Keuka jig bite Memorial Day weekend

[Lively1]

Had a blast jigging for lakers on Keuka Lake this past weekend.. Boated about three dozen in three days. Nearly all the fish were caught in 50-65 FOW, near bottom, though one chased the jig up and smacked it at a depth of 20 feet. All were the typical size for Keuka: 18-24 inches. Don't know what they were eating as they were all released.  First day I found a bunch of fish in one location, next couple of days they were more scattered and had to try several spots, getting a few each place. This is all on the east arm. Saw a few boats trolling and a few flipping docks for bass.. Anyone else do anything?

[fishyoo]

Hey there Lively,

I fished Keuka lake with my father in law and his friend on Saturday morning. Also fished the east arm, but we were looking for perch. Tried near the college, but didn't find any fish except for a couple of pickerel. The wind was blowing pretty hard out of the south so it made anchoring pretty difficult. We eventually moved up lake towards Penn Yan, and had some fun catching some nice sized sunfish. Also saw some boats flipping docks for bass.

[CaptainAwesome]

Thanks for the report Lively!  My family is heading up from Pa for our annual trip (though we are usually there Memorial Day week).  Question for those who may know...

Was reading in the other thread on Jigging that someone note on Keuka to "match the hatch", since sawbellies were down on that lake.  We don't have much in the the way of fishing setup (rented pontoon boat for the family, that my dad and I take over in the morning for fishing).  So while I jig my dad just dead drifts live sawbellies and I keep one on the bottom as well.

 

Would it be better to move to perch minnows, instead of sawbellies for the match the hatch theory?  Just curious everyone's opinion.

 

Also what jigs colors and type would you recommend.  My go to was always a 1 once round jig with a white lunker city shaker.

 

Thanks!!

[apb]

Although it has been about a year since I fished Sawbellies on Keuka when I did they worked great.


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[Sk8man]

I'm assuming you are talking lakers on Keuka with the "match the hatch" question. The phrase is a little more appropriate to stream fishing and flyfishing in particular. It does fit this situation  iin the sense that if they are feeding on small perch using something that color or size may entice them ,but Keuka is in trouble right now  and way out of balance in terms of available sawbellies or smelt, and that is why the lakers are going after the perch more than normal. They are very desperate for food and some even appear malnourished (very slender bodies with disproportionately large appearing head). Lakers are opportunists and will skarf up on nearly anything available even under "normal" conditions. They haven't forgotten what sawbellies look like . The task is to locate active feeding fish and there are a lot of them out there but their size may be "stunted" these days from the past times. Rainbows, browns and landlocks are no longer plentiful out there.

[CaptainAwesome]

On 6/4/2019 at 3:33 PM, Sk8man said:

I'm assuming you are talking lakers on Keuka with the "match the hatch" question. The phrase is a little more appropriate to stream fishing and flyfishing in particular. It does fit this situation  iin the sense that if they are feeding on small perch using something that color or size may entice them ,but Keuka is in trouble right now  and way out of balance in terms of available sawbellies or smelt, and that is why the lakers are going after the perch more than normal. They are very desperate for food and some even appear malnourished (very slender bodies with disproportionately large appearing head). Lakers are opportunists and will skarf up on nearly anything available even under "normal" conditions. They haven't forgotten what sawbellies look like . The task is to locate active feeding fish and there are a lot of them out there but their size may be "stunted" these days from the past times. Rainbows, browns and landlocks are no longer plentiful out there.

 

Yep you answered what I was wondering.  Keuka has been in that type of trouble for a good 5+ years from what I have seen (maybe longer) and you are probably well aware of that.  Might try a mix of perch and sawbellies to see if one works better.  Appreciate the feedback and knowledge!!

[jk1]

Your saw bellies will work well.  I jig about every week there but friends of ours were up at the state park two weeks ago and got 70 fish in three days using the saw bellies, you wont be disappointed.   They fished right out from the park all the way down to the bluffs.  Good luck......jk