Rough water on the Finger Lakes?

[365outdoors]

Hello all!  Just moved over from IS and am really enjoying this site.  I have a dairy farm so I don't get much fishing time.  I was wondering if the Finger Lakes can turn on a dime and go from relatively calm to rough.  I've had my boat on Oneida where it got so rough so fast I felt lucky to get off the lake.  My boat is 18.5 ft but has a shallow draft so it sits more on the water than in it.  I'd like to fish some of the Finger lakes, especially the eastern ones that are closer to home.  If the weather is fair I'll be fine.  Thanks for any advice.

[skunkedbywalleye]

365---just watch out for true north and south winds and plan accordingly.  If you look at the weather prior to heading out then you should be fine. I got caught before the big internet and internet weather in the early 1990's on Seneca a couple of times in a 16 footer and      Pretty much threw out my undies at the launch. Gotta love the undegroundweather.com or wunderweather.com   The lakes can be challenging to fish but like worth it on days you figure it out. Tight lines to ya

[papa]

thanks skunked by walleye i have been looking for different weather sites i hate the local ones. this one seems pretty good i like the graphics.

[365outdoors]

Thanks SbyW! I'll check those websites.  I have used NOAA in the past.  Are any of the lakes known for being especially troublesome?  I know any body of water can give you trouble if you haven't checked the weather.

[outdoorsman]

Cayuga can turn pretty quick depending where you are.  Because the lakes aren't perfectly straight, some areas are worse than others at different wind directions.  But generally, North to Northwest and South to Southeast can get pretty rough.  We never had any problem with the old 16 foot Lund v-hull though.  I have never had it turn on me so fast that I couldn't get out of there....it just ended up being a rough ride back.

[filetandrelease]

just remember which way the lake lays for the wind direction the little O lies east and west and the fingers lie north to south and the prevailing winds are west north west

[kingfisher22]

The thing with the Finger Lakes is no matter which way the wind is blowing on shore up in the hills or in Rochester or Syracuse, it almost always translates to either a North or South wind.  Those valleys just funnel the wind up or down.  Sometimes there is a lee shore, but if it's really windy they are usually nasty at one end or the other.  They do get very, very rough!