Clarkie

I fished Keuka a couple of weeks ago and had an experience similar to Gator's. We were looking for perch in 20-30 FOW around the points on the Branchport end and started catching trout on our sliders and hair jigs. We caught 9 lakers, one brown and a pickerel. Lots of fun on our light perch rods and 6 lb. test. I am going up tomorrow to see if the fish are still on that pattern.

Hmmmmm... I am not a Cayuta lake fisherman..I only fished it few times years ago for panfish. However, I know quite a few people who fished Cayuta for walleyes over the last 60 years, and I honestly have never talked to ANYONE who ever caught one there. It's always the same story..." Well I HEARD they get some there, but I never caught one or saw one caught". I am sure that walleyes exist in the lake. I am also sure that there are MANY better places to fish for them.

Actually, it is a hoax. The catfish was only 240 pounds, and it did not have a deer in it's stomach. It had a german shepard and a 53 pound bluegill in it... I know it's the truth because my second cousin's next door neighbor's gynecologist was present when they winched it up on the boat ramp at Keuka State Park.

Good report.. It it's nice to find a place with Finger Lakes Specific gear and knowledge.. Kinda reminds of Syd Kahn's place on Market Street in Corning.. It was one of the few places you could get whiffletrees... Do any of you old farts remember whiffletrees ?

Did the recent flash floods affect Honeoye as they did Keuka ? Does anybody have any info on the bluegill bite ?

It's been years since I put a boat in there, but other than being a little shallow and muddy, I don't remember any major goonies such as rocks or stumps as long as you stay in the center of the channel. To be prudent, either use your electric or trim your outboard up as high as you can and still make progress.. It's only a couple hundred yards or so to the lake.

Those 50' marks were probably lakers...Reel steady ( not jigging) and fairly fast up through them and you'll get lots of hookups.. I have jigged Keuka a lot in the last few years and have had my best luck with jigging spoons equipped with trebles..I've tried the plastics and miss LOTS of strikes, although I admit I have not experimented with stingers much...I go back to a simple jigging spoon and catch fish.. My go to lure is a 1 oz. chrome diamond jig..If they don't hit that, they probably aren't hitting. I have also had good luck with Northland Buckshot spoons and 1 oz. kastmasters.. I'm sure that many other lures will work, but the diamond jig is cheap, effective, gets down quick and has put 100s of fish in the boat for me and my fishing buddies. BTW, many trout hit the jig on the drop after the snap... It can take some practice to detect the strikes... Develop a rythmn with your jigging...If anything feels different, SET THE HOOK...Often when a trout hits the lure on the drop, it will simply hesitate, or feel like you hit bottom. If you are few feet off bottom and it feels like you hit bottom, SET THE HOOK..Chances are it is a fish.

Thanks, Ed..

Has the bag limit increase ( from 3 to 5) taken effect on Keuka yet ? I have heard conflicting reports. Going over jigging tomorrow with a buddy who wants to keep some lakers to smoke and we don't want to run afoul of Officer Ferndip.

I'd like to try Skan for perch this week. I have never fished the lake..Anybody got any general info they might share regarding where to launch and good areas to fish ?

Fishing is still hot for 'seeds and "gills on the end of the Penn Yan branch.. Went up yesterday..two boats.. We filleted about 100 nice bluegills and sunnies.. Lots of beds in about 9-10'of water.. Most anything would work, but a 1/32 oz. jighead with a piece of redworm worked well for me..

Rockies are OK to eat, but can't compare to sunfish, bluegills or perch, IMHO.. They tend to be bland in flavor and soft in texture... I much prefer smallmouths to rockies.... My buddies and I call them twirlers..You set the hook on one and he fights pretty good for the first few seconds, and then he gives up and comes TWIRLING up to the boat... All that said, I mean no disrespect to them...They are willing biters and not bad eating ... I would much rather catch and eat rockies than to get skunked..

Hair jigs in 1/16 oz. or 1/8 oz. on light spinning gear with line no heavier than 6 lb. They work anywhere I have fished them, from the Finger lakes to several Canadian lakes.. Any color is fine as long as it is brown or black. They also catch lots of succulent perch, along with rockies and most anything else that swims..

Now THAT is some good eating...!! Thanks for the report...I'm hoping to get up next week and harvest me a few of those beauties..

Many lures will work well for jigging, but don't think you need a lot of expensive, high tech lures... My go-to lure is a simple, one oz. chrome plated diamond jig, a standard salt water lure.. You can buy them for less than two bucks apeice.. My last day jigging on Keuka, my partner and I landed 40 lakers in 4 hours, and hooked and lost at least half that many..

Sorry about the ticket... Obviously, the prick wasn't a fisherman....LOL...

yeah, John Boy...That is the way I fished the Seth Green Rig years ago.. On Sept 15, 1975, I caught a 16 3/4 pound laker just off Marlena Point on Keuka with a hand held rig just like the one you posted..Took me a half hour to land him.. Later on I got lazy and fished my rig with a rod and reel.. Nowadays, I vertical jig..Haven't trolled in a number of years.. I still catch lots of fish and they are much more fun to catch without the weight of the terminal tackle used in trolling..