Keuka Tips

[semperfi]

Heading to Keuka (Branchport Area) after labor day for a week of vacation with my dad. Trolled our butts off 2 years ago there and only caught smallmouths. This year I'm returning with downriggers and trying to get deeper for some trout. I managed to catch a few off Dunkirk on Lake Erie using flashers, spoons, cowbell type setups. This the best way to target them here also? Some friends that used to go to college out there said to jig with sawbellies? I'm not looking for your waypoints but just some tips on how to catch these guys. He's dying to catch one of these fish and toss it on the smoker.

Thank You.

Nick

[tcon]

Dont really fish Keuka much but did a little searching for you viewtopic.php?f=6&t=34349&hilit=keuka

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=33653&hilit=keuka

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=33503&hilit=keuka

Some of them are older posts but I'm sure the same stuff is still working probably just have to find temperature and work it.

Hope you dont mind me using your name Hermit But Semperfi if you want to do some jigging read some of "Hermits" posts I think I remember seeing a website of his with some great info on jigging for lakers.

Tom

[hermit]

tcon that's what it's there for so no worries, a while back I got tired of writing the same responses over and over so wrote it up and made the site so it'd be in one place. Just my take on things though.

semperfi, if you're jigging you don't need bait, soft plastics made for bass work great, swimbaits and flukes. Also try this, results of a search for keuka and jigging. Guff, ManOverboard, clarkie, and laketrout6 are Keuka regulars, also gonefishing71 has been in on the discussion about the rig that works well there.

[guff]

Jigging on Keuka works great. Trollers do well too but I don't do that. Safest bet is to go to the end of the bluff and fish from there around to south (on east branch) maybe a 1/2 mile in 90-120 fow. They really like white w/silver speckled tubes on 1 oz SHARP jigs(see Hermit's site). Drop to bottom, jig for say 5 minutes then reel in and hold on. Hermit's jigging tutorial is great and gives you about all the info you would ever need for jigging. Man Overboard on this site has done very well lately. Maybe he will give you some up to date tips, especially on other locations. (hope you don't mind me using your name MOB). Would suggest an early morning start. There are an incredible number of hungry LT in Keuka and they taste great. 5 fish limit after Oct. 1.

[oldkevin]

heading there this morning at the branchport end will post later on how we did trolling with stainless and silver flutters and downrigger and maybe a topline

[semperfi]

Thanks alot guys, I'll check out the links you've posted here. It sounds like exactly what I was looking for, THANK YOU.

Nick

[guff]

semperfi - On my above post I wrote "south". Should have been "north". Another one of those senior moments I guess. - Al

[oldkevin]

a slow day on the lake this morning. south wind blowing so a little choppy. trolled to half way to the knotty and came back north all fish where caught in the middle 165 to 180. on the troll back north is where we caught last last 4 out of the five we boated all dinks no big ones.

[treerat]

I have been doing good up there this summer with the wire rods . pulling a walker 107 diver with a flasher fly back 130- 180ft . green and white flasher and fly . I have not had much luck with the down riggers since about the first of July on Keuka . try to target the 40-60ft range with divers early and late in the day . trolling speed on my gps has been between 2 -2.9 . just fast enough to hear the down riggers to start to hum . I might be up to the state park camping /fishing on sept 5-6 . if you see a smaller white 16 ft alumacraft lunker stop in .

if you get bored with keuka it is only about 20 miles over to seneca lake , severn launch .

[semperfi]

Most of you guys are probably running wire to get deeper I assume. I'm hoping magnum dipsys and braid will do the trick along with manual downriggers. I hope there's 150' of cable on there like it says ......

Thanks again guys for all the info. I'll post mid september with results.

Nick

[quality time]

Guys run wire because of fleas! Wes

[kenF]

Semperfi

I usually fish Keuka 3-5 times a year. I used to troll, but now switched over to jigging. I seem to have the best luck fishing with Cabela's RealImage Jigging Spoons both Jointed and Non-Jointed. I have the most luck using firetiget, silver/neon blue and mother of pearl of pearl.

I seem to have the best luck either jigging the spoon from bottom to top or bouch it off the bottom a bit then real fast for about 10 reals. The latter tech. is a little harder to hook fish, but is a producer.

Good Luck.

[ManOverboard]

semperfi,

I fish Keuka on a regular basis now - probably 40 or so trips per year. I do nothing but jig so I cannot help you out with trolling etc. - sorry. Assuming you have a decent fishfinder that has real time sonar capabilities I would encourage you to bring along a rod or two and give it a try. I simply use a 6'8" med/fast action bass rod paired up with a conventional style casting reel. I think braided line is a necessity and then finish off with about 10' of florocarbon leader.

As far as jigs go you can read about what is commonly used here viewtopic.php?f=6&t=33678

or you could order the jigs here http://deepwater.cayugafisher.net/index.php My personal preference would be the Shad Jigging Spoon stuffed into a white tube with a #2 treble attached to the backside via a split ring.

I primarily fish the South end of the lake which would be a bit of a run for you but I'm sure the methods will work near Branchport. As I slowly motor along I'm keeping my eyes glued to the FF looking for structure, bait or actual fish marks. Structure on the lake is pretty minimal (it's more like a big bowl) so mainly I am looking for drop offs - generally you can fin these around points. Bait balls will be obvious and most of your lake trout marks will be 50 feet or deeper. Anything more shallow than 50' is likely a smallmouth bass.

Once I have located fish I drop straight down and keep an eye on the jig (via the FF) as it falls. Ofter times you will see fish come up from below chasing after the jig. Wait till the jig and fish nearly intersect on FF and start reeling - fast.

All that being said, I will be on the lake Labor Day weekend. If you have any interest in getting out on the water to give jigging a try feel free to send me a PM.

Best of luck!

[guff]

Hi MOB - I know you have done well on Keuka this year from your previous posts. Just for the heck of it was wondering how many LT have been brought to your boat this year while jigging?

[ManOverboard]

Just for the heck of it was wondering how many LT have been brought to your boat this year while jigging?

Hmmm... Good question as I haven't really kept any sort of running count. I would guess somewhere around 75. Per trip average certainly has gone up since getting all the info on this site and switching from the metal speed jigs to the tube setup.

I didn't really get started until late April/early May and certainly lost a pile of them on the speed jig/assist hook setup. There was a stretch there where I lost one for every one I boated.

[semperfi]

Heading to Gander Mountain this week, guess I'll save the money on all the trolling stuff and invest in some of these jigging options. Sounds like fun, my Dad hates trolling (even tho I love it) so I know he'll be more interested in jigging. Will be there Sept 8th - 15th. Thanks again.

[guff]

One last thing. It does not take a lot of south wind to make the Branchport end pretty wavey and hard to jig. I have found that the wind velocity is usually about half as high at the bluff area under the same conditions. Let us know how you make out.