pvelyk

Curious, not sure if I missed it the report or if anyone has any knowledge as to why coho fry survival rate is so low in the hatchery the last few years despite what looks like successful collection.  Other species collected don't seem to show such dismal survival rates.

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Thanks to Pikefreak's knowledge and hard work we managed to hold on to first a second place. It was great watching and benefitting from a master do his craft.

I was just looking at these the other day. I am curious of there production also.

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I thought they moved to Henreitta in October, they still have a website and facebook page.

Ethanol is bad, its corrosive on rubber found in most engines hoses and gaskets.  Most manufactures switched materials recently that better handle that effect but there is a lot of equipment out there that still have the older materials. Ethanol also really attracts water and once it gets enough in the fuel the gas, ethanol and water separate causing the gas to get really thick and gum up carbs and injectors.  Even if you use the gas up quick once you buy it you still have no idea how much water it gained from storage tanks at refineries, transport trucks and gas station tanks.   Forget it if you let it sit for awhile.  That is why most people see problems quick with small engines like lawn mowers because that 5 gallon tank you have takes a while to use up with smaller engines.  Avoid it if you can.  As far as premium vs regular without ethanol I would follow your engines manufacturers recommendation on which is best to use on your equipment. 

People need to learn tolerance for others views and opinions and the fact the world will continue spinning just fine with different people living with different values.  Making others live by your views or values is just a recipe for arguments.  It not just here but all around us in this world.  

What was discussed?  I wish I could have attended this meeting. 

I will try to give a quick stab at the highlights.

1.) Lt. Lochen DEC Enforcement

     a.)Discussed short terms enforcement plans for the next month or so around tribs.  Basically a lot of two man teams covering area tribs looking for gross violations.

     b.)Discussed Convictions rates vs tickets.  Rochester is dismal at best, other towns and counties in Region 8 better.

     c.)Discussed the fact that we need to lobby our government reps for better court follow through and upping penalties to a true deterrence.

     d.)Discussed how he and his officers need our help point out of the way lesser know places being abused by snaggers

     e.)Discussed that reporting of incidents to DEC need to be immediate any time of the day vs complaining next day or later.  He gave his work Cell but I can't find it right now.

     f.) Discussed using some peer pressure and gentle tlaks to try to turn some people away from illegal practices but warned of Fisherman harassment laws doing it.

2.) NY State Sea Grant

   a.) Talked about how out of place Lake temperatures were this spring and up till mid summer.

   b.)  Showed animated lake maps of surface and subsurface temperature compared to "Normal years"

   c.) Talked about some possible new weather information NOAA maybe coming out with and possible water temperature prediction as potentially part of that.

3.) DEC Great Lakes Dept.

  a.)  Large discussion on bait fish population and condition (Condition being fish health and weight) this year.  There official stance based upon the netting is this years had less mature alewives being produced and the condition was not as good as previous years that have been on a large upswing.

 b.)Another Large discussion on creel data with this year being another above average year as a whole.  This number reflects the whole lake and not any specific ports and reflects all samoniod species not any one in particular.  Individual species were somewhat broken down with Kings being a center of attention.  The said there were gigantic swings of Kings catch rates based on time periods and again size class was not really broken down.  In all cases this was considered above average compared to historic data.

c.) Discussed survival rates of year classes.  (Maybe someone could better use there memory for this portion)

d.)Discussed a study from Canada this year mapping surface temp the last number of years verse size of winning fish in Tourneys.  This study shows a correlation were surface water temperature affects winning fish size.  Colder water = smaller fish.

e.)Discussed Salmon River Water issues.  New wells have been more a less a bust, pipe from reservoir needs to be cleaned as buildup is causing decreased flow to the hatchery and that it can only be done in June as it's the only time that the decreased water availability caused by the cleaning could be tolerated by the hatchery.  Plans are to hopefully do it this year.  I beleive the numbers bear out that currently the Hatchery is only getting about 50% of what it ideally wants flowing through it right now.  Realistically they are now looking at recirculation systems as the potential big stick to up this number but at best that is 2 years away.

f.)Pen projects were discussed, especially in concerns with possible late deliveries next spring because of possible late egg collection because this years runs and the lake system seemingly a consistent one month behind.

g.)Fish clipping and tagging studies.   Studies of Steelhead in Erie tribs regarding size of stockings in relation to release at trib mouth verse miles upstream and return rates of adults.  Limitations of tagging being used in steelhead studies due to limited data being able to be collected because fish heads needed and release rates being so high in tribs for steelhead.  Studies for Steelies relies on fin and wand activated tags.   Studies of Coho's when there stocking gets back on track.  

h.)Asian Carp update.  NYState has the abilty to test water samples for presence of carp in that water area, all samples negative so far and that NY state is taking part in drills and communications with states closer to problem.

That's my brain dump, please feel free to correct any wrong information due to bad memory or elaborate more.  I apologize for typos and spelling.

It's funny the sailboats I have seen in the past racing seem to make pretty darn tight turns to the marker bouys. They have the law on their side but common sense should rule too. If they see a boat trolling with a fish on they should make an effort and be courteous.

Feel for you, had a pike hook go through the skin on my knuckle as a 8 year old. Back then pushed the hook through a new hole, cut the hook and pulled it through. Lesson learned about hook awareness early in my life.

Depends on where and when you are fishing for them. Rods are not just for fighting the fish but a tool for proper presentation. River fishing tends to lend itself to longer rods for better presentation so you can control your drifts and mend your line. Piers lend themselves to a greater variety of rods and trolling you have some play too. Also consider crowds and fight times. Bringing a noodle rod and 4 lbs test may not make you many friends on a river during a salmon run when everybody is waiting for you to fight the fish out for before they can get there next cast in. Plus going to light and exhausting the fish in a long fight decrease the chance of a successful release if that's you thing. But having said that I have seen salmon landed on some pretty varied tackle including bass rods with bait casting reels.

Last season - far away but still made me nervous...

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Yeah, back when I seemingly lived on the lake fishing so much in the 80s and 90s it seemed like people dealt with spout 2 or 3 times a season minimum. Scary things up close, glad it was far far away for you.

Not too bad at Braddock Bay. 1 - 3 Feet.

Be careful out there, the news last night was saying 3-5 and water spouts were possible.  I don't put to much into the weather forecasters but I hear water spouts and I pay a little more attention to sky and water around me.

It's amazing how myopic some people want to see the world. It's great to see the world one way and do what you think is best but it's pretty crappy to try to make everyone live their life by your standards and hypothesis on what makes the world the best. There is nothing wrong with respectable, controlled harvest of resources to be consumed. I doubt nature wanted the lakes and streams to just be large aquariums for us to view.

 

The fish are there for everyone to catch not just the charters,heck Rick(Yankee Troller) even gives out reports on where and what

Can't understand why some guys have such a hard on for charters?Do the math!!10 charters a day,4 people,3steelhead per,x100 days......ding ding ding.we got a winner!!!All of the stream and river guys I know havn't kept a fish in years.Try to revive a steel on the lake, not gonna happen. I fish the lake,and puposefully do not target steelhead for just that reason.I don't have "a hard on" for them,I have better taste than that.I do believe they are not as interested in the fishery as much as you think,and are more about their own pockets.My opinion remains the same,many pay the price for a few to reap th profits.time will tell.

 

This is my second go around for this fishery, I am still working on getting a boat together again, but have fished the Lake this year thanks to kindness of others and charter trips and have hit the piers and streams also.  The charter guys I know and know now are top notch guys who respect the fishery and people around them.  I have never seen charter captains as a problem or hindrance to the fishery, quite the opposite to be honest.  A extremely large majority of these guys are often kind, friendly and open about information.  They have been the ones to create many techniques for fishing the big lakes that all of us use everyday to be more successful.  These same hard working people also act as an important bellwether to the status and very changing conditions that this fishery is.  They put many hours on the lake and are well educated and often see the subtle changes occurring on the health of the fishery that many of us weekend warriors and part timers just are not tuned in enough to realize. They have a vested interest in keeping this fishery viable and extremely healthy.  Hard to line your pockets when your clients don't catch fish or catch one for the price of a full priced day charter, people just won't come back or give referrals for that type of fishing.  Come on these guys are way smarter than that.  

Not sure why guys have a hard one for charter guys but it's seems there always has been a segment that is.  Maybe a bad run in with one of the few bad ones, maybe jealousy over there success, or maybe some people have agenda issues of the harvesting of fish instead of catch and release.  Either way my advice is the same is I give my daughter, "Take care of yourself and don't worry about everybody else out there."

As far as the steelhead go, and any other species out here being caught, there is nothing wrong with harvesting fish if you make use of it and you are legally allowed to do it.  I don't eat fish and release almost all of my catch with the exception of when my wife says she would like a nice trout or salmon for her dinner.  You can have your agenda as to what makes you decide what to do with the fish you catch but don't judge me based on what I legally do, even if it conflicts with what you believe.  I don't judge your decisions!  We all pay into this fishery we all have a right to decide for ourselves as long as we stay in the regs.

Actually the last time I was at the Henrietta Fastrac (Chalkins Rd and West Henrietta Rd) they switched the pumps with E80 out with 87 ethanol free. It was about twenty cents more expensive than 87 with 10% ethanol, I think that day it was $4.04 a gallon. Not sure about other Fastracs.

We have a cottage down there and my sister inlaw says it's no swim from Long Point Park north to Vitale Park. South end from what I hear is all right.

Congrats, sometimes luck does favor the good guys. Very happy for Bob, he is an extremely nice guy. And it was extremely kind of you Dvdgeorge to keep putting that that rod in is hand. Karma comes around and you will be rewarded.

I have been out of the game for awhile and I am now just starting to get back in but I do have some advice from my first time around.  

You are getting a lot of great answers and everyone of them is accurate and great information and is provided by successful fisherman,  but there is a trap you can fall into here.  That trap is that everyone has there own system of what they do to catch fish, some are similar and some are counter to what others do.  My suggestion and advice is to pick one system of fishing the lake and stick to it, worse thing you could do is everyday drastically change what you are doing because you heard someone else did great that day with that particular setup or system.  Once you get a system that consistently works for you, even if its modest numbers, then start changing one variable until you find it consistently gives you better results, then throw the next variable in.  There is nothing like success and confidence to improve your fishing, every time you have success out there you are much more confident with the next change and it just keeps building.  Good luck.

Even smaller lakes take time to give up there victims.  I know of one case where a body was found around a year after a person drowned in Conesus Lake so if this is a human remain is could have been there for quite awhile and originated from a good distance.

As far as the joking people tend to do here on this subject,  I agree that people need to be respectful but joking is a mechanism a lot of us use for subjects like this as a bit of a defense, sometimes without thinking it through.  Fishing the Big Lake especially reminds all of us that we could be that body in the water.  No matter how much you watch the weather reports, watch the sky, buy quality safety equipment or try to be really cautious ,we are at the mercy out there of a unpredictable and unforgiving big lake and despite all efforts is punishes the smallest mistakes.  So I am sure that now disrespect was meant, it's a good group of people here that would hate to think of thier family, friends or themselves in that position.

I could do Sunday if you are still looking.

When it comes to fishing nothing is better than what is in that picture.  Congrats and thanks for spreading the joy to the next generation.

Never done it myself.  Kind of like you, bow fishing for Carp is not a catch and release game.  But I have no issue with someone doing it if the have a use for the carp or the carp are over burdening the body of water they are in.