Reel Doc

First one 23&1/2 but very thick body. Second one 1/2 inch longer but lighter weight. I measure them for the DEC diary but rarely weigh them. Largest lake trout just shy of 30 inches and a very stout fish. All caught looked very healthy with just one having an old lamprey mark

Sounds like you need to plan another week here this summer! Cayuga missed you last year.

Correct. The one on the deck and a couple others its size are headed to the grill tonight. The hanging one was bigger, what I consider smoker size (we have enough right now), so it and others similar went back in the lake.

Thanks to Doc's Intel about the Taughannock launch I was ready to hit the water this morning. Launch was clear but one area halfway to the bridge had a thin ice sheet that easily broke apart. Ornery Southeast wind so turned North and had lines in the water a little after 8. Slow, steady spoon bite and nothing on the dipsey. Wind changed around and came in from the North about the time I was ready to turn around. Decided to break out the long copper down the chute. Barely set it and it fired. The rest of the trip back was nonstop action so easy to stay warm despite the wind getting stronger. At one point was working in a fish on the long copper and the dipsey fired followed by the rigger. Turned out to be a quad as the rigger had fish on the terminal spoon and the cheater. All fish were lake trout today, no sign of the silvers. A great morning to be out for February.

Guess I'm the Gill-T one......

WTG! You had plenty of sunshine and by the looks of the waves in the background the wind was not an issue. Days are getting longer so even better fishing ahead!

So with the tandem fly how do you set it? Add some split shot or a short core? I've heard others speak of setting it on mono just behind the kicker motor wash.

100 plus was better in 100-140 fow. Stayed on the West side and didn't mind the wind as the bite kept us busy until 10:30. Bite slowed, wind felt colder and we were back in by 11:30. Really a nice morning for January.....

Compared to the last few trips out from both Deans and Taughannock, today the fish were in a much more active feeding mood. Had to add this pic showing Stan was bringing in some heavy loads too!

Nice going. Way to get it started in the skinny water

Cayuga had a treatment in 2020. I attached screen shots of the DEC fishing newsletter. Highly recommend getting on the email list as very informative. Its easy to be dissapointed when one body of water is struggling but looking at how many areas need to be covered I for one feel the fisheries divisions works hard to provide us some quality fishing opportunities throughout the state. Lets all hope Seneca gets some extra TLC in 2021

Anyone interested in trapping some beavers I know of a potential hot spot. Let me know, I'm in Seneca Falls

Looking good......it will be a first class fishing machine in no time!

Now entering our third consecutive Winter, Sunday was the Chowder & Reeldoc reunion on Cayuga. Unlike the previous 2 years launching Andy's lil Boat out of Taughannock, this go round my Wellcraft did the heavy lifting as we launched out of Deans. Weather was a concern as early on a moderate South breeze started sending sleet at us intermittently, but we were dressed for the occasion. Set up a spread to cover a wide variety of depths and went in search of fish. The screen stayed bland for the majority of the trip, with no sign of bait pods and rare marks, mostly close to the bottom. In the end the majority of active fish, all Lakers, were near the bottom going for flies off the dipsey and long copper. The chunky 1 in the photo turned out to be a female whose timing was off a little as she was still full of eggs. By 10:30 or so the wind picked up to a level that made things unpleasant and after a big tangle of wire and copper we decided it was time to call it. As I was hauling in the spiderweb Andy pulled in the 5 color out on the big board and had a good sized pickerel attack the spoon. Timing off the water was excellent as the sleet/snow mix hit soon after so all in all it was "a nice day for January!"

Thats an excellent plan!!

You can run Dreanweaver flashers with a trailer fly off your dipsey and catch lakers practically year round. I'm a fan of A-Tomik flies but others may have personal preferences. White or green white combos do well. Pics from this year show some examples.

That was us in the Wellcraft. It was a pretty nice morning on the water for late December. Unfortunately the fish weren't real interested. Covered all depths starting with skinny water and working deeper. Ended up finding a few lake trout deep using flies on dipsey and a chute copper. The highlight of the day was my personal best smallest lake trout at a shade over 14 inches. After hauling it in on a bloody death spoon on a rigger down 110 I was gassed so called it a day.

Great. Thank you. Hoping there will be a few hungry fish out there.

Anyone at Taughannock today? I'm thinking of a trip tomorrow but wondered about the launch as its a little chilly. Have they turned on the bubbler?

Having had the honor to take part in some of those "daring escapades" on the Lil Boat, I must say she will be missed. I sure hope her new owner takes her out in 20 degree weather for some winter trolling. With the kerosene heater in the canvas enclosure it was a toasty place to recover after landing a fish. I'm sure the Sabre, (perfect name for a boat in the Buffalo area) has plenty of excitement in store. Let the new chapter in Chowder's fishing book begin!

Great fish. Way to get out there this time of year. Bet there were no lines at the boat launch!

Sounds good. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Wondering if any shops in upstate NY doing that kind of work. BTW, wish I had an occasional boring meeting at work.... The animals provide too much excitement at times!!