Skaneateles 8/1

[bulletbob]

Skaneateles 8/1

 Combination trip,, Some exploratory jigging, and panfishing.. I tried jigging in depths from about 50 feet to around 30, .. My theory is that since Skaneateles has a shallow thermocline  at about 30-35 feet, I might be fishing the zone where the thermocline meets bottom, which is the by the book method when jigging for salmonids.. Well, it didn't work.. Never got a hit or follow.. Blank screens  all around..
 As for panfishing it was  very good, at times bordering on spectacular.. Using just worms and a splitshot, or tiny jigs  tipped with a bit of worm, I loaded up on perch, some sunnies, a couple rock bass, and   4  SM.bass..

 Highlight of the day was fat 17 inch bass, that hit a tiny piece of worm meant for perch .. Action was in 10-30 feet, and best at about 25.. The fish felt quite  cool   at 30 feet... I think I was pretty close to my estimate of T cline depth.. It was such a pleasure fishing worms, and catching   nice fish and not Gobies.. It was the way i used to catch fish with worms on cayuga 20 years ago.. Now you can't  even use a worm there..

 The lake  had extensive areas of weed growth everywhere I went,  something thats new to me.. I remember almost no weeds at all in skaneatles years ago.. Also, the water is less clear than years ago to my eyes.. It was the crystal clear color of Gin or Vodka at one time, now its more  of  clear  green as  Cayuga and Seneca were  in the 90's... Could see bottom at about 15 feet, but not at 20.. Water clarity has changed.. I hope its not because of development, but who knows..  I just know being  ringed with mansions and wineries has done none of these lakes any favors.. I went a few weeks ago to Skinny as well, but horrible  T storms, and screaming wind  blew me off the lake..
    Last time I caught just a few perch, but they were SO good from that clean water, I went back.. I take very few bass from any water, perhaps  one every 2 years or so, but did take the big one yesterday.. More of an experiment than a need for the meat.. I had plenty of panfish to eat, but want to see if that clean water bass from  Skinny is less  muddy  tasting than similar fish from the other Finger Lakes.. Last SM  bass I took about 3 -4 years ago was from Keuka, and it was awful.. Strong, muddy, and barely edible..
Just wanted to see if the  less turbid water means cleaner taste.. Anyway, it was a nice trip.. been a long time since I caught good size SMB on a little worm.. Used to happen  to me and my kids all day long at cayuga while panfishing, but that was a long time ago... I like Skinny, and really hope they don't ruin  it with continued development.. btw, is jigging for lakers worthwhile on Skaneateles?, or is that  generally a tough nut?. Saw lots of skis and pleasure boats, some bass fishermen, no one trolling... Ramp  lot was empty at dawn, packed at 11.., fishing slowed as the sun got higher. bob

 

 

Edited August 2, 2017 by bulletbob

[Sk8man]

Bob - I haven't fished there in awhile but right straight out from the main street at the north end there is a point at which it drops off severely and when I looked down the hole while ice fishing back then at the edge of the drop off it looked like looking back in time to the dinosaur age with craggy rocks in a deep depression and lakers all over the place down there....some of which I caught on tip ups (run small 18-24 inches) and yet off to the west side of it I was jigging up real nice perch in less than 20 ft of water. Might be worth trying to find it and giving the laker jigging a try there. It is right about straight out from the accesss point at the north end.

Edited August 2, 2017 by Sk8man

[chugbug]

We hit skinny awhile back unfortunately  when it was flooding this year , right out from the public ramp was a older gentleman that needed help he waved us in and had forgot to get gas he wasnt far from the ramp and when I said he could have used his trolling motor he said he never thought about that , so we got him in safe to shore , heck that might be any one of us down the road !!! Anyway the fishing was slow then the wind picked up a little to much and it was very discolored I managed a few sm bas and some panfish but was really wanting to find the bigger bass . I have only been on skinny three times so I have alot to learn but it is beautiful lake !!!

[bulletbob]

 I did cook a piece of the SMB, and as expected it was a very different fish from SMB from other lakes and rivers, which I tend to not eat.. It was very clean tasting, no mud or weedy taste at all,  it was moist, not "mealy", and was fresh and firm.. Think of a 3 pound Bluegill as far as how it tasted.. I won't take many, as I am a firm believer in taking very few bass if any, but it probably won't be the last SMB I take out of Skaneateles.. there is something to be said about the eating qualities   of fish from really clean water,, makes a big difference... bob

[walnut109]

Sounds like you had a good day fishing.  Lakers are taken jigging, but I like to troll.  I would try a bit deeper next time.   We catch them anywhere from 50' deep early to 90' deep mid morning.  Not unusual to graph fish over 120'.  The laker bite has been slower than normal for us this year.  As far as water clarity, last year you could easily see down to 25 feet.  This year excessive rain has the lake a bit cloudy, and unfortunately increased runoff will lead to more weed growth.  The lake has changed a bit over the last 40 years I have fished it.  A great place to fish and enjoy the day.

[Pequod1]

I have also "experimented" with this lake three times now the past two seasons. Very pretty lake.