flyrod2

Was told the Region 7 report was just mailed out and will be online sometime this week. Not sure about the R8 report.

Crane was parked at Miliken all fall until last week working on a new intake system. Watched them leave the other day then saw it yesterday up north when we were heading to Geneva. Assumed they were heading north to dismantle and remove from lake.

We have seen a little more in way of lampreys and marked up fish than last year.

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Lake was rough so went north of Taughannok as only spot less rough. Still good drift. Landed a bunch again most above 26". 85-95fow. Bite was slow but most hits were hard and hooked. Caught some reeling up as close as 15' to boat. With fast drift had to zing them out down wind. Had some take it coming back to boat. Kept this one, would not revive, all others did well. Pic is with Hermit's 1.25 jig painted glow white. Only ones I use as they work. Sorry about pic, could not get it to rotate.

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Went out this evening with a friend. We caught 10.26" to 28" and a couple little 14 to 17's Lost a few near boat,;bunch of bites. 80-90fow best. Marked bunch fish 20 down.

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Solo trip. Everyone busy. Caught 4 over 28" and 1 -23". All went back except this 31". This one inhaled a hermit 1.25oz sharp jig. Hooked though back mouth twice and had to remove from back of gill. Tough to do by myself. Was hoping to save it. Big female. All off ledges around rocky dock area. Lost couple north of myers when I was more concerned about being run over and not paying attention. It was time to get off the lake.

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Alec

I have been using powder paint on your jigs and they hold up real well. We use white glow and they produce plenty of lakers with the lunker city shakers.

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Rough water this evening. Managed only 4. All in 28" range. 70fow north of miliken. Purple and glow white. Tried few spots on way back to myers no luck. Needed 3 drift socks to slow us down. Marked fish on bottom just could not stay vertical for long. Won't get out for while so braved the wind today.

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We were out yesterday. After one of the other posts I had to prove to the wife we could catch fish in afternoon otherwise I was in trouble. We jigged and ran rigs. Caught few north of miliken 60fow.
ran rigs past sheldrake north with mixed bag including 2 nice bows. then jigged front of wells. Caught 3 in 80fow there and had a number short strikes. Wind stopped few times and got hot on boat. We are trying all sorts of spots. There is a lot of 50 to 100fow on the lake so need to try everywhere other than usual spots. 

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Went out last evening. Slow at usual spots so we fished north of Myers for long stretch. Fish and bait everywhere.Bait following jig to surface. Caught 13. All in the 23" to 25" range and one 16", Son got bonus 21" landlock 10' from boat reeling in. All fish caught in 45 to 55fow on usual white glow jig and lunker city shakers. Screen full of fish and bait 15' down as well. Surface temp was 65.My son kept me busy.I am getting good at reeling in fast and netting fish.

Lunker city 3.25" shaker with hermit's 1.25 jigs. I paint them with white glow powder paint. Same color shakers as hermit but also alwife and white glow my best. My son catches his on purple and they are usually bigger than what I catch.

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Jigged north miliken this afternoon. 4 landed couple lost at boat. Not as productive as other day. 25 to 30fow best. Boats flying by 30 yards or less much of the afternoon. Tis the season. Boy I like weekdays.

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No school Tuesday so went out north of Miliken. Caught a bunch in 18 to 25FOW, Quick to drop jig when we spotted fish. Kept 2 rest went back. All 24" to 28.5", only 1 with lamprey. Had to fish away from bait as it was so thick you could feel them hitting jigs. Son caught all his on purple lunker city shaker w/ hermits jigs painted white glow. Mine with LC alwife. Lake was flat so had to keep moving around. Fish were real fighters too with that short distance. 62 degree water at surface. Saw lots of LL salmon jumping, should have brought some cleos.

Rainbow crush

We learned to use rigs on Owasco with my grandfather. I use them now since my boat is not set up to be able to use other methods and have had to be creative with rod holders. Fun to try to hand line a big landlock or bow and if by yourself to net as well.

Any read on Seth is fascinating as Iron Duke mentioned. He obviously did not have electronics or 21 aisles of fishing gear at the local store to chose from. He needed to study the fish and learn how to "fish".

By the way this is an elective science class with students who have brains of their own. Also, and this comes straight from them; they have looked at many forums and ideas, but one thing they have noticed on their own is fact that many adults have tough time debating ideas without bashing the messanger which is why we have had little interest in responding to much of this. We criticize kids for not getting involved, then criticze when they do. Thanks to those on both sides for positive responses and healthy debate.

 Figured we would explain how we came to this point. First this is mainly an 11^th grade class and a rural school that most everyone in class hunts and/or fishes. Project started last year when went to an aquaponics farm that raised vegetables and started to experiment with perch instead of tilapia. We got on topic because one of our students will be going to Cobleskill for fisheries and wants to create a business through aquaculture. We then had discussion about selling fish. Question was raised as to why someone would want to go through investment to raise fish to sell when a $20 license and virtual no regulations would be easier, knowing that the business would be taxed, regulated and inspected with a potential for not succeeding like all small business face. They felt it would be easier to take from a resource that they had no investment in.  Since NY is one of only a few states that allow selling(also illegal in Ontario and Quebec) we looked at other states. In those that made selling illegal by recreational license in past 30 years there was a 10 fold increase in aquaculture permits.  So as “capitalism†works why not open a farm that raises perch without toxins. This would generate more business for restaurants since now those under 16 and women of child bearing age could eat fish... As far as the fishery itself they delved into numerous discussions from all side. We studied the past 200 years on Ontario and found a lake in constant turmoil, brought on most by human activity. In every instance of a major crash people thought the fishery was inexhaustible, and all the efforts to fix it were reactive instead of proactive. They also saw through efforts by those who worked hard to restore the fishery, that positive contributions work. We also acquired information on a few stings setup in NY to catch poachers and perch from here ended up in NYC and as far away as California within 3 days. Hardly local. Could go on and on.  Bottom line, they felt that this was a worthwhile cause.  They have never assumed that they had all the answers. They are also getting lesson on how ideas become regulations or laws  I have to admit, there are a couple things we have “indoctrinated†them on, to use the term again. One is that regardless of whether it is a drivers license, hunting license or fishing license, those are privileges and not rights. Also the fact that as hunters and fishers they are taking(killing) from the resource that belongs to the collective whole and they should give back something in return so that future people have the same opportunities. Pic is brown trout we raise from eggs in classroom do numerous projects with and release in May. A part of giving back!

At the request of a few on this forum we dicided it was time to put this out to all. We have a high school elective science class that is doing a whole class project on the selling of fish in NYS by hook and line. We often hear that young people are not engaged enough in other than electronics. For various reasons we chose to look into the selling of fish and potential ban. Class has numerious power point type projects, youtube video and soon to release online petition. They have met with DEC fish biologist and will soon be meeting with a local state representative who we hope will be sponsoring a bill to ban sale of fish caught by sporting license. Don't hear of that too often. Many of the reasons have been hashed out on forums like this and others. Our students feel they have a sound grasp of the situation, and yes they have read threads on here. They understand that some have great wisdom and insight to our fisheries. Obviiously those that sell and those that buy will disagree, but these students are also creating counters to many of the reasons why some still chose to want to sell. Could go on, but we all know the story, now it is up to all of us. Need to contact DEC and local legislators and make this a forefront issue. These students have laid the ground work through your concerns. I may take pic of their resolution and post.Thanks to Les and others for their wisdom, which I will take over underwater video cameas any day. There are truly plenty out there who care more about long term effects before sort term satisfactions. Some thought that snagging and lining fish was awsome and hid under the guise that it was legal. When that was banned some thought it would destroy the local economy. Guess no one fishes the Salmon River since that took affect. Assume this ban will have same affect.

Can't agree more that a fishery is a dynamic ecosystem with cycles. Point is there are things we can control like selling fish, creel and size limit, seasons etc.. those things can logically help survive those cycles, especially with adding invasives. Without those controls the flow is downhill. Makes more sense to be proactive rather than reactive. They sell us a recreational sport fishing license for a reason. It is not a catching license to sell fish. That would fall under commercial. Look close at other lake crashes involing perch including lake Michigan which had it's tonage wiped out to point where drastic measures took place. Makes more sense to do all possible to prevent. Just a thought.

Most all of DEC is in favor of stopping the selling of perch. There are a few fisheries guys in north country who get grief from some of those who like to sell. Overwhelm them with calls and they can send that on up chain. Sometimes noise from constituents carries more weight in Albany and gives regional crew some ammo. The selling ban need to come from legislation in ENCON law, so contacting representatives a must. We have a meeting in early April with Assembly representative and hope to start bill process. Now is the time.  

Les is right on when he talks about the combination of things. The one thing that is difficult to control is invasives. So when we see invasives we need to make adjustment to those things we have control over.Simply managing fisheries post alwife has been a challenge. Limit reductions, eliminate the selling and request more enforcement to put the greedy ones on notice are some of things that can be controlled. If we can eliminate a couple problems often the fishery can survive some issues. Some think that they bought a "catching" license instead of a "fishing". Friend of mine in fishing retail listens to talk when some come in to store and and guys are not shy about bragging of overlimiting or keeping sub legal. They truly think those regs are not for them. We are working on the selling issue as we speak, but unfortunately we missed out on any reg changes as DEC just came out with new proposals. They do however have the power to put in emergency regulations

Somebody needs to get the guys number quick. I bet wife selling all that fishing stuff cheap!

2008 State Assembly voted on bill in favor of ban. Senate voted unanimous. The then Governor, Paterson(not elected, took over when Spitzer had to leave) vetoed on last day possible. Close to having something in writing to offer. Will keep informed. Assembly had 8 no votes.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/56020.html

Survey showed that of those who had opinion on sale panfish 77% want it banned. While less support in regions 5 and 6 it was still 2 to 1 wanting ban. Using the adage it is a way of life in north country is absurd. We used to stack up deer like cord wood. That did not make it ok.  I investigated the commercial gill net crew, and there are only 2 left in NY with nontransferable licenses and no more will be issued. So when they no longer exist that end is done. Do those that sell perch for extra income pay income tax on those fish they are squandering from state waters? How do we know the perch in our local restaurant is not coming from Onondaga now that fishing ban lifted there? A sting in 90's on Ontario nabbed those that sold 1.3 million pounds of panfish from NY of which some of the fish were in western states within 3 day. The only way to prevent the desire to cheat is to eliminate the profit. It is time! I have not found anyone in DEC who wants this practice to continue.

We have some things in the works. As Jerktroller said, perch would need a season, length limit etc..We tried in 2006 but did not succeed. Need to plan careful wording in order for legislator to sign on. When things get set up Sk8man or I will put it out on this forum.