By Aaron Ball
Chasing northern smallmouth has become something that I look forward to each spring and after traveling to Lake Erie three out of the last four years my crew of fellow adventurers decided to venture out this spring.
The Bass Pro Tour fireworks on Lake Cayuga last year caught my attention along with the state record smallmouth being broken the last two years up there, so we decided that is where we would head this year for a change of scenery. This is the story of our trip.
Day 1
Brian Green and I hit the road around three am and headed north with visions of six-pounds smallmouth dancing in our heads. We rolled into scenic Ithaca, New York around 10:30 am and immediately headed to the ramp at Taughannock Falls State Park to put the boat in.
This is the ramp that we would utilize for the entirety of our trip and was a great facility. Our buddies LJ and Eddie were already on the north end of the lake, so Brian and I decided to work the lower end of the lake. Immediately upon launching I was taken back by the amazingly clear blue water and the beautiful grass. Within a minute or two we had saw several bass cruising that were pushing five pounds! This was gonna be great, we thought.
We headed to the west side of the lake to work some of the shallower flats in the hopes that we could find some smallmouth on beds. Almost immediately we started off catching yellow perch and some really nice-sized ones on Megabass 110 Jerkbaits. In fact, they seemed to enjoy just about every lure offering we tried.
Eventually we moved to the east bank when we spotted a large fish up on the bank. I tossed my drop shot up towards the fish and it ate the bait and immediately headed towards Canada almost dumping my entire spool of line. I frantically put the trolling motor on high and chased the fish down before the hook eventually pulled! At first, we thought it was a lake trout, but later we would realize that it was a lake sturgeon. It was amazing to feel the power of that fish. The wind was kicking up and made for a sporty ride back to the ramp in Brian’s Triton, and would be an indicator of things to come.
Day 2
The next morning, we woke up and the forecast was calling for upwards of 20 mph winds blowing from the north. Ugh, the lake runs almost completely north to south! We made a long run up the lake to explore some of the grass flats, but the wind had started earlier than forecasted and we had to make the long run back to the ramp. The ride was a reminder of the power of some of these lakes and that we weren’t fishing the small lakes in Virginia I’m accustomed to fishing.
We spent the rest of that day relaxing and enjoying the hot tub at the VRBO before LJ and I decided to go back out for the evening.
Eddie had broken off a big smallmouth the night before, so we decided to check to see if it was still there and she was. After spending a little bit of time working the fish, it finally ate my drop shot rig. LJ was quick with the net, and I had true Cayuga beauty in my hands!
Day 3
The next day Brian and Eddie were slow to rise so LJ and I decided to try something new and traveled to one of the nearby Finger Lakes for a change of scenery. This decision would prove to by the wisest choice of the trip. We fished the north end of Lake Seneca and caught upwards of 40 fish. This was the northern fishing I had expected, and we caught fish on a variety of baits including Chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, and drop shots. Also, just the sheer numbers of fish we saw was incredible. We had to have seen easily over a 100 bass, many of them in the four to five-pound range. Of course, the fish you saw would not usually bite, but it was just incredibly cool to see so many fish.
Day 4
Our last day was a repeat of the first few days although the wind finally laid down. We fished hard but yellow perch were about the only thing we could muster.
Looking back there are several things that I wish we could do over. While I certainly wish the wind hadn’t been quite so bad, there is nothing you can do about that. I would have certainly spent more time on the upper ends of the lakes fishing the vast grass flats. As our luck would turn out there was a Hobie Kayak Bass Tournament going on that week and there were roughly 125 kayaks on the lake pre-fishing most of the week while we were there.
We tried to avoid those areas, but it seems that is where a majority of the fish were. I won’t lie, I followed along with the standings on Saturday and Sunday and most of those kayak anglers put a hurting on the fish. It was almost hard to believe they were fishing the same lake we were.
The plus side was that the scenery was absolutely incredible and the weather temperature-wise was fantastic. Even though our fishing didn’t show it, Cayuga Lake is an incredible bass fishery and under normal circumstances I think the pressure is minimal compared to our lakes in Virginia. It is also an incredible fishery for lake trout and yellow perch.
At the end of the day Saturday, the sun was beating on us and as we idled a way, I told Brian to shut off the engine so I could jump into the lake. That 58- degree Cayuga water hit me hard, but it was refreshing and now I can always say I swam in Lake Cayuga.
I’m already planning my next trip back to Cayuga for some redemption! If you have any questions about the area, where we stayed, or anything else fishing related feel free to reach out to me @PsuAaron on IG.
