Keuka Lake from a Kayak

[mpolena]

Hi,

 

My name is Mark I am from the Pittsburgh area and I will be up at a cottage on Keuka with some friends from 9/11-9/15 and I am hoping to get at least one day in fishing.  My friend told me that his family has a couple kayaks that I could use to fish from, however I will have absolutely no electronics to use.  I have a couple questions regarding my best bet to catch some fish.  I have been reading as much as possible about fishing this region but wondered if anyone could give me any specific advise.  I am an avid fly fisherman, however I think I will be early for any runs from the finger lakes into the tribs.  The other area that seemed to really interest me was possibly trying to jig up some lake trout.  I believe I have most of the terminal tackle I should need in my salt water gear including 1 ounce jigs and multiple jigging spoons.  I will be up near Penn Yan but I should be able to car top the kayaks if necessary to Keuka state park or elsewhere.  Will this be something that is possible for me to do successfully or is there something else that I should be targeting.   I appreciate any advise.

 

Thanks

Mark

[Tg8]

Get to,some deeper areas. Start at 65' work til 130's anywhere in the lake. There are three deep points in the east arm that I targeted in late July. This was the only place I had consistent success 136ft is what I looked for. Any soft plastic swim bait white or chartreuse on your 1oz jig will work. Have braided for your main line then 8ft of 10lb mono leader. Drop it to the bottom pop it a few times then reel to the top.

[guff]

Might want to launch just north of the Swiss Inn and jig between there and the end of the bluff also off the end of the bluff. 90 to 120 fow best. White tubes are good.

[Lively1]

I'm not one of the experts here, but I do fish the Penn Yan arm, and here's what has worked for me there, in similar situation (small boat, no fish finder). 

 

1. Get out really early.. the lake will be calmer and little to no boat traffic.  It should just be getting light when you start loading the kayak.

 

2.  Look for a troller making a run up or down and move into their path after they go by. Then you know you'll be in the deeper part of the lake and a likely spot.

 

3.  If you don't get bit within three drops of the jig, pick up and move to a new spot.

 

4.  A surprising number of hits are on the way down.. be ready to set the hook.

 

5.  You don't have to be near the tip of the Bluff, there are plenty of fish further up in the east arm of the lake.  Just make sure you are not in the really shallow water right out of Penn Yan. Look at a lake map and locate the deeper areas via landmarks on shore, e.g. Keuka College.  If your cottage is not close to suitable areas, and you want to car top somewhere else, you can launch from the defunct power plant just north of the Switz Inn, I believe, or if not there is a small boat launch just south of there and you can park in the power plant.

 

6. 1.5 or 2 oz jigs might work better than 1 oz. esp. when fishing from a small boat that is more prone to getting blown around.

 

7. The key is getting out on a calm day when the wind won't be blowing you around, so you can keep the line vertical. In a kayak, even a little wind is probably too much.

[Gator]

I'm going to chime in and emphasize that you'll want a reasonably light jigging stick, something akin to a freshwater bass rod, set up with 10-12 lb PowerPro or Fireline and a 6-lb fluorocarbon leader. Since you'll be jigging in 100 fow+, you need to have line that won't stretch. Use the same setup to throw some topwater for smallmouth bass just prior to dark!! Keuka is known for having some pigs!

[mpolena]

Thanks for the replies so far these are all really helpful.  We are literally all the way up at the very top of the Penn Yan arm so I am thinking that making the move down to Switz Inn so that I am a little closer to that deeper water will be helpful.  I will probably stock up on some heavier weights and will definitely switch to some braided line with a flouro leader.  If any on has any questions for me feel free to ask away.  I really appreciate the help!

[BarringtonTrapper]

I would be happy to take you out for a troll if your interested let me know

[guff]

Just a thought. You might want to Google "Cayuga fisher". This web site has an excellent tutorial on jigging in the Finger Lakes and "Hermit" (Alec) has some great jigging equipment for sale cheap(jigs and plastics). Lake Trout jigs need to be VERY sharp, especially in Keuka with its smaller trout. If you have trouble getting to the site I can pm you his phone number.

[ERABBIT]

I would be happy to take you out for a troll if your interested let me know

Just a heads up this guy has the 2nd ugliest boat on the fingerlakes...... JK ....

[panfisher]

Guff...thanx for the "Cayuga fisher" tip. Never knew of it. Always good to find new fishing sites, especially for the fingers! .....mpolena...Gator is right about the laker- to-smallie idea. There are some beauts in Kueka, And they sometimes can be fairly deep. Often found in September near shoreline where water drops right off into deep water, such as anywhere along the "sides" of the lake. They will hit the same stuff as the lakers, just suspended maybe 20-50 feet down. I like that idea of the topwater, but personally am not sure of that at that time of year. But definitely worth the try.....

[Gator]

Yeah, topwater can be tough in September, but its always worth a cast or two just prior to dark. Or maybe it's just me that can't resist 

 

Make sure that you post a report here when your trip is over!

[guff]

If you find schools of sawbellies (alewife) near the surface might want to try casting into them for BIG Smallmouths this time of year. Too bad you do not have a fish finder. It is VERY useful on the fingers.

[mpolena]

Trapper I sent you a PM

 

I have definitely taken a look at Cayuga fisher webstie when I found out I would probably get a little time to fish and it seemed extremely helpful.  I know my lack of electronics is a huge factor and that is definitely a reason I wanted to get a decent idea of the regions that are normally better to fish.  If I am going to fish blind I may as well be close to some decent water!  I will also make sure to have some larger topwater lures to see if I can maybe find some of those big ol' smallies.  I must say everyone on here has been a huge help and I really appreciate it.  If anyone has any questions regarding flyfishing in general or throughout PA let me know because I would love to be able to reciprocate with some information.

[hermit]

If you're launching/fishing near the Inn you can do the lake trout jigging pretty easily without a fishfinder, the bottom is very consistant in that area.  If you find yourself fishing further up the lake like Lively1 suggested you can do the 'count' technique to know your depth.  Drop your jig and count how long it takes to reach the bottom.  If you catch a fish, try to keep the count the same.   I spent a whole summer fishing like this from a plastic jon boat without a fishfinder, it's very doable in the right spot.  That part of Keuka is well suited to it, have fun.

[mfz]

Hey, I fish a kayak near Swiss. There is a launch a few hundred feet north of Swiss, but you have to leave you're boat and gear to go to power station to park. I launch my kayak at power station, there is a short hill but if you stay to the right hand side of lot hill is not bad.100 ft water is about a 15 min paddle. Just point to end of bluff, there are trollers there, they will be trolling the 100 ft line, and jig as other posts have said.

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[mpolena]

Hi,

 

So I just returned from my trip to Keuka.  I managed two days of fishing in the mornings and both times I launched from the power plant near the swiss.  Thursday I launched around 715 and headed out to the point only to notice a lack of other boats, probably due to the forecast of severe thunderstorms.  At the time I was fishing there was actually a good amount of sun early and not much of a wind to speak of.  I ended up paddling towards the point and after paddling towards the point I noticed one boat did also come out also but never were we very close.  I started jigging, using a two ounce lead trolling weight stuff inside a 3.5" tube jig, in unknown depths and the action started within an hour after I figured out what I was doing.  I brought 5 to the boat with the biggest being 23" and the smallest just under 16".  I also had another three on including one I could tell was fairly large and had multiple more hits.  The thunderstorms started to roll in and I was off the water by 1045. 

     The next day I went out with a friend who does not really fish, first time out this year but he really wanted to try.  There  was a healthy chop on the water when we arrived around 830 and a very steady wind coming out of the north west.  We launched anyway and after a less than fun paddle out to the same area I fished the day before, and some water bailing on my kayak, we started fishing.  No sooner had we started then my buddy broke his line trying to heave a 2 ounce lead on light line.  So I went over to him and switched rods so he could fish while I tied him back up.  No sooner do we switch then he got his first fish, the smallest of the weekend at 14.5".  I come over take off his fish and two drops later he has on another fish.  This time a better fight and a better fish at 18.5".  All the while we are getting pushed around pretty bad and getting some light rain.  After a slight lull in action we I picked up another around 19 and he got his third at 20.  Again had 1 more that I missed and he missed another 2 and we both had multiple bites.  We seemed to do best immediately after we would move a short distance to a new location.  On the last fish he got all tangled up in the net and we were both frozen so we called it an early day.  We were off the water by 1045.  All in all it was a heck of a time fishing and remarkably fast and furious given the fact I had no idea any depth we were fishing.

[Lively1]

That's awesome!  Thanks for letting us know how it worked out.

[rolmops]

If you go in a straight line from the church of the college in a 60 degree line  you will hit the best laker spot in the Penn Yan arm. It is a bit less than halfway toward the eastern shore. Fishing for lakers works very well with a leadcore setup baited with sawbellies and pulling it at 1.8 mph. That would make for easy peddling and good catching. My trolling pattern in that area goes between the winery on the hill next to some open land on the south east and the farm with the silage bins in the north west.

[mfz]

My place is on east side of keuka and fish my kayak at the old power station, any help out there about getting bait? Anything would be helpfull

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[Keep'n it Reel]

I'm hoping to bring the yak over to fish tomorrow weather looks a little iffy but who knows see what happens would not be the first time in it in some sketchy stuff

[rolmops]

I usually get it in Penn Yan at a store called "The Beverage Baron"

[Sk8man]

I think that is about the only game in town that I know of now..I sure miss ole Bill Snyder's Bait and Tackle shop over there.....but....I did get to buy out most of his Sutton's (couple hundred) when he closed up shop way back when