Lively1

Alright - happy to report SKUNK OFF! Friday AM I hooked three and landed one, and had one break a rod! (Hasn't ever happened to me before.) I think the tips re the fishfinder helped a lot. I tuned off the fish ID setting and dialed back the sensitivity just a hair, and targeted the lines on the finder with my jigs. First time one of the lines went up and intersected the line from my jig that was cool! Saw a number of fish come up and inspect the jig without biting it, or at least I didn't feel a bite. Saw fish on bottom (100 FOW) and also mid-depth, the biters were all mid-depth. I also have to admit I pulled the biggest total rookie mistake of all time.. forgot to put the stringer in the boat before gunning the boat up to 20 mph...If anyone of you saw me, I'm sure you had a good laugh..recovered the stringer, no sign of the fish... Went out the next evening with wife and daughter and my daughter got one! That was very cool. Thanks for all the help, greatly appreciated.

So here it is August and I still haven't been able catch a single lake trout jigging Keuka. Tried the evening, early AM, MarlenaBluff area and closer to home. Same setup that worked last year (2 oz jig and fluke) and an old fishfinder, isn't producing. Have seen others jigging, still fishing, and trolling.. what's working?

Thanks Steve.e - been marking a lot of fish at that depth also.. I will try targeting that next time out.

Was out last night and this morning jigging and drifting on some marks, from 75 down to bottom (130 in some places). Up the Penn Yan arm and down around Marlena - Bluff this morning. Apart from a few pecks on the way down I got the big fat zero. Again. My new theory - the fish I'm marking are all dead. Or my fishfinder is marking fish that aren't there..

Have a little time to fish Keuka this evening and tomorrow AM.. what depth should I target for lake trout this time of year?

bump

don't have much to add about access, but i can report that the Penn Yan and Branchport arms are frozen, and people are venturing out for lakers. One person told me the ice was 8 inches thick on the Penn yan side, out in the middle. Still, not sure I would trust it not to have thinner spots here or there..

Thought this may be of interest to some of you here. A one-day fly fishing class will be held SATURDAY MARCH 29, 2013 in Elmira NY for adults and youth 12 and older. Nationally known instructors will cover all aspects of the sport, including equipment, flies, casting, and fishing techniques. This is a great opportunity to get started in the sport, or to brush up on rusty skills. The class runs 8 AM to 5 PM; lunch provided. Fee is $75 for adults (16 and up), and $50 for kids 12-15 (first 6 youth to register get $25 discount). All attendees must pre-register by March 21th, by contacting Steve Harris at [email protected] (607-973-2509), or Kirk Klingensmith at [email protected] (607-346-7189). 2014 FFA Flyer.pdf The class is offered by the Twin Tiers Five Rivers chapter of the International Federation of Fly Fishers, a national non-profit organization. Proceeds of the class support local conservation and outdoor education projects. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- www.twintiersfff.org

Does anyone fish Keuka from shore this time of year? I'll be at my place on the east side doing some renovation work (near Olney Place).

If you are fishing 'up north' All Season Sports in Pulaski sells jars of chinook eggs that are not tied into sacks. Not sure if they are cured or not. OR maybe it was Fat Nancy's I saw them in.. it's one or maybe both stores, anyway. CLoser to home you could try Hill Valleys and Stream in Elmira. I know they have the standard tubes of egg sacks in their bait fridge. Don't know about bulk eggs though. As for curing, I've been learning and experimenting myself some.. IMO bleeding the fish out when you kill it does some good, and I had the best results with a homemade cure of salt, sugar, and borax. There are a lot of recipes out there on the web with those basic ingredients, in different proportions. The one I used is this one: http://www.lakemichiganangler.com/tips/salmon_eggs/curing_salmon_roe.htm If you have tight skein, just cut it into small bait-size chunks and then cure it and use it like egg sacks. If it is loose skein and doesn't look like it would stay on the hook, just tie it up like loose eggs.

OK found out the company operated in Detroit in the 50s and 60s, and the reel is apparently a knockoff of the Penn Senator design. So the question is - what should I use it for? Already have two jigging rods and I don't own downriggers. What sort of rig could I use on days when there is just a little too much wind for jigging?

I recently came into possession of the above rod and reel and would like to know if it is a special purpose outfit eg for wire or lead core, or is it more suitable for jigging and downrigging fishing. The reel looks like a copy of a standard Penn jigmaster (star drag, lever for drag on/off), and it also has tabs for a harness I guess. Right now it is just partially filled with dacron.. I'm guessing the fishing line was removed/missing. The rod appears to be 1st generation solid fiberglass and 'Johnny Walker' is the only marking on the rod. It is about 6' long and has roller guides. Also any other info appreciated.

I just bought a place on Keuka near Olney Place and was looking at older posts for Keuka-specific info. when I saw this older post on carp hunting. My fly fishing group in Big Flats is very concerned about this trend also. We used to catch them in the Chemung and this year there were practically none. We also saw several bow hunting rafts/boats with multiple archers on the river, multiple times, and unlike those who were in the discussion here, they littered the riverbank with dead carp all summer long. Plus carp do not repopulate quickly, a mature carp like the one in the photo could take 15-20 years to reach that size. Our club has written a 'carp manifesto' of sorts calling for recognition of common carp (not asian silver or bighead) as a game fish and managing it accordingly. The biggest issue we see if no limit on taking. In PA there is a 50 fish limit, and we have reports of some people there 'limiting out' more than once in a summer. That is a lot different than killing a few each year for your garden. If you any are interested I can email it to you. Just send me a PM. PS there was an electrofishing boat doing aquatic surveys of lakes and rivers in NY this summer, under contract to EPA/F&WS. I ran into them on the Chemung and talked to them. They were doing a different location every day and if they did Keuka at all it would have been only 1-2 times, and different locations each time.

I jigged the Penn Yan arm of Keuka yesterday and this AM and got nada. However I was fishing blind with no fish finder, just random dropps in a few places that worked in August..

That's awesome! Thanks for letting us know how it worked out.

Saw this in the morning paper and thought it might of interest to some: The boat launch at Seneca Lake State Park in Geneva will close for the season Monday. The early closure will enable work crews to begin a complete overhaul that will include demolition and reconstruction of the boat launch and boarding docks. Boat launches at other Finger Lakes state parks will remain open for the balance of the 2013 boating season. For more information, call the regional state parks office at (607) 387-7041, or go to www.nysparks.com. It was posted yesterday so presumably it is talking about next Monday.

I'm not one of the experts here, but I do fish the Penn Yan arm, and here's what has worked for me there, in similar situation (small boat, no fish finder). 1. Get out really early.. the lake will be calmer and little to no boat traffic. It should just be getting light when you start loading the kayak. 2. Look for a troller making a run up or down and move into their path after they go by. Then you know you'll be in the deeper part of the lake and a likely spot. 3. If you don't get bit within three drops of the jig, pick up and move to a new spot. 4. A surprising number of hits are on the way down.. be ready to set the hook. 5. You don't have to be near the tip of the Bluff, there are plenty of fish further up in the east arm of the lake. Just make sure you are not in the really shallow water right out of Penn Yan. Look at a lake map and locate the deeper areas via landmarks on shore, e.g. Keuka College. If your cottage is not close to suitable areas, and you want to car top somewhere else, you can launch from the defunct power plant just north of the Switz Inn, I believe, or if not there is a small boat launch just south of there and you can park in the power plant. 6. 1.5 or 2 oz jigs might work better than 1 oz. esp. when fishing from a small boat that is more prone to getting blown around. 7. The key is getting out on a calm day when the wind won't be blowing you around, so you can keep the line vertical. In a kayak, even a little wind is probably too much.

Here's a super simple recipe that I tried yesterday, that turned out really well. 2 trout filets 1 cup peach-mango salsa (from Sam's Club) 2-3 Fresh cherry tomatos Fresh green beans or asparagas Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a glass baking dish with Pam, then lay the filets in (skin side down, or use skinless filets). Cover each filet with salsa, then lay the vegetables on top. Cover the dish with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes then let cool for another 5-10 minutes, serve warm. Serves 2.

I am not a troller; I usually fish out of a small alum boat or my canoe, on Keuka. I've learned to jig for lakers, and it works. But when the wind starts up, it becomes challenging to hold in position for vertical jigging. My question is this - is there a set up to try when the wind makes jigging unmanageable? (not blowing 15-20 MPH mind you - I'll be off the lake - but maybe 3 - 10 MPH wind?) - I've heard about casting a heavy spoon downwind and letting it sink while you catch up to it.. - what about drifting with a dipsey diver & spoon or plug? - copper line with spoon? - three-way bottom rig with a sawbelly or gob of salmon skein? I'm making a drogue to hopefully slow down or stop the drift.. but haven't been able to try it yet. --- Another newbie question - roughly when does the lake turn over in the fall, so you can start catching trout near the surface ? Columbus Day? Thanksgiving? Thanks..