Cayuga's Different, But Big Bags Expected

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

Cayuga Lake figures to be a different animal this week when the Elite Series visits one of the New York’s famed Finger Lakes for the second time in three years.

It’ll be different for several reasons, primarily because the circuit is paying a visit this year in late June compared to late August back in 2014, when Greg Hackney won with 85 pounds even. Back then, the fish were settled into their summer patterns and bunched up around lush vegetation both near and offshore. Hackney’s winning pattern involved flipping grass in 14 to 17 feet of water on a small area along the eastern shoreline.

If this week’s derby is won out of water that deep, it’ll be a stunning development. What wouldn’t surprise some is that a 20-pound average or better winds up taking home the blue trophy on Sunday. It’s been a drier and cooler spring than usual around central New York and it has the fish at Cayuga scattered out and in all phases of the spawning cycle, which could set the stage for a junk-fisherman’s dream with fish spread out around docks, emerging shallow grass and other cover.

“Guys are going to crack ‘em,” said one competitor. “This place has got ‘em.”

Generating bites in practice hasn’t been difficult, but locating the areas with concentrations of the better quality fish will be the key. Largemouth figure to be the preferred target species, but smallmouth could play a role as they appear to be in their spawning phase toward the southern end of the lake.

There appears to be a healthy population of fish on beds or fixing to move onto their spawning spots so sight-fishing, wind permitting, will be a factor as the event rolls on.

Thursday’s forecast contains a little uncertainty in the form of some possible morning rain, but beyond that the weather and wind will not be the source or worry for the field of 107 anglers.

The top 8 finishers this week will earn a berth in the Classic Bracket event, slated for July 18-22 on the Upper Niagara River in Buffalo, N.Y. The competition will pit qualifiers against each other in a timed, bracketed format with all fish weighed and released on the water, much in the way Major League Fishing competitions are operated. The winner will earn $50,000 and a berth in the 2017 Bassmaster Classic.

Before getting into more about the bite, here's the lowdown on the lake itself.

BassFan Lake Profile

> Lake name: Cayuga
> Type of water: Glacial lake (the longest of central New York's Finger Lakes)
> Surface acres: 42,956
> Primary structure/cover: Grass, docks, weedlines, man-made concrete barriers, rocks, ledges
> Primary forage: Alewives, crayfish, perch, various minnows
> Average depth: 54 1/2 feet
> Species: Mostly largemouths, some smallmouths
> Minimum length: 12 inches
> Reputation: An underexposed fishery that can produce big numbers
> Weather: Chance of thunderstorms Thursday before clearing up and getting hot by the weekend
> Water temp: Mid 60s to low 70s
> Water visibility/color: Gin-clear in some places, slightly tinted in others depending on the wind
> Water level: Normal
> Fish in: 1 to 25 feet
> Fish phase: Pre-spawn, spawn, post-spawn
> Primary patterns: Various jigs, plastics, flipping, spinnerbaits, dropshots, Senkos, swimbaits
> Winning weight (4 days): 83 pounds
> Cut weight (Top 50 after 2 days): 30 pounds
> Fishing quality (1=poor, 5=great): 3.5 for Cayuga Lake
> Biggest factors: Crowding
> Biggest decision: Deep, shallow or a mix of both
> Wildcard: Day 1 weather – clouds and rain will make it tough to ID grass lines and could affect how fish position

For a closer look at Cayuga, which is 3 1/2 miles wide at its widest point and has a maximum depth of 435 feet, check out this map provided by Navionics:

Behind Schedule

One of the first things that caught a lot of competitors’ attention this week was the water temperature. After competing at Lake Texoma two weeks ago where the water has warmed into the 80s, some were surprised to see water as cold as 59 degrees at Cayuga. As the third-deepest lake in New York – only Lake Ontario and Seneca Lake are deeper – it’s common for Cayuga to stay cooler longer, especially from the mid-lake section down toward Ithaca. The northern portion, closer to the launch site in Union Springs, is shallower and warms quicker and that’s where anglers have found water in the low to mid 70s.

“I’ve never been on a body of water where you can run 10 miles and the water temperature drops 10 degrees,” said Jared Lintner, who finished 5th at Cayuga in 2014. “It’s shocking.”

For former FLW Tour angler Ken Golub, who resides in nearby Pittsford, N.Y., and sometimes guides at Cayuga, the lake is behind schedule compared to any notes he has from previous years. Earlier this month, his 12-year-old son, Rein, won a Junior Bassmasters tournament at Cayuga with a 16-07 bag caught on the north end.

“There were still fish on beds two weeks ago on the north end,” Golub said. “There was one night I stayed out until 3:30 a.m. looking for grass and it was just then starting to come up.”

If Golub were competing this week, he’d try to find isolated grass outside of spawning areas where fish would gravitate toward after moving to deeper water.

“Someone who finds post-spawn migrating fish that will hold on any good grass will do well,” he said. “There’s not much structure in the lake other than some pipes or other nuances guys can find. Those places can be gold mines. It should be crazy good.”

Golub also thinks the traditional formula for figuring out day-2 weights compared to day 1 won’t apply this week. Typically, weights increase by a pound on day 2.

“A good start will be paramount,” he said, “because the traditional formula for the cut will go out the window. These fish seem to be easy to catch, but I think there will be a day-1 to day-2 drop off. That’s typical for a New York lake in a multi-day tournament.”

Northern Exposure

Cayuga Lake kicks off a three-tournament northern swing that will also include stops at the Potomac River and Mississippi River (La Crosse, Wis.) before the season culminates with the Angler of the Year championship at Minnesota’s Mille Lacs Lake in mid-September. This stretch offers an opportunity for those who’ve struggled so far to right the ship and make a late-season rally. It’s been done before. Last season, Todd Faircloth was as low as 81st in the points after six events and wound up 32nd, thanks to three Top-20 finishes, including a victory, down the stretch.

Hackney has a comfortable 30-point lead over Gerald Swindle right now, but as BassFans know things can change in a hurry as far as the points standings go. For example, Brent Chapman was the points leader after two events and now finds himself in 58th place and in need of a rally down the stretch if he hopes qualify for Mille Lacs and to have a shot at next year’s Classic.

While the deficit from Hackney to Justin Lucas in 9th place is a healthy 98 points, the gap from Jason Christie in 25th to Cliff Pace in 50th is just 53 points. so the anglers around the Classic and AOY cutline will welcome every ounce of fish they can gather from here on out.

Notes from the Field

Following are practice notes from a few of the anglers who'll be competing this week.

Clent Davis
“Monday was better than Tuesday for me. I stayed in the same area and didn’t get any bites. I assume it’s because the wind shifted from south to north, but I know they’re going to kill them. This lake puts them out.

“I think it’s real scattered, though. Everything I’ve seen is one here, one there. I’m pretty excited about this one. I haven’t had a lot of bites, but they’ve been the right ones. I just hope there’s a lot more fish there. It’s a transition deal. There are some beds, some that haven’t spawned and a bunch that are done. I’m going to stay in one area where the fish are doing all three things. I’m going to stay on the north end and swing for it.”

Bill Lowen
“There are fish in every stage they could be in. You’ve got post-spawners that are already out, post-spawners that are not out yet, fish on beds and fish going on beds. It’s crazy out there right now. It makes things inconsistent. We all expected it to be like last time where you could get in an area and there’d be a big wad of fish. It’s not like that. It’s one here or there and one shallow, one deep.

“You can get some bites, but I don’t feel like I can pull up on a spot and say, ‘I’m going to catch five right there.’ I have to run around and junk-fish and hope for the five right ones.

“I spent a lot of time at the south end last time and didn’t do very well. I felt like I fished enough stuff and just don’t feel like there is a big concentration of fish down there. I may have missed the boat, but that’s what my gut tells me. I’ll probably concentrate from mid-lake up north. Historically, I think that’s were everything goes down.”

Jeff Kriet
“I think the weights will probably be pretty high. These fish are fat and a lot of them are spawning.

“I think smallmouth will play a role – they are big – and it’ll probably take 16 pounds a day to get paid. The wind could hurt us, though. It’s muddying up lots of water. Because of that, I think some areas will be crowded with a lot of competitors.”

Jared Lintner
“I have five rods tied up for punching and I haven’t taken one out of the rod locker yet. Last time, I caught several big ones punching grass, but those rods haven’t seen the light of day this week. There’s a lot of grass, but it’s not topped out. I just haven’t seen the right kind of grass.

“I think it’ll fish fairly big this time just because not all of the grass is in a certain part of the lake. There is less in areas where there was a ton. On average, it’s pretty much everywhere. The last time, you could run by an area and say, ‘They live there.’ You’d go in there, catch five and all of sudden there’d be 15 boats in there. Now, it’s not as obvious. There are more options. I’m not setting the world on fire. It’s been a slow practice.

“There’s a combination of a lot of fish in transition. Some fish have spawned, some are going to spawn and some are spawning. I’ve had bites from 6 inches out to 10 1/2 feet, but on this lake, that’s 500 yards of water from the bank out. It’s a big area. I think there are a bunch of largemouth that haven’t spawned yet.”

Jordan Lee
“It’s always a little challenging coming to a lake like this. You don’t know what end of the lake you should be on or what the fish are doing. I came here expecting a lot of fish to still be spawning. There are a few smallmouth spawning and a lot of people are going around looking just because the water is so clear.

“The grass hasn’t topped out anywhere so it makes hard to fish for me. When the grass is topped out you know where they’re going to be. When it’s scattered like this, it’s hard to target specific stuff. The largemouth aren’t really easy to find. There are some fish on docks. I see a lot of people doing that. I don’t think it’s going to fish that big. I’ve gone to lot of sections of the lake and it seems like dead water.

“I think it’ll be won out of 10 feet or under. It’s been breezy and sunny so if we get clouds and rain, that might make it a little tougher. Here, it’ll be a 100-yard stretch where the big ones are at, but you have to be around the right area and that can be a needle in a haystack if you don’t know what you’re looking for.”

Top 10 To Watch

With the above in mind and more, here, in no particular order, is BassFan's recommendation on the Top 10 to watch at this event:

1. Aaron Martens – He’s yet to log a Top-12 finish this season – he had 12 between 2013-15 – and he could use a strong performance this week to firm up a Classic berth. His track record in New York has always been strong.

2. Jacob Powroznik – One of the top shallow-water sticks going. He took 6th at Cayuga two years ago and has a good feel for northern lakes where both smallmouth and largemouth swim.

3. Greg Hackney – The winner at Cayuga in 2014 and coming off a victory at Lake Texoma, the AOY leader should be in his element again as shallow-water tactics are expected to dominate this week.

4. Chris Zaldain – Has only missed the money once this year and was a threat to win at Cayuga two years ago (he finished 3rd).

5. Bernie Schultz – He gets his mail in Florida, but he’s always performed well in the Empire State. He hasn’t had the best season so his salvage mission could start this week.

6. Gerald Swindle – This could be another junker’s delight that falls into his wheelhouse as his pursuit of Hackney and the AOY title continues. He was 83rd at Cayuga in ’14, but he has three Top-12s to his credit already this year.

7. Dave Lefebre – He understands how things work at natural northern lakes and he is enjoying a solid first year with the Elite Series.

8. Luke Clausen – Buried in the points standings (99th), he has nothing to lose by going for the win. With the fish scattered, that could play into his strength of fishing the moment.

9. Edwin Evers – In the midst of another consistent season, the reigning Classic champ is looking for his first Top-12 of the year. He was 4th at Cayuga in 14.

10. Seth Feider – The Minnesota native is no stranger to lakes where smallies and largemouth roam. He snapped four-event checkless skid at Texoma and he needs three good finishes starting this week to qualify for the AOY championship at Mille Lacs Lake in his backyard.

Notable

> Brent Chapman believes bed-fishing will be a prominent tactic at least early on this week and he's going to focus on the northern end of the lake where he feels most comfortable. To check out the rest of his practice recap, click here.

Launch/Weigh-In Info

> Anglers will launch at 6:15 a.m. ET each day from Frontenac Park (26 Chapel St., Union Springs, N.Y.) Weigh-ins will get under way at 3:15 p.m. at the same location.

Weather Forecast

> Thurs., June 23 – Chance of Morning Rain – 76°/54°
- Wind: From the NNW at 5 to 10 mph

> Fri., June 24 – Clear – 83°/59°
- Wind: From the W at 5 to 10 mph

> Sat., June 25 – Clear – 88°/65°
- Wind: From the SSE at 5 to 10 mph

> Sun., June 26 – Clear – 93°/69°
- Wind: From the SSW at 10 to 15 mph