I'm spending the summer on Seneca Lake and was looking for some tips on bass fishing in the Finger Lakes, specifically from the shore.  I'm from Virginia and have a pretty good idea of what works down here, but usually fish largemouth and as far as I can tell most of the fish up there are smallmouth.

 

Any help as far as colors, lures, times, would be greatly appreciated.

Theres largemouths in there too, a bass is a bass

If you are able to, I would try Seneca Lake State park marina. It's on the northern end of the lake and has a lot fishable shoreline. There are a bunch of signs that say no fishing in the marina but as long as you're not casting right up next to boats (or at least doing so when the park rangers aren't around), you should be fine. There are also plenty of other places in the park that border the lake that you can fish without being bothered, however, I'm only familiar with the marina area. Check out the video below for some footage, I've also got some underwater footage of the marina and a few other videos that are fishable from short near the area.

 

The lures that work in Virginia should work up here as well. Maybe this page will help somewhat:

 

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/32371.html

 

You might look into possibilities at the north end of Cayuga Lake. If there's still a railroad bridge there and you can get out on it, that might be worth a try. Also the lock areas between Seneca and Cayuga. I don't have experience there but I've heard things.

 

Enjoy your summer and let us know how you made out.

You will certainly have opportunities from the shore -- inside weed edge type of stuff.  My guess is that there would be pretty good fishing the inside weed edge during low-light hours -- early morning and late afternoon/evening.  But, if there's any way you can get your hands on a kayak or canoe, you will really expand your fishing options.

I got out for the first time on Wednesday.  First, fishing with cottonwood in the water is probably one of the most frustrating things I've ever done.  I went to Seneca Lake Marina, and the channel that leads out of the marina was overrun with shad.  A decent bit of smallmouth and trout mixed in with the shad.  I fished worms and creature baits and got a fair amount of bites but nothing stuck.  A guy fishing near me said the same thing with the frog he was working.  The bites seemed really timid.  Is that typical?

Hey man if you're still in the area the cottonwood has seemed to have clear up at the marina. I feel like it really is about timing when fishing the marina and right now seems to be pretty good bite. I just took the kayak down there and did pretty good fishing the bank across from all of the boat docks which is easily within a castable distance from shore. I also saw a bunch of guys fishing around the boats/boat docks catching some 1-2 lb bass. Use a 5 inch senko wacky rigged and try to cast it as close as you can to the other side near the bank and work it back.