There were many questions about the bass fishing in Cayuga Lake after the 75 Elite Series anglers completed their three-day practice period Wednesday. On Thursday the answers started coming, like they’ve never come before in the two previous Elite Series tournaments on this 42,500 lake.
Chris Zaldain’s 24-pound, 5-ounce first-place bag is heavier than any previous single day total in the 2016 and 2014 events here. And the 14 total 20-pound bags were more than the 12 caught on Day 1 in 2016 and the 12 caught in the entire four-day tournament in 2014.
Today is where we’ll see if Cayuga is fishing completely different than before. There have always been wild swings in the standings from Day 1 to Day 2 on Cayuga. For instance, in 2016, Chad Pipkens caught 20-1 on the first day, 15-13 the second day and finished the tournament in 45th place. In 2014, Mike Kernan was second with 20-7 on Day 1, caught 7-12 on Day 2 and finished in 45th place.
And that inconsistency might be best illustrated by Fred Roumbanis’ 2016 tournament here, when he was 99th of 107 anglers with 11-10 on Day 1, then finished 60th on Day 2 after catching 20-2.
Cayuga Lake appears to be fishing better than ever. We’ll know for sure after today.