There have been a few surprising things in this event from the weight of the stringers and the lack of grass.
Both of those things have been covered by Steve Wright and Craig Lamb in the Bass Blog. The other big surprise for this event has been the crazy number of “pike” or “pickerel” these anglers are catching. The characterization is correct in both instances. Chain pickerel are a member of the pike family. But there are differences between pike and pickerel. But more on that later.
On Day 1, if you watched some of the later action, Davy Hite and Tommy Sanders joked that Drew Cook may have broken the record for the most pickerel caught in successive casts. That number got up to around eight or so. And anglers all over the lake reported as many as 50 pickerel catches in the middle of them catching largemouth and smallmouth.
David Mullins gave a pretty good explanation of why so many of these toothy fish are being caught. It was simple too. With the decrease in grass it’s produced fewer places for bass to live on and likewise for the pickerel. Both are loading up on key spots and anglers are having to wade through them.
The good thing Mullins pointed out, is pickerel seem to sleep in late. And they don’t start biting until later in the day. He mentioned 9 o’clock, which is fast approaching. Cayuga has shown itself as a premier largemouth fishery in New York. But if you are into catching chain pickerel this lake may be the number one destination in the world, at least this week.