After posting the best Day 1 catch rates of the 2016 Elite Series season, Cayuga Lake kept that pace on Day 2. It took 33 pounds, 3 ounces to make the Top 50 cut, by far the highest total of the year. Previous bests were 28-12 at the St. Johns River and 28-9 at Toledo Bend.
But another number indicates just how good the fishing has been – for almost everyone: Only 7-5 separates first place from 50th place, and it’s 3-14 between first and 15th.
As several anglers noted after practice this week, Cayuga Lake has an incredible number of 3- to 6-pound largemouth and smallmouth bass in it. They couldn’t see them so well two years ago, when the Elite Series was here in late August and the bass had moved deeper in their summer pattern. But there remains a lot of spawning activity on this 43,000-acre lake now, and the post-spawners continue to be shallow. In this clear water, it’s easy to see what’s swimming in Cayuga Lake.
What’s not swimming in the lake is an abundance of bass in the 6-pounds-plus range. That’s another factor keeping the standings so tight: There aren’t many “game-changers” being caught here. Big bass on Day 1 was Morizo Shimizu’s 6-3. Bernie Schultz took Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors on Day 2 with a 5-14.
The following is a comparison of the weigh-in totals from the first two days of the Busch Beer Bassmaster Elite at Cayuga Lake:
Day 1 Day 2
Anglers/limits 107/106 107/105
Total fish weighed-in 529 531
Total weight 1,738-0 1,661-7
Avg. bass weighed 3.28 lbs. 3.13 lbs.
Big bass 6-3 5-14
Big bag 23-6 21-7
20-plus-lb. bags 12 3