Reel Doc

Looking to get on the water early this Spring for the first time. With shallow water setups what type of leader sizes and lengths are used, specifically when trolling streamers and also for stickbaits or spoons running 10-20 feet down. Thanks in advance for the info!

I think Taughannock would be your best choice but hopefully some others will chime in. It's open water there all year and probably the best shore spot for access to fish on Cayuga. Most Seneca lake fisherman have been saying catch rates have been down the past couple years. Again, others may give you better info. Look back on the Finger lakes thread to last March and see what was trending last year.

Sawbellies.

No warm water outflow changes everything. ☹️. Like you Katydid, I fished there a ton during 4 college years with some of my classmates. You could tolerate being out there in chest waders for hours cause of the warm outflow. Egg sacs were great and during the smelt run we would drift a live one out and wait for something to grab it. When the fish weren't biting we would use weighted trebles to snag carp just for the fun of the fight. Whoever caught the biggest carp bought the first pitcher at that little bar up on 34B.....is that place still there?? Memory lane....

No ice yesterday. Water is down but the pad at Dean's carries out enough for now. If the lake dropped another foot it might be a problem for a deep V. First time I've launched in winter and my Wellcraft Walkaround was fine. If memory serves me in past years February and March the lake is often lower than it is now so not sure about Dean's then but maybe could fit under the bridge at Taughannock at that water level.

Had some time this afternoon so headed to Dean's and on the water by 2:30. Went North and zigzagged from 60-150 fow in search of fish. The screen had the most marks throughout the water column in 110-130 fow. Tinkered with speed from 1.6-2.3 and adjusted lure depths a few times. Finally found hungry lake trout down 80 feet. Picked up 3 stout fish off the chute copper with a flasher/fly. They liked the speed below 2.0. 3 other times that rod fired but fish didn't hook up. One laker took a spoon off the rigger also at 80 feet down. Plenty of fish were higher in the column but they were not buying what I was selling. Off the water at 4:30 and a fish fry with the family for dinner. Plenty of fillets left so excited to try out the smoker my wife gave me for Christmas. Hoping this Winter has more calm days like today!

It used to be easy in and out in the late 80's through early 90's. Irishgoodbyes must know the scoop on Millikan these days. I've gone near by boat the past few years but never trolled in close.....too many bad memories of boaters moving in tight on us when we waded out with chest waders and were casting. I hated boaters back then.... jealous of course! 😁

That's great!! Brings back memories of my college days. We would drive from Ithaca up to the power plant in Lansing and fish the outflow from January on. Seemed like we had better luck catching browns and salmon in the winter using spoons or drifting egg sacs in the current. Lakers picked up in April and May as the smelt started to run. Hot pink Rooster tails were great for lake trout back then. Does anyone know if they even allow fishing at Millikan anymore?

Read you all loud and clear with safety being a priority! What speeds do you drop down to in cold water? Is there a point where the slow speed kills the action of the lures? With stickbaits are certain sizes, styles critical, (ie floater/divers, deep divers, solid or jointed). Is there a certain increase in water temp in Spring that triggers a change in fish habits? Sorry lots of questions but nothing else to do this time of year. 😉

With deer season over I'm hoping to hit Cayuga when the weather cooperates from now through April but I've never fished it this time of year. Summer and Fall I've typically worked from 120 fow and deeper with spoons on downriggers and flasher/flies on dipseys or a copper down the chute. What adjustments should I make now? I do have some inline boards for shallow fishing but never used. Don't have stickbaits but Christmas is coming so should I have certain styles on my list? Thanks in advance for your input. Greg