Reel Doc

The past couple Summers I took my son and his high school buddies out on Cayuga lake for some afternoon wake boarding followed by a little trolling. His one friend Devin enjoyed it so much he was ready for more, so this morning he joined me for his first Ontario trip. Pretty chilly most of the morning from a SouthEast wind but it didn't make much wave so we were fortunate compared to those fishing farther West. Colored water extended out past 30 fow in some areas. Slow early with a few small Browns, then this 14 lb slob Brown, (the picture doesn't do the fish justice), crashed the party followed a little later by these sassy Kings. 1 King snatched a stick, otherwise all spoon bite with Orange/Green patterns dominating. Finished up with my regular trusty copilot taking her first swim of the season! A great day on the water!!

10 days on the lake! I'm jealous. Enjoy your time there and please post how it goes. Tight Lines!!

A beautiful morning at the launch, but out on the lake that SouthEast wind was nasty for most of the morning. The surf wasn't much of a problem but turns could be tricky with the gusty winds broadsiding the boat. Took some time for the fish to cooperate, but by 8:30 it was game on! Some solid Browns but no monsters. Then while finishing a 180 turn, the rigger rod started singing! Had a great time working the King in on a light Ugly Stik set up. It did the "shark-in-the-water" hover about 15-20 feet behind the boat 4 different times, and when I tried to bring it to net range would peel off 50 feet or so. Fifth time was the charm as it was finally played out. Found a few more Browns, all but 1 taking spoons off rigger or 2 color along with this stick snatcher. A great morning to enjoy some fishing!!

I like the color of that bright blue rod. Never seen that before, what is it??

Great pics with nice healthy fish. Picking up right where you left off last year. Always enjoy your posts. Keep after them!!

You have a hard working first mate! Great pics!!

It's all about the dog!! He looks like he's ready to go overboard

Looks like a perfect morning to be out there. Pretty much all weekend fishing for me until I retire.......Let us know what you find!

That's a beautiful fish. WTG.

I'll take the lot if still available

TTT

SALE PENDING on the Super Ski Double Planer boards A pair of TX-44 inline planers 1 in package, second got wet a couple times,. A pair of Offshore inlines with the Lockjaw upgrades $70 each pair or take all 4 for $125 Located in Seneca Falls. Possible to meet on a Saturday when en route to Hamburg along the Thruway.

A gloomy start this morning but the first chance to hit the water in quite a while so my first mate and I were determined to make the most of it. Out of Dean's by 7:30 and despite surface temperatures around 39 decided to give some flat lines a try in the shallows. Not surprised when nothing fired so slid out beyond 75 and set some Flasher/flies off dipseys to complement the rigger spoons. The lake trout were hungry from 18" on up to this over 10 lb brute that despite a stout fight and a quick weight check swam off like nothing happened. A great morning on the water.....glad to get out early as by the time I was home eating lunch the skies opened up for the better part of the afternoon.

You can track the lake level off the Cayuga inlet buoy from this site.

WTG, Beauties all around. Glad to see you make it out there. Today's high South wind weather forecast kept me off the lake but it never looked that bad out there. By midmorning you were probably shedding layers with the warm up. Hope to see you out again next weekend

Nothing like a nice single malt to finish a day!!

Surface temperatures were consistently at 39 all morning.

Was thrilled to see the recent warm up but then the anxiety started about Thursday as I worried the deep freeze might arrive earlier than predicted and the weekend would be a no go. Got to Taughannock before 7 and greeted with calm waters. Decided to focus on the shallows and boated a couple nice ones in the first hour, then had a long dry spell. A South wind had started to put a little chop on the water, then about 9:30, the sky went dark and the wind shifted around to blast some cold air and little ice balls fell for 15-20 minutes. For the rest of the morning the lake was churning, and the fish didn't seem to appreciate it as managed to boat 1 more Laker and that was it. No complaints though as it was great to be on the water again after the month long freeze out. Wrapped up the day with a super dinner and writing this with a glass of Glenlivet in hand. Can't do much better for a February day!!

Gotta love this warm up. Hoping it holds into the weekend as Cayuga is calling!!

Awesome catch. All dedicated fishermen know patience is virtue and sooner or later reaps rewards. Continued success fishing this Winter and beyond

I'm a transplant so my first Cayuga smelting was in the mid-80's when came to Ithaca for college. Salmon creek was the East side hotspot. With the invasion of alewives and gobies the smelt numbers have really fallen off. Last Spring a few guys were filling buckets at some small streams but otherwise, not big numbers left.