Heading fo Keuka Today

[Pygmy]

In about ten minutes I am heading for Keuka Lake with some buddies, two boats.

We plan to launch at the State Park at Branchport  and try to locate some schools of perch...

Plan  "B "  if the perch don't co-operate, we will try for some lakers..

Gonna be chilly for awhile...I'm dressing like Nanook of the North going out to harpoon some seals...

[reeltime]

good luck sir

 

[Steuben Jerry]

Sounds fun! Good luck today!

[grampy]

Good luck out there Nanook! Have fun and keep safe!

[Pygmy]

We had a nice morning on the lake....Found a school of HUNDREDS of perch, and they all had lockjaw....Caught ONE perch between two boats...After that we did manage to jig up a couple of lakers....A good morning of fishing,  just not a good morning for CATCHING...

[SmokeinTN]

A day on the lake is always a great time.

[genesee_mohican]

59 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

We had a nice morning on the lake....Found a school of HUNDREDS of perch, and they all had lockjaw....Caught ONE perch between two boats...After that we did manage to jig up a couple of lakers....A good morning of fishing,  just not a good morning for CATCHING...

I'm betting this easterly weather flow has them shut down for a while. Next week looks better for catching fish, so I hope you can get back out there on them.

[Pygmy]

1 hour ago, genesee_mohican said:

I'm betting this easterly weather flow has them shut down for a while. Next week looks better for catching fish, so I hope you can get back out there on them.

I hope  you are right...I also hope the fish stay in area...We had two cameras down and  the area was literally crawling with nice perch...We tried minnows, oak leaf grubs, spikes, earthworms , plastics and hair jigs and had exactly one bite between 5 fishermen..

[sodfather]

So jealous enjoy I love me some perch 

[doebuck1234]

A bad day fishing is always better than a good day at work!!!

[bugsNbows]

Good luck...sounds like fun. When I was a kid and lived up there, we had a cottage on Keuka Lake. Enjoyed our summer visits up there. 

[Pygmy]

56 minutes ago, bugsNbows said:

Good luck...sounds like fun. When I was a kid and lived up there, we had a cottage on Keuka Lake. Enjoyed our summer visits up there. 

Where on Keuka was your cottage, Bugsy ?   I have fished Keuka more than any other body of water ..Never owned a place there( I couldn't afford the taxes ! )  but my sister has owned  several places on the lake over the years AND I live close enough so I can drive to the lake, launch my boat and be fishing in less than an hour.

[Steve D]

Think about heading one lake east. Seneca has some huge perch early in the year. 1&2 pounders are common. Usually right after the smelt run. Haven't been out or heard if the smelt are running or have run yet.

Edited March 31, 2017 by Steve D

[bugsNbows]

5 hours ago, Pygmy said:

Where on Keuka was your cottage, Bugsy ?   I have fished Keuka more than any other body of water ..Never owned a place there( I couldn't afford the taxes ! )  but my sister has owned  several places on the lake over the years AND I live close enough so I can drive to the lake, launch my boat and be fishing in less than an hour.

I don't remember for sure. I'm thinking on the west side. I'll ask my older sister if she remembers where. My grandfather had a barber shop up there too. As I recall, he passed away sitting in the chair out front of his shop. I vaguely remember getting up there one Saturday and seeing him just sitting there. My parents ushered us kids away quickly so the situation could be handled. I was probably 7-8 years old at the time. 

[Pygmy]

4 hours ago, Steve D said:

Think about heading one lake east. Seneca has some huge perch early in the year. 1&2 pounders are common. Usually right after the smelt run. Haven't been out or heard if the smelt are running or have run yet.

Smelt have been considered basically extinct in Seneca for at least 20 years or so....

There are still some jumbo perch in Seneca, but they have become MUCH harder to catch over the last few years... Not sure of the reason....Zebra mussels ?  Overabundance of freshwater shrimp ?

Who have you been talking to about a smelt run in Seneca ?  I along with perhaps several thousand other local fishermen would like to talk to that guy...

if you have evidence of any smelt in Seneca in the last decade or two,, I would like to see some proof and documentation....

[First-light]

Love fishing that lake good luck!

 

[mkgregor]

My friends and I went there for fishing last July of last year. The upper ends of the lake is a bit dark and shallow, while the rest is clear and deep.

[Steve D]

On ‎3‎/‎31‎/‎2017 at 5:02 PM, Pygmy said:

Who have you been talking to about a smelt run in Seneca ?  I along with perhaps several thousand other local fishermen would like to talk to that guy...

Pygmy

Haven't talked to anyone about a smelt run anywhere. What I was saying was we use to time our perch fishing on Seneca around the smelt run which give or take is about the same time everywhere in the state. I haven't fished Seneca in quite some time and when we did we would smelt on the Hector side. When we perch fished it would be primarily on the Dresden side. Since I sold my boat (one of the dumbest things I ever did.) I haven't fished much at all. Haven't done any smelting lately either and didn't realize it was that bad in Seneca. We use to hit them there and Canandaigua pretty good.

 I don't know anyone smelting anymore and can't get any of the "younger" generation interested so I have been sitting it out. It really isn't something you want to do alone with all that "can" go wrong.

 

[Uncle Nicky]

Good luck Pygmy!

[Pygmy]

2 hours ago, Steve D said:

Pygmy

Haven't talked to anyone about a smelt run anywhere. What I was saying was we use to time our perch fishing on Seneca around the smelt run which give or take is about the same time everywhere in the state. I haven't fished Seneca in quite some time and when we did we would smelt on the Hector side. When we perch fished it would be primarily on the Dresden side. Since I sold my boat (one of the dumbest things I ever did.) I haven't fished much at all. Haven't done any smelting lately either and didn't realize it was that bad in Seneca. We use to hit them there and Canandaigua pretty good.

 I don't know anyone smelting anymore and can't get any of the "younger" generation interested so I have been sitting it out. It really isn't something you want to do alone with all that "can" go wrong.

 

The fishing in Seneca has declined dramatically in the last few years...

The smelt are gone.....Perch fishing has become spotty at best..Many of the most avid perch chasers who own property on Seneca are trailering their boats to other lakes because they can't catch fish consistently in Seneca..  I well remember the days when there would be a hundred boats in Dresden bay during the perch run and EVERYBODY was catching fish.. The pike fishing has also tanked, and the smallmouth fishing along with it..  Many of the charter boats are fishing other lakes because they no longer can depend on  finding fish for their clients on Seneca...

I'm not sure  what's going on there, but fishery on Seneca is no longer what it used to be.

[BigVal]

Yea fishing Seneca had gone down for sure. Fished it last year and couldn't stay on perch at all. Got into them once for like an hour and never again. Moved shallower and got some spotty action.