Cayuga Lake will be close

I’m up here prefishing on Cayuga Lake in picture perfect weather.

It’s back to fishing after a short trip home. The kids are back in school. There were school lines of cars in the parking lot, gymnastics practice, football practice and then more school lines. I love it, that’s for sure. Being a father is one of the great joys of my life. But I also have to admit that with four kids it gets busy at times.

Now, Holly has to do all of that herself while I’m up here prefishing on Cayuga Lake in picture perfect weather. OK, maybe it’s a little cool in the mornings but it’s nice in the afternoons. It’s the kind of weather that makes a guy want to go fishing, especially here.

The lake is in really good shape. It’s full of fish so I’m expecting a good catch rate all week. I’m happy about that. Seeing guys holding full sacks in the weigh-in line is good for the fans and for our media coverage.

The fans get a kick out of the number of fish caught because it gives them a chance to root for their favorite angler and it keeps things exciting. It’s good for the media coverage because there’ll be lots of good how-to articles along with plenty of exciting pictures and videos.

The only other thing that I’ll say is that I think the lake will fish small. That puts a different twist on the tournament.

I’ll admit that fishing in a crowd is not my favorite thing to do but there are times when it’s necessary. My strategy is to keep my head down and concentrate on what I’m doing. As best I can, I try to tune out everything. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t. That’s one of the many things in life that’s easier to talk about than it is to do.

There’s another factor at play here, too. In some ways, it ties into the fact that Cayuga Lake will be fishing small this week.

With this being the last regular season event, there’s a lot on the line for many of us. The guys near the top want to protect their spots so they’ll be fishing with that in mind. They’ll want to make sure they catch fish to help them hold their place. Do no harm, as the doctors say.

On the other hand, the guys who are down in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings will be swinging for the fences because it’s the last chance they have of qualifying for the postseason or the Classic through the Elite Series. They aren’t so much interested in catching fish. They want to catch big fish. 

 

This will be one you want to follow closely here on Bassmaster.com. There’s a lot on the line this week. It’s going to be exciting and could go down to the last fish weighed. And, with the boats being so close together on the water, there’s always a chance it’ll get intense at some point. We’ve seen that happen before, you know.

Chris Lane’s column appears weekly on Bassmaster.com. You can also find him on Twitter and Facebook or visit his website, www.chrislanefishing.com.