Finger Lakes NY trout fishing

[nyer]

I have grown up fishing Seneca and Cayuga lakes. I never reallt trolled for trout, we always still fished for them with sawbellies with decent success. For the last several years in the spring I have been trolling with bottom bouncers and silver and black rapalas. I do pretty well until the fish move deeper. This year I'm buying a small portable downrigger, I have a pontoon boat and I don't really want to mount a permanent large downrigger. I'm trying to find out what color and types of spoons work when trolling. I have all kinds and colors and have never caught one on spoons with bottom bouncers. I catch them on rapalas or nothing at all. I also have never caught one on Cayuga, I tried trolling around Deans Cove down toward's sheldrake point. On Seneca I catch them from the state park down the west side to glass factory bay. Any tips on where to try on Cayuga?

I'm also curious about shad. I was reading other posts about shad and until now I have never seen one in the Finger Lakes or heard of them here. When you are talking about shad is that the same thing as a sawbelly? The bait stores around here don't sell shad and other fisherman I have asked say they don't exist in these lakes. Am I missing something here? 've seen shad down south, they all had the black dot on them and sawbellies don't look like that.

 

[rolmops]

Re: Finger Lakes NY trout fishing

Both shad and sawbelly or mooneye as you may know them are fresh water herring.
Sawbellies were introduced into the Finger lakes about 50 years ago.Their introduction was the end of a very healthy cisco population.The sawbellies ate the cisco eggs and exterminated all the cisco in the finger lakes.
Trolling in the lakes is a bit tricky,because you will also need a real good fish finder.
The lakers are usually at 90 feet and below,but if you are at 90 feet and not at a 110 you may not catch a single fish with a lure.
I troll sawbellies with more succes,probably because of the smell and the fear chemicals that the bait fish spread.
Rainbows/steelhead are around fifty feet and browns are higher up,depending on the season.
A good place to fish in Cayuga lake is around the Milliken Power station on the south east shore.There are lots of Land Locked salmon to be had.
What I do not like about both Seneca and Cayuga is the huge amount of Lamprey which tends to keep the trout small and skinny.
Anyway,good luck.

 

[John_S]

Re: Finger Lakes NY trout fishing

I have only trout fished Cayuga in the spring, back when the smelt runs were still good. Dead smelt made for good laker bait.

What rolmops suggests is consistant with what I hear from a few friends that regularly fish those lakes. They do have boats outfited with multiple downriggers, though.

Not sure what clamp on down-riggers you are looking at, but I have a couple of the "low" end ones. I would expect the boom length and weight capacity of those would severly limit the ir usefulness. I'd bet there is a way to make a removable down-rigger mounting rail, such that you can buy full-size rigs.

 

[nyer]

Re: Finger Lakes NY trout fishing

I had two different people this weekend tell me to try Milliken Station. One guy catches alot of lake trout and he told me to try a purple and black spoon. There is a way to mount "real" downriggers to a pontoon, my uncle does it. I don't want the hassle and I don't want to spend alot of money on them since I don't fish for trout alot yet. Maybe down the road....

I went to Taughaneck Park Saturday and took a few casts, I didn't get anything but that was ok. I've never fished there and I really just needed to get out with a fishing pole. I'm ready for winter to end.

 

[bogggar1]

Re: Finger Lakes NY trout fishing

Hey nyer!!! How's the fishing been??? Just read the post here and was wondering how made out w ur downrigger??? I fish bottom bouncers too and really like Challenger lures on bottom leader for big lakers... Especially early in the year before the weeds get bad. Pulling copper has been choice method for me lately in the mornings seem to be the best.

 

[rndn]

Re: Finger Lakes NY trout fishing

I made a removeable mount myself using the SS rails on each side of the boat. I attached them when I wanted to fish and removed them when I didn't want to use them. It took all of 5 minutes for the changeover. I used wood and painted them all black to match my red and black boat I used to own. No holes in the boat!!

 

[ricksrster]

Re: Finger Lakes NY trout fishing

http://www.flyfishingconnection.com/nyfingerlakes.html