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Laker Fishing off Taughannock


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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?

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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?

Yes, You can fish in front of Millikan outflow still. I’ve only ever fished the outflow by water, but would love to fish it from land. Just never really knew how to get down there. I will try those pink rooster tails on the Lakers! Is is fairly easy to get there by land?


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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! 😁

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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! [emoji16]

I gotcha I will check it out because that’s a great place to fish in the winter......I still see people fishing from there off land when I’m on my boat in the summer! After the holidays I will head up and let you know what’s up!


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    I fished there, day AND night, for years in that outflow, with waders. And drifting egg sacks with and without a bobber. The outflow needs to be warmer than the lake temp to be productive. Is it warmer? Does one STILL catch fish there? From what I remember, it was absent of many lakers, but full of salmon, bows, and browns. 

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    By the way, Russel Station in Rochester used to be AWESOME to fish in winter.  Drifting eggs was a blast! No more coal plant....no more warm water.......no more fishing.

Edited by katydid
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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....

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I have a couple questions...will the lake mostly be open water in Mid to late March? I ve wanted to come up and catch some Lakers from the shore, and with my birthday being mid March, what better time to go try.

Is Taughannock my best bet from shore? Can you fish down in Ithaca at Stewart Park and/or East Shore Park?

I live about 4 hours south down here in PA, so I ve been doing a-lot of Google Earth searching for shore access.

Now over on Seneca, I understand you can fish the pier and rocks at Watkins Glen?

Thanks!!


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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.

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X2 on Taughannock. It is one place where you can cast into quite deep water easily. Casting heavy spoons and letting them sink toward bottom before retrieving, fishing with live bait such as shiners will work as well. One of the best things for multi-species there is using egg sacks fished both suspended by bobbers and right on bottom.A variety of trout, and lakers and salmon cruise along there all season long but it is quite "on and off" so patience is necessary usually.

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