lamprey infestation

[bikinibottom]

lamprey infestation

fished Saturday and Sunday on Seneca. Nearly every fish we caught had a lamprey attached. Maybe this is why the quality of fishing has declined so much over the years. Anyone else experience the same?

[Bassin Bob]

Some 25 to 30% of the fish I've seen have nice red circles on them some healed some raw. If the state doesn't treat spawning streams it's a lost cause. The DEC manages the the problem with inconsistent funds

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[adipose69]

Glad we pay all that $$ for hunting and fishing licenses. Aaaaah good ol nys

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[Sk8man]

One of the disturbing things is that many of the lampreys  seen attached to the fish are not the maximum size either and that means  that they escaped earlier treatments and have a considerable life span left to do damage as they are past the "vulnerable" stage exploited by treatment. Seneca's problems are complex though and not just a function of ONE factor. The lampreys are additional serious stressors to the lake and its problematic fishery but the invasives, blue algae blooms, disappearance of vital food sources (e.g. zooplankton, and phytoplankton) for the young of various species, covering of the traditional spawning beds by Zebras and Quaggas, various pollutants entering the watersheds, large fluctuations in bait availability, etc.are wreaking havoc on Seneca and also to various degrees on many of the other Finger Lakes. You put all these stressors together and you end up with what we now have going on and I don't believe the DEC or anyone else for that matter has a clue about how to deal with correcting it. This is not a criticism of the DEC either as thisis a highly complex set of problems.

Edited May 31, 2017 by Sk8man

[Bassin Bob]

True. I was simply stating the lampreys, issue. Young of the year struggle for food. Correct on the shell fish invasion, the beaches of Cayuga, Seneca other lakes are covered with cast up shells. Clear water, washed in farm pesticides, herbacides. What a list. Sad.

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[Sk8man]

I fully agree with you Bob I was just expanding on it for the benefit of folks perhapps unfamiliar with the situation.

[Xxx]

Yes it is very a deceiving picture, the big picture on the fingers is they are in way better shape than LadyO the reports are way better in numbers as per angler on the fingers compared than the big lake. There reports from others in the 20's to 30's in fish per day. Defiantly a differant pic. Looking from the outside, the lamprecid project was done on a stream leading to the fingers. So the outside picture isn't at all the case looking from the other side of the fence. Even I thought they had a grip on the eels. Sad, very sad

[Bassin Bob]

VHS, couldn't think of a better thing to happen to the gobbies. But it spreads. The big lake is the catch all of the entire great Lakes system. The fingerlakes catch all the farm affluent. Road salt on and on. Where do we start? I'm very happy to see so many people on this site appreciate our resources. I personally release 98% of all my fish. I'm not telling anyone else they should.
I love catching lakers, LL, smallmouth. Rainbows. Thrilling. I take a picture if large and release. Enjoy our lakes.

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