Cayuga 7/6 - weeds and fleas!

[FleetTracker]

I went up to Cayuga today for the first time since mid-May. Been spending a lot of time up north in Henderson lately. My wife, father in law who is visiting, and I, setup about 1/2mile or so north of Meyers in 120fow, 77deg surface, on the east side and quickly got caught up on thick floating weed beds on all 6 lines I just put down. 4 rigger rods stacked; 2 with stinger ladderback spoons and 2 flasher/fly setups, and and ran 2 dipseys with spoons. Annoying. Cleared the lines and re-set since the water seemed to clear up. 5 minutes later... Dragging More weeds! Super annoying! At this point a cus word or two could be heard if you were around. Pulled the setup and scooted to the west side about a mile or so above T-falls and re-set the same spread on a south troll in 140fow, and 74deg surface. Woohoo no weeds!! Trolled for 15min without a strike... Noticing a weird buildup of gray jelly-like crap forming on my lines where it met the surface. Keep in mind this is my FIRST year fishing lake O and the finger lakes... And I remembered reading about the dreaded water fleas. I now know firsthand what a PITA they are! I pulled all my lines up and every one of them had this jelly-fish like gunk on them in multiple places throughout the water column. WTF! At this point my father in law isn't impressed and my wife is begging me to go to a winery... Fail! How the heck is anyone fishing on this lake right now??? Is it an April may and June fishing lake and soon as the water temps increase it's a waste of time? That's what I was feeling anyway. I definitely won't be back to the lake until later in the year to give it a second chance. So far my experiences fishing on Cayuga vs lake O is night and day. 10x more fish caught up north.

What's your experiences and does anyone have any info to share about these weeds and flea problem? Is this an annual occurrence?

[Sk8man]

yes it is an annual PITA . Cayuga is not the only lake where it is a problem either.... pretty much most of the lakes around here have the problem as soon as the water temps get up there. It will usually decrease as the water temp decreases in the Fall but during the summer months we are pretty much stuck with it. Lake Ontario has them too.

[Keep'n it Reel]

Try putting some 40 or 30 # mono on your riggers you don't need much just enough to cover the span you plan to fish then just use your normal 12 or 15# leader off of it, the fleas still gather but not as bad makes it some what able to fish. And for the floating weeds they are just a pain like you said

[Hookedup]

Blood run tackle has a new flea line I have been running it since March but needed the fleas to show up for final test. So far its great super smooth I'll use it all year long. The final test will be next week three days on Cayuga and Seneca. I can deal with the fleas with a good line but the weeds on the Finger Lakes seem worse every year. After an all day charter of cleaning rigs non stop you wana jump off the boat. I have learned to drive an area first then come back and set up. I feel your pain nothing worse than setting up a bunch of rigs and then hitting a 5 ton weed pod.

[Keep'n it Reel]

Fought the weeds all day on Seneca from Lodi all the way to Sampson winds, swirled all day yesterday so their is no rhyme or reason no set scum lines right now just spread killer after spread killer of floating annoyance

[Mower]

As for the weeds. This is typical for 4th of July. I have been fishing all week and the weeds got so much the last for days. I attribute the problem to all the pleasure boaters chopping them up in their travels. Pray for a good blow and they will end up on a shoreline. As for the fleas. Flea flicker line is the only way to go. Welcome to NY and the invasive species.

[justtracytrolling]

I fished Cayuga yesterday and the west side was the only place to get away from the weeds.  As for the fleas...I got used to them just one more thing...they usually collected at the eyes and I stripped them down to my barrel swivel and they come right off.  The cottonlike fuzz on the other hand at Otisco  will drive you crazy in may/june.  If anybody thinks Cayuga is slow for numbers on trout don't try walleyes in the finger lakes!!!!  Owasco tomorrow ill try to do a live post or two if we get into anything.

justin

[pokepole39]

lol all this complaining about weeds and fleas... heck at least you dont get bored sitting or your butt waiting for a rod to pop off....nice to have to work a little for fish isint it... BYT PLEASE MY BUDDY NUDGED A LOG YESTERDAY DIDNT SEE IT JUST UNDER THE SURFACE BE CAREFULL UNTIL THE DEBRI CLEARS .....

[Keep'n it Reel]

Nope not bored at all start on one side of the boat start cleaning get to the other sider and repeat and when we did find a patch of clean water it was fish on stayed busy the whole trip had good fish for the trip as well that helps

[justtracytrolling]

Ill take weeds and fleas over sitting on the couch. Fleas are much worse on Owasco, and summer trolling is all about finding clear surface water. I used to be so excited to get lines in the water that I didn't cruise at all to look for weed free areas, but now im a bit more patient and smarter. There is no easy answer it just takes work and time on the water, and of course luck and reading LOU posts even old ones from the same time of past years helps me come up with ideas.

justin

[Reel Outlaw]

I fished the south end of Cayuga last night before the fireworks started.... The weeds are absolutely horrible couldn't keep the lines clean even in the middle of the lake. Did one rainbow on 200 copper. Didn't have many fleas but that's probably cause the lines couldn't stay down long enough cause of the weeds. The Red Cross derby will be interesting

[vogel451]

We fished last night too for 3 hours on the west shore in 125fow headed south.  3hrs of fishing 0 fish.  I believe im gonna skip the derby this year.  I havent landing a fish over 5lb this year.

Edited July 8, 2013 by vogel451

[Reel Outlaw]

Yea everything I've caught on Cayuga has been about 4 to 5 lbs or less too it sucks. Lady O is calling my name