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Used to catch 12-14 inch rock bass in Cayuga regularly in spring/early summer for years,, One day I caught over 100 rockies of all sizes there.. Then about 7 years ago there was a huge die off of bass, pike, perch, sunnies, rock bass, suckers, bullheads, etc, and I never caught another rock bass in the lake. Not sure they even exist in Cayuga anymore.. Sunfish too.. The Gobies have decimated some of the panfish species in Cayuga from what I have seen... bob

Lots of bait on the east side, but you are right, not a lot on them from what I could see on my screen and I do have a good FF- Garmin 500C.. When I moved across the lake to the west side i saw more big marks on the bait pods, and it was calm enough in the shelter of the coves to stay on them long enough to hook up twice.. I always run right across the lake right to the east side without even checking the west side.. I think I will break that habit for a while... bob

While I am sorry you guys didn't do well, it makes me feel better knowing I wasn't the only one that found poor fishing in that area on friday.. I might have seen you guys out there as I was in the same area from 6 till about 11, when I crossed over to the west side and lucked into those fish. There were several boats jigging that stretch . That steady south wind didn't help... Personally, I always have trouble and never do very well when there are whitecaps on the lake. Both fish I caught were on the lee side of Taughannock Point. The rainbow was caught north of the point as the morning's south wind was dying down in fairly calm water, and then the wind instantly turned around to the north at one point, and I went south of T point to again fish on the lee side.. It worked out.. There were fish and bait on both sides of the lake, it was just easier to stay on them for a while on the west side in the coves north and south of T point. I had my old 18 foot Starcraft, and it does not have a bow mounted trolling motor yet.. I should probably get one on there... bob

I have found a deep water jigging lure that I think will add a lot of silvers.. Jigging is great, but lets face it, its mostly lakers and once in a blue moon you luck into a salmon, brown or rainbow, but still its 100 to 1... I will do some more experimenting, but don't want to say much right now, as there are just too many lurkers, and I prefer at this time to keep this within the community. If this works as well as i thought when I discovered these lures and bought a few online, I will let the members here know what i found via PM... bob

LL had lamprey marks.. rainbow had a lamprey on but the bastard got off when I was finagling the grab around the gills.. That SOB eel is lucky i forgot my net.. If I had it, and got that eel in the boat, it would be on the bottom in about 5 pieces getting shredded by the goby hordes....

The thing with jigging is this.. It can be really tough when the fish are scattered... However, when you find concentrations, it can be more productive than trolling.. However, trollers usually catch more and more varied species than us jiggers.. It is a LOT more fun per fish however.. To me, trolling deep is boring,, Yes you catch fish, but with the trolling tackle, and moving boat, It always felt to me like reeling up a wet blanket... I do like flatline trolling because you can stop the boat and play the fish.. Thats just me.. When I lived in NJ, I didn't troll in salt either, and sometimes if you didn't troll you went home fishless.. Once you get a 10 fish day on jigs, you might get 2nd thjoughts about trolling...... maybe .... bob

I got out at dawn and fished HARD all morning.. Not a touch ..fished from Myers north to about 1 mile north of Taughannock on the east side, and about a mile north to a mile south on the west side.. Not even a touch from a laker.. Caught one perch about 9 inches on a big laker size jig... Disgusted, i was about to let my last drop down at about 11:15.. Was finishing up maybe 1/4 north of the park and was disgusted and ready to call it a day.. Saw a bait pod suspended maybe 30 feet down over 70.. Saw a nice arch above the bait and started reeling, not expecting anything.. Bang!.. nice 20+ inch rainbow surfaces... oops,, NO net.. Left it home like a jackass, something I haven't done in decades.. Sometimes idiots get lucky, and I hand boated it,,, Fished another 1/2 hour without a touch, and again was about to head for the ramp.. Now I was south of the park in about 75 fow, and again saw a few slashes,, Reeled straight up, and I got whacked hard.. Knew right away it was a really nice fish.. I got almost spooled a few times, as i had to give ground or that 8 pound test would have broken.. After what seemed like 20 minutes, I got her up, and I was sick over not having a net,, Big landlock , jumping, rolling, sounding right straight down every time I tried to hand boat her.. I got really lucky I guess, the hooks held, and after about 4 attempts, I had her exhausted and was able to grab her across the gills and get her in the boat.. 26 inches, big around as a football, and 8 pounds.. I haven't caught a keeper silver in several years while jigging lakers, most shorts, and follows ,,, i was positive I was destined to get the skunk, but as it turned out, I was happy with only 2 fish today... btw, I have eaten Cayuga rainbow trout several times, and always thought they were terrible.. Nasty, rotten, oily, soft and fishy.. This one was firm and very sweet to my surprise... It was as firm and mild as a perch... I wasn't expecting that.. Talked to other guys today and it was slow jigging for them as well.. . It was nice to pull a rabbit out of the hat for a change.. lately, i have not done well in Cayuga... Tried some fishing for big Bluegills, Pumpkinseeds, and Perch with worms and mealworms, something I have loved to do for years.. Looks like that type of fishing is all over.. Cleaned out by Gobies instantly, even worse than last year.. Can't even take my 3 year old grandson fishing for sunnies due to the damn Gobies... Gonna start learning Cayuta Lake for panfish.. I hear its good there for perch, crappies, Sunnies, etc... bob

I have been stuggling past few years, not just the past few trips.. Went out on Keuka in May, never had a hit, and caught one at cayuga about 3 week ago, had a few hits.. Troller on Cayuga did fantastic, so it was me, not the fish.. there are a lot of lakers out there, because the trollers are catching plenty, and some guys have great days jigging, but from what i gather, I am not the only one that doesn't seem to be catching as many as I did a few years ago... Might just be i am getting old, and don't set the hook as hard and fast as I did at one time.. At 62, that hard and fast thing is fading away... bob

The bigger the water the bigger the Sawbelly.. they can grow to 10 inches in the Great lakes, and to about 15-16 max in the marine environment where they originated. In the ocean,they have a lot more food, a lot more space, and a lot more critters that like to eat them.. Those massive schools of Alewives we see on our fish finders would be decimated in minutes by a couple hundred bluefish, not to mention the stripers and weakfish that pick off whatever the blues don't get.. Actually one good size whale would do an even better job than the blues.. They love herring and herring like fish.. Our local FL sawbellies, are the lucky ones.. bob

Gobies.. The lake is infested with them these days, and from what I understand, all the predators are eating them.. Might change the habits of lakers a bit, not being forced to stay close to the alewives.. I also wonder if the lakers might taste better as time goes on, as they will be eating less of those little oily Alewives... bob

Enjoy it in good heath hop.. That was a nice reel, I just would never have used it.. Too big for jigging lakers, too slow for salt water, and I don't troll with wire!.. lol.. bob

Honestly, start using jigs.. Dirt cheap, and even on a slow day you'll get a few fish if you fish the marks.. On a good day, you might hook 2 dozen or more, all using a one handed bass sized rod 10 pound test... Few weeks ago an old timer that knew his stuff showed me some pics of his impressive catches... When he showed me his rig, I lost all interest.. A tuna rod as thick around as a cue stick, and a window sash weight at the business end of his meat rig.. He told me he was a meat fisherman, and didn't care about the sporting aspect that much, he just wanted fish flesh and lots of it. Thats all good i suppose, but I prefer a bit lighter and less troublesome type of fishing experience.. If gang hooks with salted sawbellies, , cowbells,wire dipseys, meat rigs, electric downriggers, live sawbellies etc, are mandatory for catching FL trout, I will get a bobber and worm and fish for bluegills, it would be a lot more fun... bob

That is absolutely awful.. Not to mention sickening, disgusting, putrid,stinking ,etc... bop

I agree with our friend Hermit.. In 25 years of jigging Lakers i have caught 2 with plastics in the gut.. One swallowed a plastic worm, and one with a huge paddle tail swim grub. both from Seneca . These lures do NOT get torn off very often.. lakers don't nibble on the tail of a jig, they swallow them whole.. In my uneducated opinion, these lures were tossed after get scarred up, or replaced with a different color, or size.. Please, if you jig, take the discarded plastics off in the boat, and do not toss them overboard.. Lakers will snap them up... Obviously, they won't kill the fish, but I bet they don't do it much good either... bob

I am not speaking of the past week or so, before the season closed.. More along the lines of thinking historically.. I moved to Candor from NJ in 1991, and started fishing the river then.. Honestly I knew nothing about Walleyes, being a salt water guy.. However, it was NO problem for many years getting a couple keepers and a dozen shorts on any evening I decided to go in the spring and fall into winter, and I knew nothing about the river... many nights I would keep a couple, or one, or none, and then start releasing nice fish because I knew they would always be there.. no problem for years.. If it was slow on fri night, saturday would make up for it.. I think around 2011 or so, I really started noticing the changes.. Lot fewer spikes, and many nights without a hit, not only for myself, but for every one of the other "locals".. I am no expert of course, just a guy that likes catching Walleyes on small plastic jigs, but It seems to me I noticed the downturn in numbers after the big floods we had, first in 2006, and then after the 2011 event , it was much worse... Who knows??.. I am not gloom and doom.. Maybe in 8 weeks we will have the best spring river walleye fishing we have seen in 25 years.. We can only hope.... bob

Its only my opinion, but something seems amiss in the S River.. The walleyes are there, but past few seasons, I have caught a lot less fish, in a lot more time.. I talk to a lot of fishermen in the stretch from Owego down to Barton, and the story is always the same.. Just not seeing the numbers we used to.. Seeing a lot fewer fishermen as well past 2-3 years.. The thing that worries me the most is the lack of small "spike" walleyes, less than about 10 inches.. I used to catch dozens of them some days... Got sick of looking at them.. Past 2 years i don't think I have seen more than maybe 2 or 3... maybe I'm all wet, and just going on the wrong days, or losing my modest angling skills, but boy, I used to catch 4 times the walleye I do nowadays.. past couple years have been pretty tough, and if I get 1 or 2 in an early evening till dusk session or at dawn till 8 am, I consider it a good trip... Lots of skunks for myself and those around me past few years... Water looks fine, don't know what happened.. If anything... bob

Fresh water fishing pales in comparison to salt water... Stripers grow as big as Great Lakes salmon, and you don't need to troll for them..Jigging in 30 fow works fine, and they are very abundant,, Blues too.. You can catch them right from shore by the multiple dozen on a good morning tide, and nothing in fresh water comes close to the brutal fight they put up.. A 10 pound blue will snap 20 lb test if your drag is too tight.. I don't miss living in nj really.. I DO miss the ocean, bays and tidal rivers though.. We have some good fishing here, but once you fish salt water for a while, you realize the mis match between fresh and salt species.. Salt water fish are bigger, stronger, faster, more abundant, much better eating, and easier to catch than their sweet water counterparts... bob