walnut109

Lets face it. Things have changed in most our lakes since I started fishing fifty years ago. Milfoil has probably had one of the largest impacts, especially on the smaller lakes. But fishing is still pretty good and worth the time invested. We should all be excited about the upcoming open water season. Coldwater/warmwater fisheries can and do co-exist successfully in New York and all across the northern states. Tupper is an example. Walleye did co-exist with trout in Owasco prior to the alewife invasion, which decimated the walleye population. Catch rates for browns and rainbows in Owasco did decline in the data collected by DEC from diary reports during the walleye stocking. However, many other factors were at play at the time. Most significantly a large surplus of lake trout were stocked by DEC at the same time. Not all DEC decisions are correct and personally, I feel the walleye-trout issue relationship on Owasco is more emotion than science. Also, one lake's results should not dictate policy for all lakes. Owasco and Skan are different watersheds and biomass. Skan is much different than it was 50 years ago too. Biomass related issues are complex, interwoven and hard to predict. I fish for walleye, pike, trout, salmon, perch, bluegills, crappies, bullhead and even carp off the dock. All fish are equal in my eyes at the end of a line, but not in table fare. I summer troll for Skan bows and the last two summers I have had less success. But this past fall was great for me and I caught and released quite a few undersize bows. There seems to be a good class of 14-inch fish out there. DEC has documented bow catch rates had declined, but average sizes are way up. Probably the same total weight is being harvested. Same results for smallmouth. More pickerel in the lake too. More guys are warmwater fishing than coldwater fishing as well. Very few fall and summer trout trollers on the lake lately. Skan has changed. I am not of the opinion that outlaw fisherman bucket stocked walleye in Skan and were successful. Self-sustaining walleye fisheries are not easily established. Ask DEC. They have literally failed on a hundred of lakes across the state, but that is a different topic. My guess is walleye have always existed in Skan as a very tiny population and lake conditions have finally reached a point where they are able to increase their population. Walleye are native to the Seneca-Oswego River watersheds, which Skan is a part of. Rainbows are an introduced western fish, but that doesn't matter to me. Skan bows are gems. So are Skan perch. So should be Skan eyes. DEC is correct that illegal stocking is not in our fisheries best interest, but the genie is out of the bottle. At least walleye is a native fish that is great angling and table fare. Netting of the walleye to remove them would be fruitless and I would assume kill many other fish as well. I think we all need to take a deep breath and enjoy the time on the water.

Great topic. I really enjoyed reading these posts. My first experience with Finger Lakes trout fishing began at Lodi in the early 70's. An old guy (who was probably actually younger than I am now) would go out every morning from the campground and bring back 2 or 3 lakers and rainbows. To a 10 year old, the size was massive compared to the stream trout we cut our teeth on. He was a wire puller, and not the most friendly guy, he but offered suggestion on purchasing a Seth Green Rig in town. For the next 15 years trolling the Finger Lakes was how we spent the weekends. We fished from Keuka to Otisco but mainly focused on Skaneateles and Owasco. I spent many days hunkered down in the bow of our 14-foot Starcraft waiting for the rods to bounce. I returned to focus on warmwater species for the next 20 years but recently got the itch to go after the trout/salmon again after a friend donated a couple of riggers to my son for his boat. I really enjoy trolling the Finger Lakes. The setting is so unique and we are blessed to have this in our backyard. I never really got the itch for the browns or kings on Lake O., but we have been going out of Fair Haven the last two years. Lake O. is great fishery, but it has a different feel than the Finger Lakes. Of course each Finger has it own unique feel too, along with the history associated with the fishery. I have our old Miller's, Pine Valley's, Quick Strikes and Sutton's. In my opinion, there never a sweeter looking lure than a new Sutton pulled from its wrapper in the 70's. I am trying to fill out my collection of flutter style Sutton's which is not easy, as some of the early ones were hand cut and very limited in number. I am almost there (32 out of 35 I think, there may be more). I purchased an old Seth Green rig this summer and plan to use it at least once while turning off the electronics. The fish will still be in their old haunts, let old Seth find them. Sometimes, simpler is better for the mind and soul.

Significant debris and pollution at Lodi Point. The State boat ramp is barely visible. A very sad situation for those impacted. Here is a link to some more aerials. https://twitter.com/FLXJosh/status/1029415478433857536/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1029415478433857536&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffingerlakes1.com%2F2018%2F08%2F14%2Fupdate-mandatory-evacuations-lodi-state-of-emergency%2F

I have graphed extremely large marks in the fall near the State launch. I presumed the were big lakers setting up prior to the spawn. My guess is the old fish live very deep most of the time and may be night feeders as well. Jigging or trolling large spoons down 150 or deeper would be my pattern to try an catch one. Unfortunately, it may take years to hook one.

My cousin's biggest laker was caught in Dec. 2011. It weighed only 20.5 pounds due to being a post-spawn female. It contained a 16" laker in its stomach. The big lakers cannibal their smaller brothers and grow to extreme sizes. Not many in there, but enough to make it very interesting.

Last year the algae bloom shut down our bite, but there also seemed to be a very large perch fingerling population. Hope to get out soon to check things out. As far a big lakers, my cousin has only caught 2 lakers in Skan in our boat. One 41" and one 36". Now that is a world class average. Both flat lining. My biggest is 24".

Here is a picture of the two biggest RT. Odd that this year we did not catch any sub- legal RT or any LLS. Generally tough fishing compared to last year. Lots of perch fry this year and rain stained water.

Skan 9-8-17 & 9-9-17 Fished both mornings. Friday morning we landed 3 RT and 12 LT and lost quite a few leapers. Great day of fishing. This morning was poor. Only 4 small LT and never hooked a RT. Not sure what the difference was, but that's fishing.

Fished 4 to dusk today. Not many boats out. Graphed a few and got a spoon bit off by a decent fish.