Reel Doc

Today presented my only fishing opportunity of the long weekend, so made the most of it. Solo am trip started about 6. Shout out to the LOU member who gave me a hoot in the parking lot. Normally I would have stopped to "chew the fat" for a bit, but there was a line waiting for me to clear the dock. For 3 plus hours the lake trout were going crazy for spoons on riggers, 5 color and 100 copper. Several doubles and a triple that included a chain pickerel. Gave Frankie some swim time and in by 10 with hopes that the morning success would carry over to the afternoon. Thankfully it did as my 2 boys and a friend came along for a few hours of late afternoon fishing. The copper setup won the big fish competition 4 times over with solid fish that gave the crew a work out. The lead core provided some variation with a rainbow and a landlocked mixed in with Lakers. Over the past month I noted several fish with lamprey marks but all fish were clean and healthy today. A great day to wrap up the weekend.

Way to stick with it. North/North East winds can make for a bumpy ride in the center portion of Cayuga. Glad to see you were rewarded with some nice fish

Frankie says "Go get them Finn!"

Agreed with Irish Eyes and will add that for me, enjoying the fight of the fish helps keep them hooked up. By keeping the drag on the light side and taking time to let the fish play itself out the % of hook ups getting in the boat is higher. Most of my break offs are fish that are still hot at the back of the boat. When friends are on board and try to rush the fish in or tighten the drag, they lose them. BTW, have always used trebles except for flies which have a single plus a treble trailer

Lets hope the weather cooperates for these treatments.

Agreed, a beauty!! Trolling or fishing live bait?

Was wondering what you have been up to. Glad to see you are back again and look forward to your posts

First time out on Cayuga in a while and with the sunshine and warmer temps it was a great morning to be on the water. Lakers were all over spoons on the riggers and most did not give up without a strong battle. Only 2 hits on the stickbait, both Silvers. Notice the significant difference in size.....At quitting time, the launch had heavy traffic so my first mate decided 55 degree water temps were fine for a swim.

What a great mix of fish, like a box of chocolates!! A bullhead on a stickbait!! You continue to amaze with how you catch all kinds of fish in Owasco. I'm looking forward to a future post with a carp pic!! As always, thanks for the reports and fun photos.

Very nice. What port are you fishing out of? That middle fish has quite the plump belly!!

Even though we are friends, the lack of spoon versatility was going to cost 1 star off your Google rating....Except, every time I suggested a spoon color change, a rod fired, so your 5 star rating was intact.....Until, no rag to wipe hands which was a nuisance as kept wiping on my pant legs so 1/2 star off....Until, I stopped at Country Sweet on the way home to pick up Wings, (best around IMO), and they almost tossed me from the store before giving me some wings as they claimed the potent fish smell on me was bad for Chicken wing sales so another half star off.....Sorry Andy. I'll promise to pack some rags for the next trip

Ditto the beautiful day and good times getting together. Catching fish is icing on the cake. As always, thanks for having me.

Couldn't agree more about battling Lakers in the shallows. A load of fun, though after a few you can start to wear down.....well I do anyway.

The boat next to the dock in the photo is 24 feet and the lake continues to rise so no worries.

Great pics! Fish in the boat is always a great thing!

Very Nice! I bet that 1 took a minute or 2 to bring boatside.

A couple nice looking fish. Sorry to hear about the rigger. Any idea how it fell off?

She loves to swim and really attentive to birds but her master is only accurate with a bow. I haven't taught her about waterfowl as with my poor shooting she would never get a retrieve!

You remember when we launched at Deans in January only the bow was next to the dock! Lake is up a foot and a half since then.

A busy working weekend but had a couple hours free this afternoon. Very fortunate to live a short drive from Deans Cove. First launch there since mid-January with the low Winter lake levels. The new dock is great.....fingers crossed it holds up through the busy Summer season. Set the flat lines on the boards first to give the shallow water a try. Nothing doing so slipped out a little and found hungry and fiesty Lakers willing to hit spoons on the riggers. 40-60 fow was the busiest depth. Worked out to 120, but nothing much out there. Was pulling lines when the dipsey carrying a flasher/fly fired for the only time but with the largest fish. Water surface temps ranged from 44-46, speeds of 2.2-2.4 were most popular. A great time made it easy to forget about the rain and fog.