Lucky13

There was an announcement yesterday that all the facilities at the Cape Vincent Research Station are opened back up. Aquarium (learn what kind of fish you might catch, if you don't already know them), access for fishing from the docks, rest rooms (sometimes important with kids). Not a huge distance down river from Chippewa area.

Considering the size and type of boat Shrekstoff employs, I would guess he is targeting them for more of his probing investigations into the complexities of the LO Salmonid and Bait continuum!!! Take me out fishing and set the goal as a box full of adult kings. You are sure to get nothing bigger than shakers, and probably lose half the tackle in the process!

I should probably qualify the above by saying I don't know of any people who lick themselves clean after swimming, but in this day and age, I suppose anything is possible, so those folks, if there are any out there, are in greater danger, too!

Then based on everything I could find, you're good to go. But the links provide you with all kinds of information that could come in handy later, and the map has photos of the blooms linked to it so you can see what all the words really add up to. The greatest danger with these blooms is to dogs who swim in them, get the cells and associated toxins concentrated in their fur, and then ingest the toxins while licking themselves clean. Many dogs have died from this, up around Champlain, and I think a couple in Fulton by Neatawanta, which has one of the longest running problems in the state (damn shame, it was a great crappie lake) If you are in an area with a bloom, you avoid contact, but keep your dog leashed so he or she CANNOT get to the water to swim or drink.

https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/77118.html https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/83310.html https://nysdec.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=ae91142c812a4ab997ba739ed9723e6e Questions that are pertinent include. Was the green color general and transparent or was it opaque, like a paint spill on the surface? Did the green color adhere to the fish? Are there advisories issued for the lake that indicate the levels of microcystins or other toxins being produced by the bloom? Is the Bloom(s) localized or lake wide? A lot of non-harmful algae, which are present in all bodies of water, can impart a green color to water, but they tend to stay suspended and scattered throughout the water column, so the water still looks clear but with a green tint. Cyanobacteria produce gas when they bloom, which float the cells to the surface where they accumulate in a "Tennis Court paint" or " pea soup" like scum (some related species can produce red blooms, looks like fire engine paint spilled on top, but I've only encountered one of these in a few years of chasing blue greens around Monroe County), which can then discolor to varying shades of green and brown as the bloom progresses. If the bloom is active and toxin producing, prudence says avoid fish, and Dr. Joseph Makarewicz at SUNY Brockport found bioaccumulation of BG Toxins in fish he analyzed from some bloom areas. Because all this action is manifesting on top, and lake trout are at the bottom, you might think you are safe but the algae are collecting at the surface, but could be producing toxins deeper in the Water Column before they rise to the top. So I would check the advisories page and if I was in area with an advisory, I would NOT eat the fish. However, DEC does say that recreational use of water in areas of a large waterbody with localized blooms is OK as long as you are not in the bloom area. Looking at the Cayuga map, the only blooms reported in the last two weeks are at the far north end of the lake. But there was been quite a bit of activity down there this summer, especially in early July. But the most recent report near to the laker waters is nearly a month old, so that would say the blooms down there are over.. "Know it, Avoid it, Report it Some HABs can produce toxins, some do not. However, exposure to any HABs can cause health effects in people and animals when water with blooms is touched, swallowed, or when airborne droplets are inhaled. Exposure to high levels of HABs and their toxins can cause diarrhea, nausea or vomiting; skin, eye or throat irritation; and allergic reactions or breathing difficulties. For more information please visit NYS Department of Health's HAB page. "

Seems like actual problems like Whirling Disease, BKD, VHS, and who knows what potential new problems, have faded from memory for a lot of folks. Why there is a moratorium on moving fish eggs from State to State anymore, or at least why DEC isn't doing it. Alewife ARE herring. https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/85766.html Looking at Wikipedia, there is no mention of Pacific Herring being anadromous, so I question whether they would be viable in a freshwater environment. The lack of salt in freshwater acts as a barrier to invasion of freshwaters by species that could just swim up from the ocean if their physiology allowed them to adjust to the different salinity.

Another baiting option that cuts way down on swallowed hooks is to use an ice jig for the hook, tip it with a piece of worm or a waxworm if anyone has them. The fish feel the jig and try to spit it rather than swallowing.

I would go to a bait and tackle store in the area, and ask there, they have an interest in putting you on fish so you come back and buy some more bait from them. My dad took my brothers and I to Chippewa when we were kids (50+ years ago) ,and the bait store guys sent us about 100 yards down shore from their location. We caught beaucoup big sunfish and bluegills, but it was just before bass season, fish were on the beds right off shore. But I've also heard about a million stories about huge fish, and lots of panfish, being caught right off the end of the dock in the St Lawrence, so you my find that there is plenty of action to keep them happy right where you are renting. For a day trip that might be interesting, especially if they have finished the aquarium work, take a run downriver to Cape Vincent. http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/27069.html There is shore fishing there, too, and restrooms close by.

As to raising bait for a Great Lake, really a small ocean, where are you going to do it? Rotenone Oneida Lake, or maybe Kueka and use that. That will sit really well with those property owners! Steve LePan calculated a few years ago that if all the hatchery capacity of NYS were devoted to Alewife culture, they could produce enough alewife to feed the ravenous predators we already stocked into LO for 8 days. No, you want big salmon, cut the numbers that go in and the ones that remain have more growth possibility. On the other hand, if the west end charter guys had their ways, more would go in and you could get a box full of 4 year old ten pounders, if the population didn't totally crash, and I see that as a big risk despite what Gill says, with the continuing decline exhibited in the data from a well designed, well vetted, well run random sampling program run for over 40 years.

WOW, run this guy for Congress, a Public Servant who actually cares what the public thinks and works to serve them!!!

A friend who0 lives on 3 by Stony says he has not been able to mow the back part of his acreage this year because the water has been backed up so far into his yard, so this will be bad news for him as he'll likely need to get a brush hog to cut it down now!

So all that stuff about the hook quickly rotting out if left in a fish is bunk, or were those brown trout snagged during the spring months? C'mon Rick, if you are going for cheap shots and generalizations, at least make them believable (not ALL tributary fish are snagged, or King Davy and the rest of the non poacher trib anglers never break off a legally hooked fish!) . Or should I start talking about all the J-plugs we find in the outside of those fall mudsharks you guys all "power troll" for?