Suspended lakers

[back on eerie 2016]

Are they more catchable than one close to bottom?

 

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[hard knox]

I think so i feel like when there up of the bottom they are chasing bait .

[Gill-T]

41 minutes ago, back on eerie 2016 said:

 

Are they more catchable than one close to bottom?

 

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No.

[Sk8man]

2 minutes ago, Gill-T said:

 

No.

Often they appear to be inactive when suspended out deep but again proximity to bait is often a good sign. Lakers are very bottom-oriented fish and fishing down there with cowbells and Gambler rigs or peanuts is often the best strategy to get them to hit.

[Fishstix]

This does not really answer your question .But I have found when out over deep water and you are not marking anything. If a rod goes off it usually a real decent fish. Yes you can do well raking the bottom for quantity. But for me anyway I spend a lot of time chasing suspended fish.Derby fish.

[Sk8man]

Fishstix makes a good point but a few trips around the barge out in the middle of Seneca in 500 ft of water will underscore my point.

[rustyrat]

I specifically target suspended lakers.  I do not fish bottom marks.  

[Silver Fox]

If I have to target suspended Lakers, I'm going in.....

Silverfoxcharters.net

[Lewis863]

Lmao strong opinions gotta love fishermen.  I get them both ways but mostly suspended bottom dancing only when I have enough good experience on board to work riggers so I don’t lose equipment.  

[suttontroller94]

Theres a big difference in Lakers on Ontario vs the fingers. In the fingers often those suspended Lakers are pretty easy to catch. Run a spin doctor and fly or the right spoon in the area your seeing those marks ESPECIALLY from July through September when those Mark's are 80-100 down over deeper water

[back on eerie 2016]

Caught a few on cowbells and dipsy last year.

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[Roys Boys]

On Seneca I catch a lot of suspended lakers. Majority of the time it’s when I’m targeting silvers doing 2.4-2.8MPH in the thermalcline, using spoons and sometimes sticks ,more of the bigger ones are gonna be in the ice water.. 

[rustyrat]

3 hours ago, Silver Fox said:

If I have to target suspended Lakers, I'm going in.....

Silverfoxcharters.net
 

When you are running a charter business on Cayuga, you target suspended lakers.  The silvers are just above them.  So the routine is to run 2 riggers on the break and add cores to it.  Run the divers and the center rigger on the suspended lakers.  Rods fire all day.  

I'm not fishing suspended lakers on LO either.  LOL

[Reel Doc]

2 hours ago, rustyrat said:

When you are running a charter business on Cayuga, you target suspended lakers.  The silvers are just above them.  So the routine is to run 2 riggers on the break and add cores to it.  Run the divers and the center rigger on the suspended lakers.  Rods fire all day.  

I'm not fishing suspended lakers on LO either.  LOL

Is that true in the Spring?  Seems like this past month I find hungry Lakers but no silvers in the upper zone.

[whaler1]

If I have to target suspended Lakers, I'm going in.....

Silverfoxcharters.net

Lol if I start catching lakers I move.


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[GAMBLER]

With gobies invading some of the Fingerlakes, you will start to see the more aggressive lakers on the bottom.  Gobies are easy meals and they have to cover less water to find them.  Those suspenders will spend less time searching for alewife and key in on gobies.  

[rustyrat]

3 hours ago, Reel Doc said:

Is that true in the Spring?  Seems like this past month I find hungry Lakers but no silvers in the upper zone.

You will not catch shallow silvers until the surface temp reaches 44 degrees.  

[rustyrat]

Just now, GAMBLER said:

With gobies invading some of the Fingerlakes, you will start to see the more aggressive lakers on the bottom.  Gobies are easy meals and they have to cover less water to find them.  Those suspenders will spend less time searching for alewife and key in on gobies.  

I have not found that to be the case.  Max depth for the goby is less than 60 ft.  On Cayuga I am fishing 225 to 300 fow or more.  We’ve had gobies for over 10 years now.  We are talking about Cayuga and Seneca here not LO.  The guys jigging do well in 60 to 80 with goby patterns.  The fish Im fileting do not have any gobys.  However the browns are full of them and I don’t get many except in the spring.  Its nearly impossible to troll for them now unless you have a good mate or hummingbird/ digitroll system that can adjust your riggers in seconds.  They are in 45 to 60 fow and on Cayuga thats an impossible depth to fish trolling.  Most guys targeting browns are fishing bait, anchored or drifting.  The bottom on Cayuga changes to fast.  You can be working 60 fow and hit 15 fow in a second or 100 fow.  

[rustyrat]

2 hours ago, whaler1 said:

Lol if I start catching lakers I move.


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Maybe on LO.  Cayuga the silvers are right with them, just a touch above.  

[GAMBLER]

23 minutes ago, rustyrat said:

I have not found that to be the case.  Max depth for the goby is less than 60 ft.  On Cayuga I am fishing 225 to 300 fow or more.  We’ve had gobies for over 10 years now.  We are talking about Cayuga and Seneca here not LO.  The guys jigging do well in 60 to 80 with goby patterns.  The fish Im fileting do not have any gobys.  However the browns are full of them and I don’t get many except in the spring.  Its nearly impossible to troll for them now unless you have a good mate or hummingbird/ digitroll system that can adjust your riggers in seconds.  They are in 45 to 60 fow and on Cayuga thats an impossible depth to fish trolling.  Most guys targeting browns are fishing bait, anchored or drifting.  The bottom on Cayuga changes to fast.  You can be working 60 fow and hit 15 fow in a second or 100 fow.  

Over time, the lakers will adapt to eating gobies.  They have adapted well on Lake Ontario.  Gobies will go way deeper than 60'.  I have caught lakers in 200' of water that were coughing up gobies. The USGS also finds gobies in the trawls on Lake Ontario as deep as 300+'.   

[Fishstix]

The suspended lakers seem to be almost a different specie than the ones on the bottom. Their heads are larger they seem to be longer , more colorful and less slimey.You can catch them at faster speeds. Our fish gauge is if they take drag. I run nothing less than 30lb test. If they do not take drag then its get them in the boat and get the lure back down there.I also grab a few decent atlantics and bows in the mix.Occasional brown.   I hope someone else has noticed this and I don't look like a idiot.......

[Lewis863]

You are not crazy...i have found that a high percentage of the suspended lakers in cayuga have coloring often as bright as a brightly colored brown and a high percentage of them were natural spawn not stocked... all of the brightest colored ones I have caught were natural spawners.  The exception being I found them on the bottom during october...I did not track everything I caught over the last couple of seasons...and while id like to think I have the discipline to do so and it would be interesting I probably dont.  Other things like clients conversations and finding and landing fish take priority. I do know I caught  between 250-300 lakers last year on my charters and paid close attention to whether they were clipped or not.  I brought one up with a lampray on it, a few had scars but not many...when I would go shallower and work bottoms for browns I would invariably snag alot of lakers that were smaller in the low 20 inch category and be shaking them off... like rustyrat I could not find browns after the early season...

[GAMBLER]

I wonder what strains of Lakers they stock in the finger lakes. I’m pretty sure they stock three strains in Lake Ontario.


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[Hop]

I had to smile when I read this. For many years I have felt like there are at least two species of lake trout in Seneca. Not so much as suspended vs bottom fish, but fish that prefer different temps. Many older, larger lakers I find near 43 degrees. Smaller, younger, finclipped lakers I find in 48-51 degree water. Just an old man's observation.

The suspended lakers seem to be almost a different specie than the ones on the bottom. Their heads are larger they seem to be longer , more colorful and less slimey.You can catch them at faster speeds. Our fish gauge is if they take drag. I run nothing less than 30lb test. If they do not take drag then its get them in the boat and get the lure back down there.I also grab a few decent atlantics and bows in the mix.Occasional brown.   I hope someone else has noticed this and I don't look like a idiot.......

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[GAMBLER]

1 hour ago, Hop said:

I had to smile when I read this. For many years I have felt like there are at least two species of lake trout in Seneca. Not so much as suspended vs bottom fish, but fish that prefer different temps. Many older, larger lakers I find near 43 degrees. Smaller, younger, finclipped lakers I find in 48-51 degree water. Just an old man's observation.

 

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I find the same thing on Lake Ontario.  I have caught very few 18+lb lakers in warm water.  I find most of the 18+ lakers in 39-42 degree water.