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Rochester Pen rearing


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The Genny Salmon pens went in last night.. Good group of lake anglers busted their rear ends to get those pens back in the water this year. We are good to go for the arrival of our Kings the week of April 11.

The Genny is an ideal spot for kings to survive predation. Muddy water hides them from aerial threats and the swift river current dumps an out in the lake at a pretty good clip.

Have a great season!

 

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Right on Matt, a hard working group it was. And I managed to stay dry. 😋 Happy to see them in the water after last years low water level didn’t allow the pens to go in. Looking forward to the kings and steelhead getting delivered next week and getting on the feeding schedule 

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On 4/9/2022 at 5:31 PM, HB2 said:

As a Sandy creek angler , I want our fair share of pen fish back.  

I thought it was decided that the water temp was not conducive for pen raising in Sandy. I seem to remember 70 deg water there in April a few years ago while they were still getting pen fish. 

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Actually I was told by guys that did a lot of the caretaking of those pen fish early on ,  that the Sandy fish were the heartiest of all the pen fish of all locations on the lake . 

 

This was done to appease the interests of the stakeholders and businesses in tributaries that have high amounts of destination anglers so when they come up to those areas , they have fish to catch . And they come back . 

 

I was told that when they made the decision by  someone   I believe , is a reliable source . 

 

 

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3 hours ago, UNREEL said:

I thought it was decided that the water temp was not conducive for pen raising in Sandy. I seem to remember 70 deg water there in April a few years ago while they were still getting pen fish. 

We were one of the last one projects to get fish every year.  Rob talked with the DEC and that changed in the last couple of years.  We got fish first because the creek warmed quicker than others.  We lost our fish because Sandy doesn’t draw as many lake anglers as other ports.  

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Stop beating dead horse. I miss the sandy fish, too. Start a different thread. This one is focusing on rochester’s and the guys that commit their time to make it work.
All Good L.R.
I completely understand the frustration from the Sandy Creek fishermen... As well as the others ( Fairhaven...Sodus...ect).
I Definetly don't agree with alot of the DEC biologist's theories. I do agree that pen rearing Salmon is an important part of ensuring that the young salmon have a chance at survival... Imprinting? I don't really buy into it but who am I? Just a knuckle dragger who has fished for these critters since the 70s ( very big decline in fall runs).
Maybe some things will change in the future... Alewifes keep rebounding, increased Salmon stocking, Steelhead limits returned to 3 ( that's another subject for another topic)... Return of Caledonia ... You know a guy can dream...
In the mean time, we deal with the hand we are dealt... Sometimes it's pocket aces.. Sometimes it's seven two off suit. I'm still going to volunteer my time, and sweat to help the salmon... Just like lots of other guys throughout both sides of the lake.




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14 minutes ago, Missdemeanor said:

All Good L.R.
I completely understand the frustration from the Sandy Creek fishermen... As well as the others ( Fairhaven...Sodus...ect).
I Definetly don't agree with alot of the DEC biologist's theories. I do agree that pen rearing Salmon is an important part of ensuring that the young salmon have a chance at survival... Imprinting? I don't really buy into it but who am I? Just a knuckle dragger who has fished for these critters since the 70s ( very big decline in fall runs).
Maybe some things will change in the future... Alewifes keep rebounding, increased Salmon stocking, Steelhead limits returned to 3 ( that's another subject for another topic)... Return of Caledonia ... You know a guy can dream...
In the mean time, we deal with the hand we are dealt... Sometimes it's pocket aces.. Sometimes it's seven two off suit. I'm still going to volunteer my time, and sweat to help the salmon... Just like lots of other guys throughout both sides of the lake.




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What about Fairhaven  same thing as sandy 

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I ask one of the state employee about a private pen release program and that person stated there is a private salmon  provider. Do you think there would be interest in a private pen program in places like FH, Sodus or Sandy?

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I'm sure the Genny and Oak guys are doing a great job ........ Taking care of our fish . 

 

Who said the horse is dead ? 

 

We got thrown under the bus . 

 

If there is no imprinting , why not just keep them at the hatchery and power feed the heck out of them and direct release them out of a helicopter into the lake ? 

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I'm sure the Genny and Oak guys are doing a great job ........ Taking care of our fish . 
 
Who said the horse is dead ? 
 
We got thrown under the bus . 
 
If there is no imprinting , why not just keep them at the hatchery and power feed the heck out of them and direct release them out of a helicopter into the lake ? 
According to the research Pen reared fish have a greater survivability rate than direct stocked fish... That's the only reason why I think pen rearing is worth it...
So let's think this through... I'm part of the guys who show up, get pens ready, dump em in the water....volunteer to hand feed these fish 5 x a day to make sure every part of the pens get feed in them ( auto feeders probably work just as well... I've never seen them work). Most guys who have fished for a long time have seen the decrease in the fall return... So is the imprinting working? No... Even the DEC question it.... So why do we do it? To get a better product into the lake that has a fighting chance to make it to 3 years old. A better product for everyone... Not just Genny basin anglers.. Besides, the muddy water flowing out is a whole lot better at hiding little guys than gin clear waters.
In addition.. I'm sure the little guys would do fantastic getting direct stocked in gin clear water from a helicopter ( sarcasm).


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Once  upon a time when this all started and they were dumping fish in the lake like trash in a landfill , all fish were direct stocked . And yes , I know things have changed , clear water and y cormerants . my neighbor Charlie Chick  told me he dumped the first  bucket of Kings ever  in Sandy . We had crazy runs of Kings in any water flow on the South shore and did for years . And then it slowed dramatically . Which happened the same time they stopped rearing kings at Calidonia . All kings were raised at Altmar and the overwhelming majority imprinted there . 

In an effort to get south shore  king runs back , pen rearing started . Now its debatable if it works or not . But to some degree IMO , it does . Put 

100 k of Kings in a pen , maybe 10 percent imprint . That's a good number . 

 

The last few years because of stocking cuts , returns of Kings in most tribs  were down . I did not see that at Sandy untill this past year . And surprisingly 3 years ago this spring is when we lost our fish . Coinsedence ? Maybe , maybe not . 

 

My assessment of this is that stakeholders and businesses strong armed the DEC to get more fish stocked as we all always do . They could not increase numbers because of the bait so they did this . 

 

I witnessed  the strong arm tactic when the DEC wanted to increase the size limit of steelhead in the lake from 21" to 25" . Things got a bit heated over this . I won't go into details . 

 

A guy on here , can't remember who 

(sarcasm) has suggested a new state of the art hatchery . This should be a #1 priority of members of this site and all upstate fishing organizations . For Browns ,Domestics . Not only for LO but for all the streams in this part of the state . And some Kings , just to see what happens .Maybe walleye .  

 

We at  Sandy, with a very well organized and enthusiastic volunteer base ,  got boned . I want our fish back . And the way I see it , the horse ain't dead . 

 

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Rob Westcott, Hank, or Chad... Please delete this thread.... Unbelievable... A guy can't post updates on pen rearing with it getting into a full on political debate about somthing no angler or member of this forum has anything to do with.
.. God forbid someone tries to keep central basin anglers informed. SMH



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I'm sure you guys are doing a great job over there . 

 

Not trying to be political at all . 

 

It doesn't sit well with me me how this all went down . For years a lot of guys at Sandy put much hard work in. My time has only been in recent years . And I've seen my share of politics in that time . And politics is partly why we are where we're at on this . 

 

I still think a new hatchery should be priority #1 . 

 

 

 

 

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Rob Westcott, Hank, or Chad... Please delete this thread.... Unbelievable... A guy can't post updates on pen rearing with it getting into a full on political debate about somthing no angler or member of this forum has anything to do with.
.. God forbid someone tries to keep central basin anglers informed. SMH



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Or religion!!!
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