When people think of the western part of New York State, they think of the Finger Lakes region—an area known for its lavish wineries, agriculture, and more importantly, amazing fishing. Back in the last Ice Age, glaciers carved into New York’s landscape 11 beautiful lakes. Geographers noticed these long and skinny bodies of water were all in line from west to east—like a pair of hands with one too many “fingers”—hence where the Finger Lakes got their name. Many of them are deep, oligotrophic bodies of water containing wide arrays of fish species, but only a handful usually come to mind for most anglers. Cayuga Lake sits at the top of the list, boasting world-class angling opportunities for both warm and cold water species. Second would have to be Seneca lake, which is best known for its trout, Atlantic salmon, and yellow perch fisheries due to its very cold, clear water. But there are quite a few that get overlooked.
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Filled with a variety of different habitats, you can find just about every species of fish that resides within the state swimming throughout the Finger Lakes. All of them are top tier fishing destinations for anglers all over the world. The following are a few of my favorite Finger Lakes that you may not have even heard of, but produce some quality fish nonetheless.
The easternmost of all the Finger Lakes and eighth smallest in size, Otisco Lake sits just south of Syracuse, NY. Its close proximity to one of the state’s largest cities makes it overlooked by many, but I’m sure the local anglers don’t mind. Otisco is split into two basins at the south end by a causeway. The upper basin is very deep and clear, while the lower basin is very shallow, turbid and eutrophic. The lake’s weedy environment holds a variety of warm water fish including largemouth and smallmouth bass, as well as many panfish species. According to the NYSDEC, it is stocked annually with 11,000 tiger muskies, and biannually with over 40,000 walleye, creating more exciting angling opportunities.
The tiger muskies have taken a stronghold in the lake’s ecosystem drawing anglers from around the area to try and tangle with a 40-inch-plus giant. You can often find these predators hanging around the north end’s weedy flats or along the deep weed edges of the many bays. It’s not too often that you have a great musky fishery lying solely within inland waters, so this lake is a real treat.
Despite the annual stocking of tiger musky, the lake remains a dominant largemouth fishery. Local tournament results see some bags pushing that coveted 20-pound mark, but the average weights are in the 15- to 16-pound range. You can find these bass thriving in the lush vegetation or under the many docks surrounding the lake.
Nestled in the quaint little town of Honeoye, NY, this lake is a sleeper for bass and panfish opportunities; many anglers drive right past it without thinking twice. Honeoye Lake is the 10th smallest Finger Lake at 1,773 acres and only 4.5 miles long. It has a maximum depth of 35 feet with abundant aquatic vegetation along its entire perimeter, making it an extremely eutrophic lake.
The NYSDEC classifies this Finger Lake as one of the state’s trophy panfish lakes, and for good reason. Honeoye produces so many above-average bluegills and crappies, it’s astonishing. In the past few years, the state has upped its minimum size limit to 9 inches for bluegills and 10 inches for crappie, which makes for some amazing fishing! If you’re looking to take a kid fishing, Honeoye is the lake to do it. They will have a blast catching panfish and bass all day long.
Both largemouth and smallmouth inhabit the lake in good numbers, and there are quite a few big ones. Generally, most of the bass are on the smaller size, but there are some giants in there. Every small club tournament held on Honeoye Lake in the summer yields a 5-pound-plus lunker largemouth, so don’t write it off as just a numbers lake. Most of the bites come from fishing weed edges or in the heart of the vegetation. Baits like Zoom Trick Worms rigged weedless on a dropshot, and Keitech Model 1 Casting jigs flipped in the weeds are my go-to presentations.
Of all the Finger Lakes, I think these two are forgotten about the most. There are three things that separate Hemlock and Canadice from the other 9 lakes. Owned by the city of Rochester, they supply potable drinking water throughout the city and its suburbs—very similar to the way NYC does with their extensive reservoir system. Second, these are two of the only water bodies in Western New York that have boat size and outboard motor horsepower restrictions. Boats cannot be over 17 feet in length and may have no bigger than a 9.9 horsepower outboard. Lastly, these are the only two Finger Lakes with undeveloped shorelines. The NYSDEC has managed wildlife land surrounding both, which leaves the area open to the public for fishing, hunting and other outdoor activities. This undeveloped access makes for a serene fishing experience just 35 minutes south of the bustling city of Rochester.
With that being said, the fishing pressure is limited to smaller vessels and kayaks, which makes covering these bodies of water challenging, but rewarding. But, that also leaves room for great fishing for both cold and warm water fish species of all kinds. Both lakes are full of all species of trout and Atlantic salmon as well as the full army of warm water species. Since both of the lakes are so small, you can easily shake things up and target multiple species in a day.
In my experience, Hemlock and Canadice lakes are best known for their large, offshore “pelagic” smallmouth. In deep clear lakes like these, the bass end up acting like trout. What I mean by that is when there are steep banks that lead right into deeper water, the smallmouth, and even the largemouth, have nowhere to go but down, which is where all the baitfish are. Smallmouth in these lakes don’t relate to structure as much as they do baitfish. Usually, when you find the trout, especially the rainbows, you find the smallmouth nearby.
Conesus is rather well known by the public, but it flies under the angler’s radar because it is considered a “party lake”. Sitting 20 minutes south of Rochester, every square inch of this lake is lined with homes and developments. It’s where many of the city folks go for the summer to live the lake life. However, underneath all the boat traffic lies easily one of the best bass fisheries in the Finger Lakes region.
At around 3,500 acres and 8 miles long, with a maximum depth of 66 feet, Conesus Lake sets up perfectly for both species of bass. It is full of steep drop-offs with perfectly defined milfoil edges, rock piles, creek mouths, and spawning flats—everything you could ever want in a bass lake.
This lake sits near and dear to my heart, as it is within walking distance of my house. Having grown up fishing in Connecticut’s Candlewood Lake, fishing extensive milfoil beds became my bread and butter. Now I can do the same thing only minutes from my doorstep. There’s something special about slinging around a big jig or Texas-rigged plastic and not knowing whether you will get a smallmouth or largemouth on every flip. It’s one of the coolest things about fishing vegetation north of the Mason-Dixon line.
Check out a few of these places the next time you venture into the beautiful Finger Lakes region. You’ll be glad you did!
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