adesalvo

Congrats Jon and Mike! 

I present to you guys and gals my annual 2024 Keuka Lake Fishing Report. This is my 39^th year visiting Keuka Lake for our family vacation staying on the east side 1 mile from the bluff. This is also my 2^nd year bringing my New to Me fishing boat and 5^th consecutive year in trolling the lake in august.  I do fish the lake 2 more times a year for the FLTA tournaments.

 

In the mid to late 80s and early 90s I would troll the lake with my dad mostly between Eggleston point and the bluff and it wasn’t uncommon to land an 8lb laker, and an Atlantic or a Brown on the same trip. 

 

Over the last 4 years I have seen a few rainbows get caught and 1 Atlantic. I have heard rumors or browns on the wall but nothing firsthand.

See Ketchum Fish  => https://ketchumfish.net/ or  Reelaxin Charters => https://reelaxinfishing.com/  facebook pages for rainbow pics

 

I can’t remember the exact summer of the bait kill that changed everything for the Keuka Lake, but it had to be around 1992 or 1993.
 

Water Temp and Lake Conditions

We Arrived on Friday Evening August 9^th after the heavy rains from Hurricane Debby. There was a lot of flooding and debris on the roads around the lake. The runoffs all around the lake overflowed which left debris in and around the lake and the lake was noticeably green all week from it.

 

I parked the boat at the state park until I could figure out how bad the debris in the lake was (pics curtesy of Ketchum Fish) 

 

 

Saturday morning Jeremy and I could see tons of debris floating in the lake and decided to take a trip out in the recreational boat and pick up any debris that could cause potential damage to other’s boats

 

We pulled out 2 large trees and a pile of logs that later turned into perfect campfire wood. Saturday evening, we launched the boat from the state park and got her ready for fishing for the week.
 

Water Temp on the surface Saturday Morning was 75 degrees and by Friday it dropped 3 degrees down to 72. The days were sunny with sone haze from the Canadian forest fires. Air temp averaged mid 70’s in the beginning of the week and low 80’s Thursday and Friday. The lows at night and early morning were in the mid-50s.

Temp break of 50 degrees was 60 feet down at the cottage 1 mile from the bluff and rose a little bit over the week to about 55 feet down. The Water was GREEN all week even on Friday when we left. Fishing was best right above and right below the thermocline
 

Location and Results

We fished Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30AM to 9:00AM and, Monday Evening with MOM, Dad and the Wife from 7pm to 8:30pm

 

Sunday, we headed north away from the bluff on the east side, and we caught just a few fish early as we were building patterns and finding the right depths.  About 6:30AM we crossed the lake from old camp Iroquois and headed towards Eggleston point to see if the runoff from the storm brought in some fish or bait.

On our first pass at Eggleston point in 110 FOW we had a double one on the wire diver and one on the 70 foot rigger. On our second pass we also doubled up but were in a little closer at 90 FOW and marked some bait on the bottom and some suspended.  The suspended bait was probably perch fry and the bottom bait could have been cisco’s.   I wish we culled a few fish to see what they were eating but didn’t. Until about 9AM we just circled the point and continued to bring in at least 1 to 2 lakers per pass.

 

 

Monday, We wanted to chase rainbows in the Hammondsport basin based on some reports earlier in the week from Ketchum and Reelaxin charters, but it looked like it was going to storm so Jeremy went back to bed and I went solo to Eggleston point and continued to bring in a few lakers on each pass of the point. I did read a report on Tuesday morning that the basin was all chocolate milk, and the fish weren’t biting so I am glad we didn’t go.

 

 

Monday night I took My Wife, Mom and Dad out in the evening after dinner at Abandon Brewery for Wing Night and Ice Cream at Spotted Duck. We left at 7pm and continued to go back and forth at the point and continued to bring in fish on every pass.. We fished until sun set and boated about 10 more lakers.

 

Tuesday again we buzzed over to Eggleston and continued to boat lakers on every pass. Bait was still present at the same location

 

Wednesday, we slept in since you know it was a vacation!

 

Thursday was when our luck ran out and the fish turned off. There was still fish and bait at the point, but they had lock jaw and weren’t chewing. I am guessing they were all full of feed and bait from the runoffs.  There was a debris field about 100 yards off the point loaded with weeds and garbage making it difficult to fish without cluttering up the lines.

Summary

-          On Monday and Tuesday, we probably boated about 20 fish over at Eggleston  point.

-          The fish were probably as small or emaciated as I can remember in recent years 

-          We did bring in a few 3+ pounders but those were the exception

-          This is the first year we didn’t catch any bass trolling

-          This is the first year we didn’t catch anything trolling stick baits.

-          No Rainbows this year even with bait at the point

-          I do wish we fished the west branch a bit as I was curious if the points over in Pulteney had bait as well from all the runoffs.

-          The poor class of fish could very well be because of our location as we didn't explore much this year.

 

 

Spread and Patterns

The spread the work the best for us this weekend was

o   Riggers Parked at 70 feet and 60 feet

o   2 Wire Slide Divers with the MAG Ring at 150 (70 feet down)

o   2x 250(50 foot) and 220(45 foot) Weighted Steel on Planer Boards

o   7 and 8 Colors on Planer Boards

o   Best speed was 1.9 => 2.0 at the ball

Best Spoons

o   MVP was the Moon Shine Walleye sized Wild Perch both in Glow and RV probably due to the dirty water from the storm

o   Around 8:30AM the fish started moving towards the bottom, so we put down at 100FOW a few Elmer Hinckley spoons on the floor that worked very well

§      777 Silver

§      32 Gold Hammerd

o   Stinger Sized UV Can’t Afford it with UV tape and a Red EYE on the cup took fish every morning until the sun came up over the hills and it shut right off

o   Reel Rage Electric Muffin stayed on the 250 copper’s all weekend and took fish on every trip

 

 

Boat Setup

I have a 1994 Trophy 2002 Walkaround that’s in amazing shape.  It sat at the dock in the water all week and never had to use the bilge even with the rain Sunday. It was repowered a bunch of years ago with an Evinrude eTech 2 stroke 115. I am a lucky boy!!

 

 

Most of the equipment I am using came with the boat.

-          2 Cannon 10 STX downriggers with 2 dual Rod Holders

-          6 Bert’s ratcheting Rod Holders

-          2 Cannon Single axis rod holders (want dual axis)

-          Fish hawk x4

-          Over the winter I purchased a Garmin 93sv uhd2

-          This winter I plan on picking up a 73sv uhd for the back of the boat

 

I will be posting a video report of the trip on my YouTube channel that has a bunch of other reports and shorts of us catching and loosing fish.
flx_adventures - YouTube

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On 6/7/2024 at 3:36 PM, Sk8man said:

Nice going Anthony and nice report video as well. Those Elmer Hinckely spoons are great aren't they? I haven't even bothered using my Suttons anymore I'll bet you're in seventh heaven with the bigger boat now too

Mike Stark last years derby winner and FLTA club member turned me on to them.  
 

I need to put in a new order.   
 

Thanks Les, fishing in the new to me boat has really helped me expand my options. 

On 6/3/2024 at 5:37 PM, Matt ching said:

First time ever fishing Canandaigua lake. We did all right had a late start Saturday. Caught that brown on a 3 color core. Awesome fight! I thought I was definitely placing first on the brown category…..NOT! Those were some nice fish on that board. All in all it was fun and caught plenty of fish.

Great Work on the brownie! 

Jeremy and I fished the Canandaigua Lake Trout Derby this Saturday and Sunday and had a blast bring over 50 fish into the boat but couldn’t get anything larger than an 8.2 lake and a 5.1 Rainbow.

The fish population in Canandaigua is GREAT once you find the ones willing to bite! I heard from a few guys that stayed on the west side that the bite was tough. 

We launched out of the north and fished the east side all weekend with a lot of fish to keep us busy!  We marked bait in super tight about 30 feet but those fish weren’t biting for us as the best depth for us was 50 – 180 fow, all fish coming in the top 50 foot of the water column.  

MVP of the weekend was a custom spoons that need a repaint after brining in at least ½ of our fish that I have been sworn to secrecy.

The Elmer Hinckley 777 on a 3 color was a solid second place. We caught no fish on Flasher flies or Divers. Only long lines on the boards and a few on the riggers. 
 

 

Got out today with my boys - Jeremy is home from college and we had a pretty steady pick once we found the fish.  
 

straight out the genny 175 - 200 fow was best depth and caught almost everything under 50 feet.  A few fish came on the rigger set at 70 on a cheater probably 35 to 40 down.    Slide diver mag on 2 out 185. chinook 4 at 170 on a 2 as well 

 

we got about 8 in the boat and lost another 5 which is not usual for us.   
 

left dock at 6am home by 12pm 
 

 

 

 

Took my dad and uncle out today and picked up about 10 browns and nice 15 lb king.  We headed east and then decided to continue past Webster park and ran into a ton of debris. I lost a planer board on a floating tree.  We also saw a 20 foot floating tree in 30 foot of water in front of iBay.   
 

thanks @Missdemeanor for the report yesterday. The eyeball man UV on the chinook took 3 king hits.   
 

 

 

17 hours ago, Bo Hunter said:

Great work Anthony,  congrats my friend. There were a few moderate and small rainbows caught. One brown. Anthony had the lunker laker 8lbs.15ozs.

Thanks Scott! All those lakers were caught at the same spot we won the fall tournament a few years ago.  

Had a great day at the first club tournament of the year with @Hickel24. 

 

Check out the report for the spoons and flasher flys that were good for us today 

 

 

Got out today with some friends I met through pickleball and my buddy @Hickel24  and put together a decent pick.  The water is looking better from the storm east of iBay.  Tomorrow and Wednesday look nice.  
 

 

 

Took the big-er boat out today for it's first trip in 2024 with @Bo Hunter and Brian from the FLTA and had a blast!  Thanks @Bo Hunter for lunch after!  
 

 

Good To See you Today!  Great Report

 

 

Great Job Les! 
 

I am more curious on how you took those leaders off solo and still got the fish to the boat!  
 

what pound weight did you use on the end of your rigs? 
 

 

23 hours ago, Sk8man said:

Ditto Anthony. You have come a long way in your fishing in a relatively short time

Thanks Les!  I really owe it to the boards, flta club members and the folks like you who share the knowledge!  I am just trying to pay it forward..   to be honest I do keep secrets close to the chest that guys tell me are secrets.  All my reports are really things you can find anywhere on the internets or by following other captains on YouTube!  

Hope this helps! 
 

Owasco Lake September 2023 Summer Fishing Report
https://youtu.be/L1T0F5szH5g

Owasco Lake September 2023 Summer Fishing Report

Jeremy was in town this weekend for a URRG Upstate Research Rocketry Group launch and met me in auburn Saturday evening to fish the Finger Lakes Trollers Association Owasco tournament the next morning !!
 

First hit of the day at 630am was a reel screaming 7lb rainbow on a 250 copper pulling a moonshine walleye glow perch. As it stands this is the biggest rainbow caught at a club tournament this year!

 

Jeremy brought in that fish perfectly!

 

Rumors at weigh in was a lot of bows were coming unbuttoned at the back of the boat!

 

The rest of the day was a flasher fly bite! Bringing in 3 solid 6+ lakers to round out a decent box! Congratulations to the birthday boy @Bo Hunter for a 30 lb Box and the win! Wow!! What a great birthday present!!

Lots of stagers in 80 ft west of the genny tonight.  Moonshine RV green ladder backs picked up 2. We only fished from 7pm to sun down.  

18 minutes ago, cmc5028 said:

For a newbie, can one give a synopsis of the names and location of piers open to public access? I would guess egg sacks, skein and spoons are the most popular baits?  

Go to the Irondequoit pier before sun up and see what other people are doing. 

21 minutes ago, Gill-T said:

Seven kings today on plugs …….

Out deep or in shore?

14 hours ago, Crestliner said:

were talkin fingerlakes here.

to be clear though I am running 10lb 15 foot leaders off the back of the 30lb.  

8 hours ago, Crestliner said:

Good report! how were the flees   on your trip?

I have been running the blood run seaflea 30# all year and haven’t had many on those rods all year.   

 

here is my slide diver setup.  

23 hours ago, Bait Bucket said:

Found some warrior spoons, my question is, did you remove the trebles for a single or leave them on. 

I left the hooks that came with them 

Nice Job! 
 

There is still a lot of fishing left in the lake before winter! 
 

 

Awesome Report! Love that brown town pattern!!