fisherman777

Sandy didn't lose their steelhead...kings and bows yes but Sandy received more steelhead in 2020 than in 2019.

Pen projects have more to do with survival after release than imprinting. Imprinting is a secondary benefit. That being said, I think it will have a lower return in years to come. A lot of fish lost by taking away those pens. Who knows though...the trade off to cutting Sandy kings and a few other smaller tribs around the lake was so more fish could be put into the pens of the larger ports in response to the overall stocking cut. Genny and Oak pen fish don't have a far ways to go to stray into Sandy. But I wouldn't necessarily bank on it being like it's always been...definitely make sure to appreciate the next few seasons... I'd be more concerned about the loss of domestic bows since that has always been a significant part of the "steelhead" catch at sandy from my experience.

1) Night is usually better for the pier in my experience, but guys catch them in the daytime successfully too. Early in the run, it depends a lot on different factors like cloud cover, wind speed and direction, water temperature, water clarity, etc. Of these factors, I'd argue that water clarity and temperature are the most important. Dirty water with poor visibility never seems to be as productive for me, and too warm of water temperatures also create a tough bite. As the run progresses into October and more fish come in close, you can pretty much go out there whenever and catch them as long as you're patient. 2) Yes those are good salmon lures and will catch fish off the pier, but they're not the best for distance. Often, the longer the cast, the more water you cover and the more likely your lure is to pass in front of an angry fish. But if you feel fish are in very close to the pier, start chucking those. Also, you noted you use Cleo's in different glow patterns, but if those aren't working, try some other glow spoons. Moonshine brand casting spoons are super popular for pier casting now, and several other spoon types also come in glow patterns (ko wobblers, kastmasters, krocodiles, yecks, just to name a few). 3) Focus on getting out as much as possible. It varies considerably day to day. One night everyone on the pier will be hooking up left and right and the next night, fish will be jumping everywhere and not biting for anyone. It's a guessing game sometimes, and the best pier guys go all through September into October functioning on little, if any sleep. Everyone gets skunked out there eventually too so don't get discouraged if a guy next to you is hooking up and you're not. Your time will come. Hope this helps.

State park launch is open and branchport is ice free. Good luck.

Just a heads up, the DEC doesn't post a lot of seasonal jobs on their actual website. Most are posted on the NY State jobs website statejobsny.com and they get posted throughout the year depending on when/where fish and wildlife techs/seasonal biologists are needed. Just something for him to keep in mind as he's looking for jobs in New York in the future. Also, keep on the lookout for civil service examinations. Most permanant jobs with the DEC tend to require a specific test, though not all. Best of luck to him in his search. Corey

No trebles from the 104 bridge to the falls except on floating lures. From the mouth till then trebles are good to go.

I for one know exactly what happens with the media covering fish catches like this because my dad is the sports/outdoors writer for the D and C. Last year, he wrote a column on a bass fisherman who caught a 45-50" musky in the St. Lawrence and unfortunately killed the fish. I thought that my dad was wrong to write that story and paint the guy as a hero when in fact he was just some idiot too uneducated to see how precious a fish like that is to the fishery. My dad told me he felt it was wrong too but the paper sees big fish stories as a way to sell, no matter what happens to the fish in the end. He got a lot of angry emails after the story ran from a lot of musky anglers and also a lot of emails of people saying how great a fish story that was and that they were going to try to catch a musky now because of it. I think the non-fishing public in general still doesn't completely get catch-and-release the way a majority of anglers do. Most of my relatives at family get-togethers still ask how a fish tasted when they see a picture on my wall and I always have to go through the process of telling them that I let it go. There certainly needs to be more work done educating the general public on catch and release and its benefits, especially with species like the musky.

You guys have it easy. My dad covers them (sportswriter). All 17 years of my life have seen very depressing fall Sunday afternoons (until I found trib fishing of course )

The only thing that should (and is) kept secret are trib names and locations. Other than that, this site has been great for me, especially with info on all of the finger lakes. I don't get out much with my dad so when we do go, it is nice to have some current knowledge of what's biting on what where . And one thing I have learned from this site is that just because one guy posts a trip report saying how he went out and hammered them at this one spot this many feet down on this particular one lure, it doesn't mean your going to go do exactly what he did and hammer them too. But seeing successful reports from others keeps you going back at it, even when you start to think that there are no fish in the entire lake (which happens to me a lot!). Oh and BTW, every time we go out in the summer, we usually see about five boats tops fishing the same multi-mile stretch of water. I wouldn't exactly call that crowded But I don't know; I can't seem to catch a laker for my life lately . Maybe these lakes are too crowded then.

The first fish was on a 4 inch rebel stickbait that the fish hit as we were letting out line to set up the downrigger. The second was on a rapala dt thug that goes down about 10-15 feet that we set out after catching the first one thinking we might be on to something. Nice fish Fish Junkie. Did you get a weight on it? Your alewife theory makes perfect sense. All week when we were there, we never caught even smaller fish in less than 40 feet. Last year, my dad caught another giant out of there. It really is an awesome bass lake.

Its worth it. Hopefully u brought the riggers. I'll pm u with info.

Thanks guys. Treerat, I've been fishing it since I was little on family vacations and always have done well with smallmouth but nothing like the size of these two. It was amazing. I have no idea what they are doing out that deep though. Must be following the baitfish.

Yes sir, any rocky area seemed to be productive.

A few giant smallmouth! We trolled the bluff area from 8-11 yesterday down 80 over 100 feet of water and couldn't catch a single laker. What we did catch were two of the biggest bass I have ever seen and the biggest for our boat on flatlined crankbaits ran next to our downrigger rods. We didn't get a weight on the first fish (the bigger of the two) but did on the second which was 5.0 even. Would have liked some lakers for the table but these were the next best thing! Both fish we're released and swam away strong.

I paddled through both lakes on a canoe trip last month. Both were pretty big by adirondack standards. We didn't fish 7th at all but did a little on 8th at the south shore and caught a few little smallies. Best bait I found to work in all the lakes on the trip was a little rapala. They both seemed like great lakes to fish and you should have no problems with bass but I don't know about lakers. If you have downriggers, probably just find the deepest water and troll the bottom. Good luck! [ Post made via iPhone ]

Maybe whirling disease or some other salmonid disease?

haha yeah its a really bad pic. Didn't notice my eyes were like that!