Lucky13

A good spot from shore on Tupper is at the mouth of the Bog River, near the south end of the lake. Nice picnic spot, too, and natural rock "waterslides" that are popular in the summer.

This is not the fishing reports section, it is open lake discussion, and how to get to a launch seems to be a good fit there, IMHO!

Sawbelly = alewife

You all definitely need to review the baitfish regulations. I would say a call to NYSDEC would be warranted before bringing Florida baitfish into NYS Waters, as the language dealing with Marine species is as clear as the Genesee River in March! Alewife is limited to the following lakes: Alewife: Canandaigua Lake; Canadice Lake; Cannonsville Reservoir; Cayuga Lake; Cayuta Lake; Conesus Lake; Hemlock Lake; Waneta Lake; Hudson River downstream from Lock C-4 and its associated dam in Stillwater to the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan Island; Keuka Lake; Otsego Lake; Otisco Lake; Owasco Lake; Lake Ontario; Lake Erie; Lamoka Lake; Pepacton Reservoir; Seneca Lake; St. Lawrence River; Niagara River; Mohawk River, and all waters in Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties. The regulations are challenging, but where I fish in the 'daks, we get checked quite frequently, for species, and the dated receipt.

From the NYSDEC Website on the Guide's program: Individuals engaging in the business of guiding on all lands and waters of the state shall possess a license issued by the department. There are, however, some exceptions. They include persons operating or assisting upon a public vessel for hire (passenger carrying vessels), licensed by the United States Coast Guard or New York State while on the following waters: The Atlantic Ocean All other marine, coastal and tidal waters including: The Hudson River up to the Troy Barrier Dam The St. Lawrence River and the navigable portion of its tributaries The Great Lakes and the navigable portion of their tributaries Lake Champlain and the navigable portion of its tributaries Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake and the navigable portion of their tributaries

Was there really any reason to doubt that those were his true intentions?

Coast Guard license holders do not have to get a NYS Guide license for fishing.

If you look at the plots they were on the same track as in Dec 2015, the lake starts going up in December every year on that plot. Dec long term average rainfall is 2.63", we got 2.91", January is 2.41, we got 2.56, Feb is 1.95, we got 2.33. The starting stage in Mid December and stage through mid march are nearly identical to 2015. But in March, long term average rainfall is 2.5", we got 4.67", April is 2.73, we got 4.95, and May is 2.87, we got 5.29. Mid march is when they would have been letting the water go, but they had no ice to allow the higher discharges, and these are extraordinary rainfalls, and they had even higher rainfall over the area surrounding Montreal. The averages and monthly totals are what was recorded on Weather underground for Rochester.

http://w3.lre.usace.army.mil/hh/ForecastData/BulletinGraphics/MBOGLWL-ontario.pdf Lake Ontario levels were slightly below the long term average from early June 2016 until mid December, when we started to get the precipitation. As an example of water coming into the system, the Genesee River was above 2000 cfs for most of the winter, basically unfishable for the whole season with the exception of about 5 days. Maybe these guys have a functioning crystal ball, if they knew what the weather would bring that far in advance. http://w3.lre.usace.army.mil/hh/GreatLakesPrecipitation/GLP-ThisMonth.pdf http://w3.lre.usace.army.mil/hh/GreatLakesPrecipitation/GLP-LastMonth.pdf So far in May, LO has received nearly twice as much rain as the historic average, and had 155% of average in April. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/05/25/toronto-rainfall-breaks-record-set-in-1953.html

Where would you have put all that water? Please also remember that while LO was 33" over normal average, Montreal was 55" over average. Record rainfall does not confuse the issue, it clarifies it unless you absolutely have to place blame somewhere other than nature. When you build a house on a floodplain, occasionally you have a floodplain on your house, but it usually requires an extraordinary amount of water, which is what we got in April and May. It is also high in Erie, which is not controlled, and all the inland lakes that feed LO are high, no IJC or Board of Control there, although agencies like the Black River Regulatory District are definitely holding water anywhere that they have control, like in the Fulton Chain of Lakes.

The board of control people, many of whom opposed 2014, have indicated that they were on track with 2016 levels into January, but they were unable to discharge at the normal winter rates in the St Lawrence due to lack of ice cover. Once the STL gets locked up, they can let it rip under the ice, no shipping problems as there is no shipping in a frozen channel, and no shore impacts because the ice constrains the level of the water, and the velocity of the flow can increase under the ice just like in a pipe. Without the ice cover, discharge had to be throttled down to prevent shore erosion along the STL. And then the rains, double the normal amount of water. In a totally uncontrolled system, no dam, no regulation, this kind of high water would occur once in a while, also the kind of low water that makes Braddock totally unnavigable. AS to the Braddock project being related to 2014, it may have been harder to convince Region 5 EPA to put up the money if it was assured that 2014 would be enacted, as much of what was built in Braddock was designed to mimic the effects of more level variability without the variability involved in 2014.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/pfrcohoctriv.pdf http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/pfrmillckr8.pdf Also check the State forest map against the stocking lists. NYSDEC does not stock streams with no access, but may not have formal easements, and where stocked streams run through State forests or FWMA's may be your easiest access.

You'll likely never know without trying. But, again, make sure you knock on some doors, there is not a lot of public land down there, or talk to the ranger in charge for info if you are looking at NYS Forest lands.

Burnham Point closed, the launch north of town is listed as open. http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/23890.html

Cape Vincent DEC Closes Public Facilities at the Cape Vincent Fisheries Station High Water Levels Causing Flooding Due to high water levels on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has closed the aquarium, fishing access site, and overnight dockage at the Cape Vincent Fisheries Station until further notice. The picnic area will remain open. However, visitors are advised to use caution and remain a safe distance away from docking areas.

2014 yearling population was very low and 2015 yearling was nearly non-existent in the trawls. These would be the preferred size for salmonid predators now,( Literature says 2+ and older are the preferred food size for salmonids) but they are not there in any significant numbers. It would be logical then that salmonids, especially smaller ones like Brown trout, would turn to the yearlings from the 2016 hatch, which would be small now (2-3"). The 2016 hatch was better in the trawls, not record breaking but healthier. The literature also says they are a fragile fish, so conditions out on the lake this year with prolonged turbidity, high water, and fluctuating temperatures cold be inducing some mortality. The lake was rough enough to exacerbate the flooding on Saturday, maybe that knocked some of the little ones around. Or if you are seeing large (6-8") ones on top, that could just be natural mortality, they don't live forever, maximum recorded age is 9 years.

There is also a risk that if you killed all the mussels at once, this would start a massive outbreak of Type E. Botulism, with repercussions all through the food chain of the lake. And there is also the issue of cost.

I'll see what I can do.

Do I need boots? Buckets? Thanks for the instructions. Hope to get out there.

Information on where to park and how to get to the pier in light of the flooding would be helpful.

Navigation Law for I Bay was modified some years ago to a 200' from shore no wake zone as has been done on a lot of lakes in NYS. There are some steep bluffs that are subject to a lot of slope toe erosion from boat wakes in a normal year, with the high water this year there is water right up to the doors of many properties in German Village and other shore side hamlets. If you need to get from the south end to the outlet, troll, the browns are in the bay as well as the lake! As another here said, much more negligence in caring for the shore properties by boaters, they could just close the bay to motorized traffic. I have a strong suspicion that it is not fishermen running like this, but if they close it everyone suffers.