on top was 49 degrees. That's a good salmon temperature for fly-fishing, but it will only get better as it gets colder. If you're interested in a casting or fly-casting trip for salmon, keep your eyes on the weather! A couple of sunny days with light winds would be ideal. I expect very good fishing for fish ranging from 13" to 25".