Reel Doc

You are right on with that sunset. Awesome. The moon over the lake last week was breathtaking as well. I for one will never take for granted the beauty of the Fingerlakes.

Nice Brown, I'm envious as Cayuga Browns have been avoiding me for a long time now. Glad to see you get some action as I saw you suffered through a long weekend at the Trout Derby on Seneca. The lake seems to be in a very good place right now so hopefully the great fishing will continue.

Sounds like you found fish in the same neighborhood they were hanging in yesterday. With practice you'll have a top notch crew soon. The poor pup. He looks young. His first trip on the boat?

The very first thing the "Old Salts" on this site, (you know who you are ), taught me about fishing Cayuga is to start with a simple setup of 2 riggers and 2 dypseys and build from there. For fishing around Dean's you can catch Lake Trout all year long with that grouping then add other setups if you want, especially if targeting other fish. Now as the days are longer and the water warms many trout follow the bait out beyond 100 feet and in a few weeks when the thermocline sets up the center of the lake (250 fow plus), is the bomb for lake trout. Typically riggers with spoons and wire divers with flasher/flies down in the 60-100 foot range will be productive. I was also taught early on to add sliding cheaters to cover a little higher in the column and grab some silver fish. Also a great first add on if you don't mind reeling is a 600 copper. Run that anywhere from 300-600 out down the chute and on an off day it may be the only rod that fires. Be sure to keep telling us how you make out. I try to contribute with my limited knowledge and results out on the water, good or bad. I consider it payback as without all the helpful information from fishermen on this site back when I first started I probably would still be trying to catch my first fish!!

From my perspective the Cayuga lake trout fishery has been very healthy the past couple years. I have not seen a lamprey mark in quite some time and those stunning colors are quite common on many of the fish, even though the fin clips say they are hatchery raised. Last DEC report showed higher catch rates too. Hinted they may stock fewer in the near future to balance the population with the other trout and salmon.

Lake Trout have been out there aggressively feeding for the past month. The trick is to find them. It seems that some are moving out a little deeper compared to several weeks ago. This morning I pulled straight out from Deans at 7. Was in deeper water to avoid the traffic and started the trolling motor. Dropped a rigger down 45 and boated the one in the photo before setting another line. The theme for the next 3 hours was set as green spoons on the rigger kept firing down 45-60 in water 80-140 deep. Set a dypsey with a flasher fly for the first time since February. Only one hit but what a hit as the big fish of the morning kept me busy for 10 plus minutes. Had to pick up to go in a little before 10 but finished up strong as the dypsey's nearly identical twin hit the rigger hard so a great fight to finish up

That's a beautiful fish!!

Looks like a beautiful evening out there. Great photos and great fish. The King of Owasco strikes again!!

Great pictures, great post! Weekday fishing looks to be great with less boat traffic.....I'm jealous.

I was working that way Monday morning but nothing doing while last weekend they were jumping in the boat. Maybe a couple days of hard boat traffic had them moved out a little where I happened to be trolling. Oh well, that's fishing!

72 pumpkin plants!?! I'm going to stop by around the first of October for some Jack o Lantern shopping. Do you grow some of the Giants?

What bait were they spitting up alewives? Makes me wonder if bait is in the middle of the lake all year then predators are too. Just have to be willing to drop down to get them. That said, when fish are in the shallows they really battle hard all the way to the boat.

Surprised they are set up in the middle of the lake and active at those depths as thermocline won't be set up yet. Do you measure temp down the water column?

What part of the lake did you fish? I worked out of Deans this morning on the West side with nothing. South wind was becoming a nuisance so kept lines in and fast trolled (3.2) over to the East side and caught this one right in the middle of the lake on a 3 color core....going 3.2....go figure. Boated a couple more on East side but that was it. Beautiful morning though. Thrilling to watch a bald eagle soar on by, especially today. Happy Memorial Day all, and THANK YOU to all who have served or continue to serve for all of us.

12 hours of fishing and 1 in the boat. I salute you on patience and perseverance. Good luck today!

If memory serves it was 54-55 but that was a week ago. Betting a little warmer now. Hoping to get out later today or tomorrow for a bit but forecast of South wind promises a bumpy ride.

Beautiful fish and great weather to be out there. Thanks for the report

Still available. As the State opens up I may soon be travelling the Thruway from Vernon to Buffalo so can make a meet up possible.

I'm so jealous of weekday fishermen!! Great job. I'm with you about the dock at Deans, its taking a beating. A few weeks ago it was creepy with the water at the top of the dock and no end posts visible. Wasnt sure I wanted to walk out there. Sunday morning the middle post on the South side was all smashed. But, I've watched some power loaders so if they forget to untie and fly up on their trailer they get the dock post as a souvenir!

Only been to 3, Fairhaven State Park, Sodus Bay, and Hughes. Fairhaven Park is a big beautiful launch and plenty of space to walk, (swim eventually) the dog before and after trips. But if we cant find fish........

After a humbling morning yesterday at Fairhaven I was looking forward to a relaxing morning on the home court of Cayuga. Headed out of Deans about 7 and was greeted with a flat lake and a strong sun. Decided to try the skinny water anyway and was rewarded with continuous action courtesy of a bunch of burly lake trout. Spoons or sticks on riggers or short cores......they didn't care, just kept hammering away at everything. I kept holding out to finish the box with a silver so released 7 or 8 fish and then near quitting time a brute decided to swallow a stick bait so I took the hint and called it a day. The fight in these Lakers was tremendous compared to those caught in deep water. No water-skiing the last 50 feet with these today but of course, they were only back 75-125 feet. Just a beautiful morning to be on the water.

Those are GREAT pics!! I love how the kids hug their catch!!