Keuka Keuka 5/14

[adesalvo]

I took a 1/2 day on Thursday and decided to hit up lady Keuka since I was going to be there Sunday for the FLTA and wanted to test a few spots. Launched from the state park in the dark and shot down to the hammondsport basin and had lines in by 515 out in front of snug harbor.  I immediately picked up 2 small Lakers down 80 on green NBK stingers behind spin doctors.

 

I shot up to the bluff after about an hour of nothing and put out some watermelon cowbells with some homemade spin n glos and got 2 more in about 30 min.  
 

I then pulled up and hit up the state park and picked up 1  and 1 miss on cowbells.

 

loaded up the boat and drove back home and was back to work by 1pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bait Bucket]

Not bad fish for that lake. Going up for the holiday week, always have some decent luck then. What color where the spin and glos

Edited May 16, 2021 by Bait Bucket

[adesalvo]

1 hour ago, Bait Bucket said:

Not bad fish for that lake. Going up for the holiday week, always have some decent luck then. What color where the spin and glos

 Watermelon has been good .. 

[Frogger]

I like that!


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[Bait Bucket]

Colors I have, I also use purple. I also use double glos.

[adesalvo]

2 hours ago, Bait Bucket said:

Colors I have, I also use purple. I also use double glos.

What are double glos? 

[Bait Bucket]

[jk1]

We jig there frequently but the fish are smaller and they are getting thin again like they were several years ago.  A 24 incher is big now and we even get some under the limit size occasionally.  Most are right at 20 to 21 inches long, but we usually do get  limit of 5 each.  Have not caught a rainbow in years there and only caught one brown ever there.......jk

[Trouthunter]

Rainbows are caught near the state park & north in the late fall that is when I have the best luck with them November is best

 

[ANGLERSS]

Fished south end Sunday & Monday first 2 hours of daylight each day. Boated 10 lakers total on spoons trolled within 10 ft of bottom over 120 fow. Only fished west shore. All fish were 15 to 20 in.

[Sk8man]

In days past I even caught rainbows jerking copper out from the college and on the Branchport arm near Gibson's Landing. The fishing for browns was good at the Hammondsport end and landlocks moved throughout the lake and most of mine came off boards out deep or Seth Green rigs. Other than a 22 inch landlock through the ice at the Penn Yan end while after perch I haven't caught a silver in the last few years there or seen any caught.

Edited June 3, 2021 by Sk8man

[jk1]

In days past (meaning at least 12 years ago) it was know as a big fish lake.  I keep getting the feeling that there must be a monster there eating those 20 inch fish but in the last 8 - 10 years, we have not had anything on the felt BIG, even the ones that come unhooked with out us seeing them dont feel big.  I have changed to 6 pound fireline just to get down deep with smaller lures.  We only jig and usually at least 100 feet minimum to 140 maybe.......jk 

[ANGLERSS]

A couple guys staying at the motel fished live sawbellies on the bottom in 120-125ft caught a lot more than I did trolling but still nothing over 22 inches.

[Sk8man]

The baitfish base has been gone for some time now and the lakers have b een feeding on perch and whatever else they can find and those items don't contain the fat or oil levels that lead to predator growth. That likely will not change anytime soon without a rich baitfish base. They have been trying to stock some Cisco's in there but who knows how successful that will be, or how long it might take to rejuvinate things If successful. The depletion of bait is at the heart of the problem but also the invasives have added some problems as well. I used to fish Cold Brook at the hammondsport for rainbows for many years and that stream isn't even a shadow of what it once was. At one time the state record brown came from that end of the lake as well and a long time ago we used to get quite a few at night at Keuka. They just don't seem to be making it in the lake anymore and same for the Landlocks. Even the perch fishing has taken a huge hit there.  I'm sure a few exceptions may exist and maybe some of the "locals" may have more specific info.  Even the ice fishing there was spotty at best this year.

Edited June 3, 2021 by Sk8man

[ANGLERSS]

10-15 years ago I would mark suspended fish all over the water column, now most marks are on the bottom.

[bulletbob]

Like too many other lakes in central NY, Keuka is ringed with development... All that ""progress"" is never good for any fishery anywhere..
 Too many fish taken and eaten over too long a period is one problem, and habitat
degradation is another.. Does anyone REALLY think all that lawn and garden fertilizer, pesticides, dog crap,Farm effluent, septic seepage from hundreds of houses, just goes away?.. No it goes into the lake.. Skaneateles  is similar.. Water was as clean as Gin year round.. No weeds.. Now, there are weeds everywhere, and the lake is green.... Thats what happens when lakes are turned over to individuals for development... I don't see much hope for a better future  either.... These lakes are getting over run, and although they are  big, they are still sensitive...

[jk1]

Bulletbob, I understand what you are saying, but I feel more fish are needed to be remover.  They are starving, no food.  They are stunted from over crowding at the dinner table.  Last year we saw some bait on the TV but this year we hardly see any bait.  Argue with me, I want to hear you side of the story.......jk

[bulletbob]

 To be honest, I Only fish at Keuka  rarely these days.. I simply don't catch fish there anymore, and i just don't see any screens either... When I started fishing there about 16-17 years ago, I caught so many lakers  I would get sick of looking at them.. 30 fish in a few hours was no big deal... They were small even then compared to other lakes... Screens would light up like  a Christmas tree, with  lakers up and down the  water column...

 The bag limit even went to  5 fish on lakers before any of the  other lakes if I recall.

 Past several years, I see no more fish on the  color screen, and I just don't catch fish there anymore... I suppose I could always be there at the wrong time, or at  the wrong place every time, or all the lures and techniques i used for years there  to good effect are no longer valid, or something... I just no longer catch anything there, at least not enough to keep me going back...  I might be missing something, and I know  the bait is gone, but in my opinion so are a LOT of the lakers.....  The  screens simply don't lie,, areas I used to fish that were thick with lakers are now totally devoid of them...  I  usually fish from mid  lake north,, I dunno, maybe the lakers have better feed at the south end, and thats why I don't see them ,, Also, I see a LOT less guys jigging for lakers than I did at one time, and thats always  a tell tale sign,, Where there are fish available, you can  be sure there will be fishermen after them... I simply don't see as  many as I did years ago... Honestly it could all be on me.. Perhaps I have totally lost all my skill as a fisherman.. For me, Keuka has become a lost cause, I  just can't catch lakers there any longer... Even the bass and panfish don't seem as good, but again, I have lost confidence there, and don't fish it as much as I used to.....  I do NOT think taking more fish out of the lake is a long term solution..bob

Edited June 9, 2021 by bulletbob

[ANGLERSS]

I fish there often because my boat is only 16.5ft LUND, would rather fish Cayuga, but only having weekend days to fish the wind plays a big factor on my choice of lakes. I have noticed most fish I do catch are near the bottom in whatever depth I fish.----Chuck

[jk1]

BBob, long term solution????  No one knows that.  The only reason we fish there is because our main boat is a 14 foot utility iwth now a 9.9 Merc, used to be the 15  1977 Johnson.  My friend and fishing buddy does not like bigger water.  We frequently fish in a bass tracker of 16 foot with a jet motor.  He does not like Cayuga either, so if I am to go fishing I go there.  they tried to introduce the cisco the last few years and we did see them on the TV, but not this year.  We seldom see sea gulls too, that must means something also.  And as far as bass go we have not hooked or caught one is 5 years, we used to get a stray every few weeks.     Just throwing in all sorts of fish is not a long solution either.   Long time ago Otisco was a dead lake and that has changed some how?   I dont know, but keep on trying I guess is all that can be done.......jk

[bulletbob]

 If they want to stock something in the lake, they ought to keep dumping sawbellies in there, every year until they stick..  That lake needs a forage base... bob

[jk1]

That is not an argument, that is agreeing with me......jk

[bulletbob]

 Not looking to argue.. Too old for that crap!.. I am no fishery biologist, but know the fish need something to eat....  Just wondering why they can't  stock sawbellies.. I suppose Ciscoes are native to the lake, but I don't think they are as prolific as the sawbellies..

 

[Sk8man]

The decision to stock Ciscos may have been based on the fact that they don't create the Thiamine deficiency in trout and salmon and grow to a larger size than sawbellies perhaps providing more nutritional value?

[bluetop]

Gobies to the rescue !?