bulletbob

I won't argue with your opinion.. However, when fish populations collapse, there are always pockets where there might be some local populations.. The cod population was considered " commercially extinct" yet there still guys that knew where to catch them... The population of walleyes in the sections of the river I fish, has been decimated. They are not extinct of course, but like yourself, I have fished this river for 33 years..The DEC has told me the population was in bad shape, and they didn't know why. nor really seemed to care.. Fishermen from Owego south to the PA state line are non existent these days, where it was once a vibrant sport fishery..The fact the you personally still catch some big walleye is nice and all, but the locals in "my" section of the river know the score as well.. There are a few really good walleyes left, and the few I have caught past few years were big as well.. however, there are no small ones taking their place,,, They are just no longer seen..the DEC fisheries scientist I spoke with after their last survey confirmed .. She said they caught very few walleyes, but the ones they caught were big, with very few juveniles.. I don't think a change in tactics is the answer.. The fish just aren't there.. In the areas I fish south of Broome County, neither are the fishermen these days... bob

The book says Pike will seek out the deepest available weed lines in summer.. Probably accurate depending on the water.. However you must consider the makeup of the Great Lakes and Finger Lakes.. Many species in these waters go out of character. Fish that are typically near bottom such as Walleyes and SMB, and fish of streams such as Rainbows and Browns all suspend and follow bait.. You might have never caught a Pike while trolling deep in summer, but a lot of others have.. I have seen them jigged in deep water as well, mid lake in Seneca, so those fish are suspended and on bait..Always remember this rule of thumb.. Most fish will go out of preferred temp to feed,, They may not stay there and rest, but food trumps all other concerns... In a large ,cold ,deep lakes a certain number of predators will go out of "normal" habitat, and will suspend because thats where the food is, and often thats where the right temp is.. Pike are ambush predators, but so are Walleyes,Large and SM Bass,, and they all suspend at different times in deep glacial lakes.. To answer your question, here's my theory, and its ONLY a theory... Some Pike are in deeper weed lines, a few might even be where you caught them in spring. Others are acting like other Great Lakes/Finger Lakes fish, and are suspended and feeding and hanging under bait balls. Pike are where the food is, and right now, most of their food is in cooler. deeper water, so thats where at least some of them will be found.

These days, $135 an hour is actually on the cheaper side, crazy as that sounds... so if a marine mechanic/technician that owns a small shop works a full 8 hour day on your rig his labor for one day is $1080... Now, lets say he installed $1000[retail customer cost] in parts... Parts markup is standard at 40% give or take a few percent... meaning he paid $600 for the parts he sold with the job... That business owner paid himself almost $1500 for one days work.. Not bad..... I get it, you must pay those that have skills and training that you don't have.. Still labor and parts on anything mechanical these days is crazy... Costs $100 to have snow tires put on these days.....

Any repair from any tech either home, car, boat, whatever, is very high these days... marine repair costs are the worst. 4 or 5 years ago, I took a 30 Hp Johnson in to a marine dealer that wasn't running right-They replaced the squeeze bulb on the fuel line, installed 2 spark plugs, and the fuel primer solenoid.$350..Thats MAYBE 80-90 in parts, and 1/2 hour of very light labor.. It didn't even fix the problem, which I fixed myself with a new $20 fuel pump... 5 years before that another marine shop charged $350 to install a water pump in a little 9.8 Merc... I don't know how shops justify these prices but people pay them, so they keep doing it I guess.. I will NEVER under any circumstance take anything to a marine tech again as long as I live.. Prices are out of control....

very south end of Cayuga right in Ithaca in water less than 10 feet used to be very good for Pike this time of year...Not real sure if it still is, but I see no reason there should not be some really good Pike still available there

Did I read this correctly??, ROCK BASS TOURNAMENTS???... Honestly, is that a thing??... Geez, Trout,Bass, Perch, Walleye , even Catfish tourneys down here on the Susquehanna,, Do we REALLY need more oddball tournaments so sponsors can make a few bucks?... I dunno, but this is getting ridiculous.. Overfished Rock Bass, Sunnies, Perch, Crappies........ On the Great Lakes no less.. Commercially caught as well, so the captain can pay his dock fees???/. great.......

correct.. Look I'm not an expert, but I am not a sub moron either.. I realize along with most other members here that the gobies are being eaten by Bass, and that makes for BIG fat bass.. I also realize that Gobies are intense and relentless in their nest raids on ALL fish.. There are articles about how the Muskies in the SLR are being decimated by Gobies because they don't protect their nests.. Lots of videos out there of SMB trying hard to defend their nests against gobies but can't.. They chase one and 3 others fly in, grab some eggs and fly back out just as fast. and the bass simply can't keep it up... I talk to old time SLR anglers that say yes, the bass are bigger than ever, but there are a lot less of them than ever before as well, which has been my experience fishing the southern and mid sections of cayuga.. Spots where i could catch 100-150 mixed species in a half day[SMB, Rock Bass, big Bluegills, Pumpkinseeds, Perch, along with an occasional Bullhead, Pickerel, Pike,Sucker, Carp, LMB are now devoid of any and all life except for gobies.. Yes, you'll catch a fish here and there, but the numbers are down by 90% in rocky areas.. From what they tell me, the Gobies are not as much of an issue in weedy water with muck bottoms, such as the areas around the main channel at the north end of cayuga.. However, in MOST of Cayuga Lake I have noticed a drastic drop off in numbers of most fish except for Salmonids which as we know are stocked for the most part, and don't have to deal with nest raiders... anyway, this did get off topic, and I meant to **** about the lack of walleyes in the susquehanna , not the lack of fish in Cayuga and SLR.... In any case,thanks to all for a really well balanced discussion!

Ok,,, my mistake.. Gobies and mussels have helped the fish populations cayuga lakewide and along the St Lawrence...... got it.....

Getting better?... where?... This post was originally about an entire species that has vanished from an immense watershed... It morphed into a general discussion about how great NY state fishing is.. I can't speak for every water in the state, but can for waters I have fished for 33 years now.. You are mentioning a pocket of life in a small section of a 40 mile long lake as fishing better than ever,,, I'l accept that... However, as stated, the fish populations are way down in most other areas of the lake compared to the pre mussel/goby invasion. The south and mid sections of Cayuga had tons of fishermen fishing for bass, pike, panfish as well as trout... They are gone mostly because there just aren't that many fish left to catch.. Yes, trout/salmon trolling is fine, and will be as long as the fish have plenty to eat.. They will be fine with alewives and gobies being plentiful.. No problem with stocked salmonids.. However, if you REALLY think the warm water fisheries in Cayuga are "better than ever" lake wide, we must be discussing 2 different lakes... The Gobies have severely impacted bass and all other nest raimembers of the sunfish family, as well as yellow perch, and probably and other fish that spawns in rocky, pebbly,broken areas. Try watching a video.. they are relentless nest raiders that no fish can keep out for very long....

Yes the Gobies are less of a problem in weedy/muddy areas, I agree.. however, the majority of Cayuga Lake is rocky bottom.. Go anywhere on the lake that has rock/pebble/broken bottom and try fishing anywhere near bottom, and you'll see what I mean.. I typically don;t fish the north end of the lake, and I hear the gobies aren't as bad there, but as far as the area from Long Point south to Ithaca the bottom is covered with them, and they have deeply impacted the numbers of other species...

Unlike many here I am not into trolling the big lakes with downriggers/wire/lead/dipseys etc.. Never was that interesting to me.. I prefer to fish with light tackle, casting, jigging, bait fishing, for panfish, Walleyes, Bass at times, and the occasional Esox,Carp, or catfish although I don't target them.. In the 33 years I have lived in the FL region, I have seen a precipitous decline in all species in Cayuga and Seneca, in some parts of those lakes.. Not trout or salmon, they seem fine for some reason, but things like Pike, LMB, Crappies, Sunfish, Yellow Perch in some areas, Rock Bass,even Bullheads I have seen my catches drop by 90% or more... Some areas such as the south end of Cayuga near Ithaca, are now devoid of some of these species, where 25 years ago, it was honestly no big deal to catch 100 or more Bass and Panfish standing on the same rock in just a few hours.. Its never discussed here, no one cares as long as the trout trolling is intact, but something has happened big time,,, Areas that were absolutely teeming with life have nothing alive except for Mussels and gobies... I hope to try a little harder this season to prove myself wrong, but every time I try the story is the same... The fish are gone from the places they were year after year and decade after decade.... bob

typical... Once, just once in this lifetime I'd love to see a NYS DEC electrofishing survey report stating that recruitment and survival has been at an all time peak high past few years, and the stream/river/lake/pond/bay/ocean is now teeming with [name your favorite species].. So now the NYS DEC recommends increasing the daily bag limit from 5 fish per day to 10,, and lowering the minimum size requirement from 18 inches to 12.... still waiting for that to happen..... bob