Collapse of a once great Walleye fishery...

[tiogaguy]

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These guys are filling bags with 5lb plus average fish.  Those are St Lawrence and Lake Erie numbers which are World Class smallmouth fisheries.  If you think that gobies are bad for bass fishing I really don’t know what to tell you.

 

I can’t speak to sunfish but gobies have turned our bass and walleye fisheries in NY into destinations.

 

  Size is not an indication overall numbers. The south shore of Lake Ontario has never recovered its population from the 80s and 90s. That is directly related to the gobies. Also, the Smallmouth are still spawning in Cayuga, LO and SLR in June/early July. Many of these "big bags" are bedding fish! Including the big one caught in Cayuga a couple years ago. There are tons of recent studies on the impact of removing fish from beds, even temporarily during C&R tournements. 

 

Edited April 19 by tiogaguy

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8 hours ago, tiogaguy said:

  Size is not an indication overall numbers. The south shore of Lake Ontario has never recovered its population from the 80s and 90s. That is directly related to the gobies. Also, the Smallmouth are still spawning in Cayuga, LO and SLR in June/early July. Many of these "big bags" are bedding fish! Including the big one caught in Cayuga a couple years ago. There are tons of recent studies on the impact of removing fish from beds, even temporarily during C&R tournements. 

 

 correct.. Look I'm not an expert, but I am not a sub moron either.. I realize   along with most other members here that the gobies are being eaten by Bass, and that makes for BIG fat bass.. I also realize that Gobies are intense and relentless in their nest raids on ALL fish.. There are articles about how the Muskies in the SLR are being decimated by Gobies because they don't protect their nests.. Lots of videos out there of SMB trying  hard  to defend their nests against gobies but can't.. They chase one and 3 others   fly in, grab some eggs and fly back out just as fast. and the bass simply can't keep it up... I talk to old time SLR anglers that say yes, the bass are bigger than ever, but there are a lot  less of them than ever before as well, which has been my experience fishing the southern and mid sections of cayuga.. Spots where i could catch 100-150 mixed species in a half  day[SMB, Rock Bass,   big Bluegills, Pumpkinseeds, Perch, along with an occasional Bullhead,  Pickerel, Pike,Sucker, Carp, LMB are now devoid of any and all life except for gobies.. Yes, you'll catch a fish here and there, but the numbers are down by 90% in rocky areas.. From what they tell me, the Gobies are not as much of an issue in weedy water with muck bottoms, such as the areas around the main channel at the north end of cayuga.. However, in MOST of Cayuga Lake  I have noticed a drastic drop off in numbers of most fish except for Salmonids which as we know are stocked for the most part, and don't have to deal with nest raiders... anyway, this did get off topic, and I meant to **** about the lack of walleyes in the susquehanna , not the lack of fish in Cayuga and SLR....  In any case,thanks to all for a really well  balanced discussion!