Lucky13

In case you don't have zoom. Stakeholders State Of The Lake Ontario Tributary Meeting with DEC On February 11, twenty diversified tributary stakeholders consisting of Recreational Anglers, Professional Guides, Lodges, and Tackle, Fly Shop owners met in a focus group discussion with DEC Fishery managers from regions 9,8,7,6, Lake Ontario Section Head Steve LaPan and the Bureau Chief Of Fisheries for New York State, Steve Hurst . Each Stakeholder was given the floor to present their observations on the state of the Lake Ontario Tributaries across the watershed over the past three years. NOTE: There were several Tributary Stakeholder business owners present, and they made it clear, (and in some cases presented in writing) their observations were not only their own, but a collection of observations, thoughts, comments, and discussions they’ve had with thousands of anglers, over the past three tough tributary fishing seasons. DEC presented their results of the 2016 lake wide tributary creel census survey. What will be noticeable reading through the Stakeholder observations of angling success, and the first hand reports from DEC, that the data appears to corroborate the actual experiences from Stakeholders. Stakeholders On Angling Success : Number of Fish (Browns & Steelhead) the last 2 years is way down. Reported on the Salmon River, East and West end of Lake Ontario. On Oak Orchard - 2 years ago you could visable see Thiamine sick Steelhead. Compact run of Steelhead on Oak Orchard even with high water levels. normally ago not like that. There are way less Brown Trout than in the past years on Oak Orchard, Irondequoit, Bear Creek, and Sandy Creek in Rochester. The Douglaston Salmon Run (DSR)/Salmon River section fished better than the rest of the River for Steelhead. More Steelhead resident in the lower section of the river. This unusual because up river the fish are vacant. Are they not moving because they are sick? The numbers of Steelhead in Orwell Brook are way down from previous years. Very few Steelhead in the lower Salmon River as well as Oswego, Genny, and Oak Orchard The lower fly zone on the Salmon River success limited/NO Fish. Folks come and fish every day are catching 1 Steelhead for 2 weeks of fishing effort in the upper section of the Salmon River The King run in September on the Salmon River was terrible. October had a good run of Kings, but was the timing of the run was very condensed. And No steelhead or browns to speak of. Last fall/this winter fishing by swinging flies or fishing egg patterns while wading was not as effective because of the lack of fish. Needed to cover lots of water for Fishing by boat much more effective Lake Ontario Fish runs are later in the season on the Eastern end of Lake Ontario. No early run Steelhead on Eastern End, overall numbers of Steelhead are lower and smaller. Timing of fish are running later at Oak Orchard on the Western end of Lake Ontario also! Anglers Success continued: Overall seeing less fish on Oak Orchard, Smaller fish, and steelhead fight is not on par. Steelhead fight not good. Fish are lethargic on east & west end tributaries of Lake Ontario. The salmon river angler caught more domestic steelhead 12”-14” Numbers of fisherman reduced over the past year on all regions mostly likely due to poorer fishing. Fishing effort on the tributaries has been very high until this year. See DEC Trib Creel Census reports. More Atlantic Salmon are being caught on the West end of the lake at Oak Orchard, Sandy Creek & Irondequoit lately Tributary Ethics and Behavior: There is a lack of keeping & protecting our resources clean. There are fresh fish carcasses lying around. Need to conserve the River Fishing resources on all Tributaries. Especially during the Salmon runs - Poor Fishing etiquette on stream, anglers are not respecting the 1 rod length distance between anglers. No respect for anglers when they have a fish on giving them the “right of way” to land the fish. Crowd behavior much better over the last few years on the (Salmon River) especially noticeable after the salmon runs. LAW Enforcement: Need to have fines for law breakers more painful Need more law enforcement on all tribs. DEC Creel Survey folks help with a presence on the river. But need officers assigned and present on specific Tributaries. Find a way to get Judges to enforce tickets! Even if the DEC needs to have their own “special” court. Need More DEC Enforcement on the Salmon River and surrounding tributaries during Nov 1- Nov 15th. This is prime season for poaching of the Steelhead. Poachers know that the DEC officers are in the woods with hunters and that there is no presence on the rivers. Also should someone call the DEC, the chances of an officer arriving at the scene before the offender leaves is remote. Make Angling laws less complex. Simplify laws. For Chinooks – people can’t tell the difference between a Chinook vs. an Atlantic salmon, or Coho’s vs. a Steelhead. Need better Fish Identification education. Need to impose and enforce Tackle Restrictions on the Tributaries Sept/Oct timeframe. Business impacts: Social Media the last 3-4 years can make or break your business traffic. The overall impression of fisherman is based on pictures on their phones. Overall impressions “There are no fish”. In the past 21 years of being in business this was the worst Nov/Dec ’16 ever seen. Over the last 40 years, this is the least number of Steelhead ever seen, and when you do see one they don’t have the fight/energy of a steelhead. Guides are seeing fewer consecutive day’s being booked for fishing trips by clients because of the lower number of fish. More cancelations of lodging in 2014-2016, then ever experienced before. Stakeholders Thoughts On Regulation Changes: Want more catch & release regulations for Steelhead on the Tributaries. Request to lower the steelhead limit on Lake Ontario Closure of trout fishing on Orwell Brook Need better access on the Oswego River. Access on the water limited. Steelhead Brown Trout and Atlantic Salmon– would like a “No Kill” for Sept/Oct on the Salmon River. Access – we need more public access rights on the Tributaries. Streams are too crowded. Need to enforce/share the 1 Steelhead limit on Lake Ontario & Tributaries. It should be the same for both. Need for more fish limits. Need to increase the size of Steelhead catch limit from 21” to 25”. It’s important to have them return to spawn for 1 cycle in the Tributaries Need to impose a 1 Brown Trout Limit. Salmon River, Oak Orchard, & other Tributaries. There are significantly less Browns than 15 years ago. Need for more fish limits. Salmon River and Other Tributaries needs more “Catch & Release” areas. Need Catch and Release regulations for Atlantic salmon across the board on all Lake Ontario Tributaries.

The Lamestream press will just call the Voter fraud information fake news because it originates with Fox. They are making big noise today about KA Conway hitting someone at an inaugural ball, but reported almost nothing on the obstruction, damage and assault that the organized opposition engaged in at the Inauguration. I'll predict that the Whitehouse will eventually just pull press credentials for anyone from the Washington Post, the NY Times, and USA Today.

Cuomo did the same thing in NYS years ago, and it is likely Obama did the same thing when he got elected, pretty standard transition practice. Now if the gag order stays on as it has in NYS.....

Breakwall was not completed because the lake level dropped too soon, and they could not get the equipment necessary for dredging the sand that goes over the stone into place. Scheduled for spring into early summer.

Let's see, there is a well developed jetty system at the mouth of Irondequoit Bay that was supposed to never need dredging, how's that working? Every channel along the lake fills in somewhat depending on wind and currents. Young Anthony D. is the majority leader of the County Legislature, and Mr Reilick, Town Supervisor in Greece, is the Chair of the local Republican Party. I don't think they'll have many problems with permits to dredge, but finding the money for the structural improvements could be somewhat of a challenge, but if anyone can do it , those two, and Chuckie Schumer, can! The design for the Headlands Breakwater to be finished in the spring was based on reduction of erosion to the marshes, and consideration for boating was only that it not get worse as a result of the project. The sand that is slated to be used for building up the headlands, and supporting the vegetation is coming from the area to the northwest of the breakwater, and for a time this should improve navigation. The separation between the breakwater and the existing jetty could be deepened if the Buttonwood end of the bay starts to get more eutrophic (stagnant), and I hypothesized that this could end up the eventual navigation channel, but that was not the intent here. All this detail is on the Buffalo District US Army Corps of Engineers website, but you'll have to spend a little time reading. Gee, Jerry, Landlocked Salmon in Braddock's Bay would be a wonderful thing, I have to travel to the Fulton Chain to fish for them now since they stopped putting any in Hemlock Lake!!