bulletbob

Several times to skaneatles past few months.. last trip mid last week was not great, maybe a total of 8 keeper fish .. Some nice size perch up to about 12 inches, couple nice size rockies, a massive sunny, and a short LMB... Several toss back perch .. Wind was brutal, due south and I was at the north end.. Just raging whitecaps until noon... By then the bite was totally dead... Skinny has been ok for me this summer, not great numbers but many nice fish, and they are really sweet eating compared to other lakes.. Personally, I have no need to limit out on panfish.. If I get say 10 nice size mixed panfish, its a good trip for me.. That will last me a week...bob

A "hot" primary fishery???. Probably not.. However, sunnies perch, bullheads, pickerel, LMB, Rock bass don't inhabit 150 foot depths suspended mid lake over 300, and the lake has good fishing for those species at various places.. The walleyes will do ok there if they aren't descended upon by hordes of meat hungry anglers... They will provide a secondary or tertiary fishery for those in the know that find the spots, patterns, techniques... I'll most likely never fish for them there, but some will, and probably in years to come, some will do ok with them.. Will it replace Oneida in the hearts and minds of walleye freaks???.. er umm, no... bob

Why not??.. The lake has changed a LOT from years ago.. its a lot less clear, there are weeds everywhere, where there were none at one time, and the lake is stiff with small perch and other panfish in the shallow areas for the walleyes to eat.. the entire south end of the lake is a big fairly shallow submerged weedbed, with a lot of cover for young Walleye and their prey.. walleyes don't need alewives to eat.. they eat crayfish, bugs, worms, crayfish, small catfish, perch, sculpins, madtoms. shiners . just about anything.. I doubt there will be many 15 pounders in a lake like skinny, probably more like what i am used t catching in the susquehanna river, where a five pounder is a big fish, and 15 to 19 inch fish are the norm... bob

Skinny is fast becoming a Eutrophic lake as are the other Finger Lakes.. Thats a natural course for small lakes, but should never have happened with huge deep lakes like the fingers.. That is the price that has been paid for choking these lakes with mcMansions, "getaways", Farms and vineyards.. All that stuff has to go somewhere, and in the fingers, it goes directly into the lake.. Until this year it had been many years since i fished Skinny, and I was shocked.. Character of the lake has changed immensely... Clarity not even close to what I remember, weeds everywhere... its a shame, but in reality we all did it.. Now that my "the sky is falling" rant is over , let me add, i think the Walleyes were always in skaneateles in small numbers.. i have heard about them for many years. I don't think its a bad thing.. i just think the lake is changing and becoming more hospitable to Walleye reproduction... Same thing with sunfish.. They are everywhere in skaneatles these days, and sadly a lot of them are on the smaller side[some big ones too] Something has made the lake more hospitable to them, as years ago they were not there in the numbers we see today.. The Finger Lakes are changing, like it or not.. There will always be fish, but who knows what the balance of species will be??? bob

I understand your point of view, but the sheer numbers of Cormorants will put a severe crimp in all fishing on these lakes,, The ONLY thing that will stop a fish from getting eaten is size.. 150 FOW is nothing to a Cormorant.. It won't hurt the trout/salmon trolling for the next few years, I agree, but remember without stocked Salmonids, these lakes would not have many in them.. Cormorants are notorious for loving stockie size trout.. Its a LOT more efficient for them to grab a 9-10 inch trout, than it is to grab a 4 inch Sawbelly or Goby.. Never think they can't decimate these big lakes.. they have decimated entire coastal fisheries in the northeast, and those fish migrate, away from the damn cormorants.. However when they are juveniles, in shallower water, Cormorants eat dozens a day, ...each.. They have wiped out the winter flounder in many NE states, a species that for many years had no limit, no closed season.. Now you can take 2.. Cormorants wiped them out.... They can and do destroy fish populations in widespread areas, and the Finger Lakes and Great lakes are not immune.. The flocks I witnessed on the south end of Cayuga were massive.. Hundreds and hundreds of them, all over the place, acres of them in places. I was sick when I saw the numbers, unlike anything I have ever witnessed... They don't eat grass as we all know, they eat fish, lots of fish, and man, there are a LOT of birds out there right now...bob

They feed and travel in flocks.. BIG flocks.. If you see singles, you are lucky. When you see flocks, the fishing goes south FAST.. They eat an average of a pound of fish a day, each bird.. When you see thousands,.. well just use your imagination as to the damage they can do to ANY body of water in a year,, They destroy fishing, period... Here's a good read... bob http://www.startribune.com/cormorants-actually-are-a-problem/133719513/

Just what these lakes needed.. Another monstrous stress factor to layer on top of a bunch of other stress factors that have been increasing in frequency over the past decade.. Cormorants can decimate healthy fish populations in short order... Salmonids are NOT immune.. Although a 5 pound trout isn't in danger, dozens of 10 inch ones a day are, EVERY day.. Cormorants eat a LOT. They usually dive 50 feet or less, but have been recorded diving over 200 feet, so there is nothing that swims thats safe from these SOB's... Maybe next we'll be lucky enough to get Walking Catfish, Asian Carp, and Snakeheads to go along with all the other good stuff thats gotten into in the Finger lakes... bob

Cormorants on cayuga Has anyone noticed they are there by the THOUSANDS???.. I knew they were around, but the south end of the lake was infested with them, from Treman to Myers and beyond.. big flocks everywhere, diving, resting, flying.. Great,... with all the problems on these lakes, this is just what we needed,.,, I hope they eat billions of gobies, and choke as they are doing it.. Cormorants in the numbers I observed is a very bad thing.. They decimate fish populations in pretty short order... bob

sold...

2 HP Johnson outboard $100 70's.. starts and runs perfectly... Tank on top... Brand new water pump, points cleaned and adjusted, carb dis assembled, cleaned, Starts quick and runs great!,. Cosmetically pretty good shape.. Choke lever is missing, but choke works fine , I just stuck a piece of wire where the handle was.. This motor saved my ass in cayuga yesterday when my main engine quit.. I actually planed a 14 footer a few years ago with this, sitting midship.. Good little motor, but these are kind of noisy little things, no neutral or reverse, and they start in gear, but thats how they made these small motors years ago.. Its been very reliable, always ran great, just don't need it anymore... Come take it away for $100... bob

1986 Johnson 30 Hp outboard [project] $100 Long shaft with controls... motor always started and ran perfectly, for years/... It was running perfectly while I was fishing on 8/21/17 at Cayuga Lake and just died, mid lake.. started and ran again for a little while and then quit for good.. took me 3 hours to get to the ramp with my emergency 2 HP motor.. It has good spark, and both cylinders are 120 PSI compression.. Took carb off and cleaned it, but that didn't help.. With excellent compression, and good spark it has to be fuel related, but I have no spare carb to try, and really don't want to mess with it any longer, i was going to sell the boat anyway.. Its a project motor, that Monday at 9:30 am was running great, and at 10 am was not running at all.. Its a little dirty looking could use some paint and clean up.. prop is good, it pumps water great, and was running fine until it quit.. Actualy, it does start, but dies quick. If you are good at outboards, and have parts or can get them cheap, it might be a good deal for you... If nothing else, it has a LOT of good parts... starter, coils, CDI, Lower unit etc... First $100 takes it... bob email ... [email protected]

sorry, Panfisher, but we are not talking about a seasonal "up or down" period.. These lakes are being subjected to intense environmental pressure, and aren't going to be able to withstand much more.. Not sure how old you are, but years ago the life was TEEMING inn the near shore areas of the 2 big Finger lakes, and its no longer there.. The water often looks bad, and sometimes even smells bad.. Remember, just because stocked fish grow big, and are readily caught does not mean all is well.. As long as the alewives are abundant, that will continue.. thats fine with most members here, because this is primarily a site for guys that troll for salmonids.. No problem there.. however, to say its fatalistic to voice the direct observation of guys that have fished these lakes for decades, is not good... You could say we are fatalistic, but we could say you have your head in the sand.. The building , shoreline tree, grass, and brush clearing continues at breakneck speed, vineyards and farms are going great guns.. Add to this more and more development along feeder streams, and the mass invasion of extremely harmful exotic species, and one should have some serious concerns... I can't even fish for sunnies or perch at cayuga with a worm and bobber, or small minnows with my little grandson.. Any natural bait is instantly swarmed by hundreds of gobies, and thats all you catch.. For decades I fished only Seneca and Cayuga, but the warm water species I prefer are simply not there in the numbers they used to be .. Not even close. I have adapted, by moving on.. I agree that we should work at improving the environment, but its beginning to seem like theres just not much that can be done in lakes this size.. Can't remove the farms and vineyards, can't remove thousands of Mc Mansions and llet the tress , grass and bushes grow back.. Can't remove the Gobies, Fleas, and Zebras.. Fatalistic??.. yeah I suppose, but with good reason I think... bob

yes it gets bad out there.. dangerous too.. People swimming mid lake, can't even see them in a chop.. Kayakers, canoers, jet skis,tubers puller behind big cabin cruisers, water skiers, paddle boards, row boats, fishing boats, hot rodders, big old mahogany Chris Crafts with flags flapping, Pontoons by the billion,, half of them drunk it seems, the other half simply oblivious...Get out at the crack of dawn, and off the water early.. It will change for the better in just a few weeks...bob

change it up.. There is good bass fishing and panfishing all around that lake in 20 -30 FOW on small jigs or bait.. Catching bass and panfish is a lot better than not catching trout.. I have been up there 3 times in the past few weeks, and have seen NO boats trolling at all.. All bass or perch fishermen...

Pequod.. we met up once jigging for Lakers at sampson years ago... I have to disagree with the size.. i caught a lot of nice fat, full perch on skinny.. yes there some dinks, but I kept a bunch of nice ones as well.. The average rocky was really nice too... Sunfish at the north end tended to be a little small, although the other day I caught a massive one at the south end, that fought like hell.. Thought i had a good SMB.. I catch on plastics as well, but what difference when you tip it with a piece of bait,, If you don't have worms, take a small sunny or perch, and cut it up,, add tiny slivers of meat to the jig hook,, Your catch rate goes way up, and the size gets bigger, and you'll nail a bass now and then... If you ever want to hook up there on skinny, PM me, I would be happy to show you my ""hotspots""... bob