Fishing Report For Cayuga Lake, NY

By Rick Seaman

May 16, 2025

Popular Fish Species Reports
Cayuga Lake Fishing Video
Available Fish Species
Today's Weather & Forecast
Fishing Boat Rentals
Boat Launch Ramps
Marinas
Fishing License
Map
Contact Info

Fishing Report Cayuga Lake, NY

Fishing Reports

Popular Fish Species Cayuga Lake, NY

Largemouth Bass

Current Report: Good
Outlook: Good To Very Good

Largemouth bass here are fat, with a big girth for their length. They feed on bluegills, perch, crayfish, gobies, gizzard shad, smelt and alewives, so they have plenty of options. Jerkbaits, crankbaits, worms and swimbaits are all catching bass, including smallmouth. The large flats around the town of Cayuga have produced good largemouth fishing for a number of years and are still a popular area.

Yellow Perch

Current Report: Good To Very Good
Outlook: Good

A healthy, stable population of yellow perch reside in Cayuga Lake. They provide a steady food source for larger, predator fish, plus excellent fishing for anglers. Ice fishing in the northern end of the lake in February, when there is safe ice, can be very good for perch. The rest of the Winter is great for perch fishing. They can also be caught the rest of the year as well. Look for shallow weedy and rocky areas in winter, and around 15' to 20' once the water warms. Spoons, jigs, live shiners and nightcrawlers are all good choices here.

Lake Trout

Current Good To Very Good
Outlook: Good To Very Good

The cold, deep waters of Cayuga Lake create an ideal habitat for lake trout. Add schools of alewives, their primary food source, and you have the excellent laker fishery that exists here for anglers. Food source and water temperature dictate where you'll find these big trout. Water temperatures in the mid 40's with schools of alewives is the ideal to locate schools of fish. Lake trout feed on small fish, so lures imitating baitfish, sunfish or small trout are good choices. Other choices include nightcrawlers or Berkeley Power Crawlers, fished on drop-shot rigs. Flashy spoons can be fished at any depth, either jigging, trolling or cast and retrieve. For big lakers, use bigger baits.

Fishing Video

Fish species to fish for...

Guide to fishing for largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, channel catfish, black crappie, rainbow trout, brown trout, lake trout, bluegill, pumpkinseed sunfish, yellow perch, landlocked salmon (Atlantic salmon), chain pickerel, northern pike and lake sturgeon at Cayuga Lake in New York.

Cayuga Lake is a 43,000-acre lake with over 100 miles of shoreline. Spanning over 38 miles, Cayuga Lake offers a mix of cold-water and warm-water fish species. The lake is home to lake trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, Atlantic salmon, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, northern pike, and panfish. and pike. Shoreline fishing is available for fishing from the bank.

Primary fish species to catch

Click images for fishing tips and details about each species.

Today's Weather & Forecast

Fishing Boat Rentals

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Public Boat Launch Ramps & Landings

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Marinas

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Fishing License

Click here for a New York Fishing License.

Map - Fishing & Access

Rick Seaman is a fishing enthusiast with over five decades of fishing experience, a retired tournament fisherman, author of numerous published articles on fishing, and co-author of the book "Bass Fishing - It's not WHAT you throw, It's WHERE you throw it".