I grew up just off the shores of Cayuga and actually did some research on it concerning the invasive milfoil on the northern end of the lake some 48 years ago, A quick breakdown: The main lake is super deep and extremely COLD and is unproductive for bass. However it is very productive for large lake trout using downriggers. You can fish the shallow shore areas and docks around the lake for bass, but know in most of the lake it drops extremely quickly to extreme depths. The southern shallow end is productive with good habitat consisting mainly of coontail weeds. The northern end is completely choked with milfoil (up to 40 foot tall and tightly packed matted on the surface, and is just about impossible to fish, though they cut some boat lanes using floating mechanical harvesters which would give you some edges to fish). Loved my years fishing there, but know that you will spend some time to find the right areas to fish.
glass half full guy in me would say “well at least i was on the right track with my bait selection” if everyone else was catching em on what i was throwing
