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Bigfoot

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Everything posted by Bigfoot

  1. Treatments on the Inlet only happened in 1986, 1996, and 2014.
  2. Primary means of lamprey control on Cayuga utilizes the fishway on Cayuga Inlet. Ideally, the lampreys enter a trap at the fishway during their spawning run and are removed before getting the chance to spawn. As the vast majority of lampreys try to spawn in the Inlet, this control can be highly effective. As a result, lampricide is generally not needed ever four years on Cayuga. Problems arise when high water levels coincide with the lamprey spawning run allowing the eels to bypass the fishway (and the trap). DEC keeps tabs on the lake trout wounding rate (wounds per 100 trout) as an indicator of when treatments are needed. I don't think DEC will ever use Bayluscide on the South end of Cayuga since it is a source of drinking water.
  3. Actually, DEC did rethink their stocking plans. They had been stocking Cold Brook with fingerling rainbows- and getting zero returns. This Spring they switched to stocking yearling rainbows (goal was 2,470 fish 8-9" long). Hopefully, these bigger fish will fare better than the small ones did and should start showing up in the lake catch next year.
  4. I recall reading somewhere that when DEC found it necessary to stock alewives in Keuka decades ago they netted them from (I think) Waneta Lake. This is not an option today due to the state's own baitfish regulations.....If the solution were that easy, it would have already been done!
  5. Thanks, I appreciate that lyk2fish. I lived near Owasco in the early 1980's and came close to buying a cottage there a dozen years ago. I always considered Owasco my home lake, even when I lived near Seneca and had to drive past Cayuga to get there! I think there is a tendency today to look for the easy fix, especially to environmental problems. There are many factors that have changed in our lakes over the years, to pick one such as the introduction of the walleye in Owasco, and blame the resulting changes on that sole factor is usually short sighted and mostly incorrect. One thing that I was surprised to learn from fishing the Fingers was that while they might seam quite alike, they are in fact vastly different.
  6. Having fished at least 40 competitive events on Keuka Lake alone sponsored by FLTA, North End Landings, Avon Anglers, Red Cross and others I don't think of myself as a novice. I don't fish much anymore, but back in the day I averaged at least 20 derbies per year. I also kept Angler Coop Diaries on Owasco. Cayuga, Keuka, Seneca and Canandaigua.
  7. The documents are available online on the DEC website under the Eastern Finger Lakes Angler Diary Cooperator Reports section. The link for the 2018 Owasco Lake report is http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/r7owlad2018.pdf The report clearly states that they sampled a 5.5 lb. walleye that was 14 years old. We tend to think that a fish that old must be huge, but it takes more than age alone to grow big fish. I was very much in favor of the Owasco walleye stocking when it was getting going in the early 1980's. I have also witnessed how it ruined an excellent trout fishery. Some refuse to acknowledge that it was/is a failed experiment, I understand that. Last thing I would want to see is that experiment repeated. Read the reports. If you don't think they reflect your experience, then perhaps you should be keeping an Angler Cooperator Diary so that your fishing results are shared with DEC.
  8. Interesting that you think the walleyes are reproducing in Owasco when gill net surveys in both 2016 and 2018 by the DEC and The Finger Lakes Institute have been unable to find any evidence of walleye reproduction in either the lake or its tribs. All of the fish sampled have been between 14 and 25 years old!
  9. Your original statement was that they were extracting eggs at the fishway due to low water. That's not true. When the water level is high, many rainbows bypass the ladder. But, some still use the fishway and their eggs are collected there. It's been that way for decades- I watched them collect eggs there in the late 1960's!
  10. It has nothing to do with low water. As the fish ascend the fishway, they end up in a trap. Fish are selected and placed in a holding pool while their eggs and milt ripen. The rest of the rainbows are released on the other side of the trap and they continue their spawning run. The breeders are stripped of their eggs and milt and result is transported to the Bath hatchery for rearing. The breeders are eventually released- with their "spawning" completed they return to the lake. Very few proceed upstream. With minor variations, it's been that way for the last 50 years.
  11. There is a You Tube video of this years' electroshocking. I can't get the link to work, search "Naples trout shocking".
  12. Please be careful regarding using those tree stands in your dying trees. We had a hunter locally that lost the use of his arms and legs due to a dead tree (that his stand was in). The tree fell with him in the stand and tethered to the tree.
  13. UGH! What county are you located in? When I had a timber harvest and timber stand improvement done in 2015 I directed the forester to mark/remove every Ash that was marketable.
  14. Perhaps the largest rainbow ever caught in FLTA history. A 12 pound 9 ounce beauty taken from Canandaigua Lake by Joe Matwiejow last weekend.
  15. I am super impressed! I fished in the FLTA for a dozen years or so and only saw box totals of 35+ lbs. once or twice ( And they weren't mine) LOL.
  16. Bigfoot

    Skaneateles Skan 7-26-18

    I made the mistake of using the state launch on a weekend. When I arrived there I was told by a clueless cop to park my boat trailer in one spot and my truck in another. Really? The lake itself is pretty and the fishing was OK. Leaving was another story. Each boat had to take their turn blocking the ramp while they hooked their rigs up. I was stuck in a line (on the water) of boats that took a long time hooking up their rigs and pulling their boats out. (Some of the weekend warriors could use a little practice)! It took an honest 90 minutes to get off the water! I have never been back.
  17. Those fun loving DEC boys were able to successfully feed the Catherine Creek lampreys their "vitamins" the last couple of days despite the rainy weather. Work continues tomorrow on Keuka outlet......
  18. Fish was caught on a 4 inch, pearl colored Trigger X Walleye Swimbait. https://youtu.be/tZsKcsRDq8U
  19. There are several videos of Lake Sturgeon spawning in Fall Creek ( Cayuga trib) available on U Tube. Active spawning activity was observed by DEC fisheries biologist there last year. I would post the link here but I can't seem to make it work.
  20. Saw this in the news. 18.2 pounds, 32 inches long, 21 inch girth. Caught on 5/5/2018 by Brian Hartman. A Saint Lawrence river fish. Weight is from certified scales.
  21. My bad. Checked a couple other sources- incinerator project is not dead. Looks like a nasty legal fight is ahead
  22. Lawyers representing the incinerator project withdrew their application today due to local opposition. The project appears DEAD.
  23. Bad press might be bad for business, but keeping silent will not help.....nor will it improve the fishing. Public pressure can change things. We have a lot of people that don't fish that have a vested interest in clean water/ healthy fishery. I've contacted Jeff Murray from the Star Gazette and he has promised to reach out to Nick soon, and Brad after he returns from holiday break.
  24. Both the sewage treatment plants in Montour Falls and Watkins Glen are obsolete. Plans are in the works to replace them. No telling what chemicals are flowing through them to the lake. Stupid idea to use our lakes as liquid "landfills".
  25. Draft NYSDEC Lake Sturgeon Recovery Plan DEC is inviting public comment on their draft lake sturgeon plan. Plan is at http://dec.ny.gov/outdoor/111557.html
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