Keuka Keuka 6/12

[gwpjr]

Took my mother, brother and his friend out for an afternoon run on Keuka. This was my first time fishing this lake, so I treated it as more of a scouting run than anything else. Launched from the state park at 2:30 PM and was greeted by a completely glass-smooth lake. Trolled the northern half of the east side of the Branchport arm in 100-150 FOW at 2.0 to 2.5 SOG. Ran two DD/SD with A-Tom-Mik flies, one DD/dodger/Stinger (chrome/orange) spoon combo, and one rigger with a Stinger (blue/chrome) spoon. Ran all my rigs to cover the depths where I was marking decent fish, which was between 50-90 feet down. Only managed to hook up with one pretty 22" laker on a DD/SD/A-Tom-Mik by 5:00, when the rest of my party started getting bored. Pulled up the gear and started targeting the pan fish. I'm usually a patient guy and probably would have kept at it, if not for the desire to let everyone have their chance at some fish. Considering that this was my first time out on Keuka, and I am still learning the ins and outs of trolling: did I miss anything, or is there anything different that I should be doing on this lake? Comments and suggestions would be appreciated.

[Sk8man]

Just a suggestion for next time if you want laker action....one of the most effective methods  on that lake seems to be vertical jigging with fairly heavy jig which could have been done drifting from your description of the water conditions...secondly, it is a very bottom oriented fishery when it comes to trout- especially lakers. The fish you marked at that depth could have been trout but they also could have been smallmouths suspended that perhaps have moved out from the shallow water (spawning areas)...usually not 90 ft down though so maybe juvenile lakers there. For action with the whole bunch of people you described jigging would have been the preferred method but if you go back yourself try either using Seth Green rigs pulled deep (with a variety of spoons until you see what type/size hits) or downriggers just off bottom (with sliders and heavier spoons tight to the ball or cowbells/peanuts) and at drop offs near the bluff area. You could start out right out from the launch ramp and troll toward the bluffs (and slightly north around the "corner" then head across toward Marlena Point  and then back toward Gibson"s landing  headed toward Hammondsport on the west side. Usually the 80-125 ft. range is where to be (water-wise)

Edited June 13, 2013 by Sk8man

[Fishy]

I have been fishing that branch of Keuka all spring and found that purple,green/yellow work good for me .I fish 130-150 down.did good Weds. morning with 4 poles on downriggers.There is a tackle shop just by the state park called Fishy Business that can help you out.

[Dick]

Out of Branchport, I pulled S/D & fly, three leader SG rig on bottom, tried jigging, and got nothing.

I marked very few fish, and thought my finder was off. Finaly when taking the first leader off the rig, I got a small laker 40 feet down.

Met a friend who runs a SG rig on his way in, he got a sunburn.

 

Beautiful lake tho!

[genEus]

Don't feel bad. Yesterday we managed to get only 3 average size lakers between 5 to 9pm. A week prior we had 13 in the same time period, and literally just had enough time to reset one rod when another one fired... All this rain must be messing with the fishery. Don't give up on Keuka, it's awesome

I would also add that all 3 came off dipsies set at 3, 250ft out... I flat lined a 20ft diving rapala just for kicks and it took what seemed like a huge hit, but the fish unbuttoned quickly...

Edited June 13, 2013 by genEus

[cdgn troller]

We fish Keuka in the spring and fish the bottom third of the water column usually mid way between the launch and the bluff. I run my riggers down between 110 and 160 with the 160 the biggest producer over 160-170to fow. We run white sd with white or green flies.

[gwpjr]

I was running my dipsey divers out between 145 and 215, so there is a good chance I wasn't going deep enough. I had the rigger down at 100, but that may not have been deep enough either since I only had a 6lb ball with me. Thanks for the tips.

[Steve.e]

With riggers, I always run a lake rig or cowbells off the ball. then set the suttons 4-6 feet behind the attractors. This time of year fish about 10-20 ft off the bottom in 100 early morning then start moving out at 10 ft increments every hour after 7:30, fish 5-10 ft off bottom. Fishing gets slow late morning till late afternoon. I like to troll the edge of the shadow cast by the west side hill(either branch)from 4 till sundown. I'm fishing the east branch 2 mi south of viking. Note to trolling speed, slow it down to 1-1.5 mph for lakers. They are generally bottom feeders and lazy.

Edited August 2, 2013 by Steve.e