pvelyk

I had a half gill plate fish this year and I thought and hoped it was an anomaly due to poor fish handling procedure at the hatchery or the fish being release as a skipper out on the lake. The plate the fish had was very thick so I assumed that part of the plate got folded in an fused. But now that you bring this up this seems like it might be a bigger issue.

If all the lake fishing so groups bought in to banding together and doing fundraisers and tourneys amongst other this, maybe a first step towards a bigger picture would getting the DEC to accept a donation of the groups buying and getting here west coast eggs. It might not solve all our problems but it would bring new genetics in and be an finically a first obtainable step for the groups to us as a pilot program. Plus it would a smaller less threading step to get cooperation with the hatchery and DEC guys. It wouldn't have to be just fisherman getting on board as a lot of businesses that rely on the fishery would be wise to add there support both politically and financially. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Brian, Theoretically could a private group source there own eggs/ fry and become a hatchery? I know there would be some regulatory rules that would have to be met but could it be done or is NY State the only entity that could / can legally stock fish in to public waters? Because heck forget the eggs from NY state early runners this type of situation would allow for the influx of some new west coast eggs and there much needed new genetics. Of course this is all pie in the sky because some many things would have to come together with funding, staffing, regulatory approval but it would be nice to have another game in town.

I know this is a niave thought but seeing Powder Mills go from the state to a private non profit is there any possibly of doing this to another hatchery or maybe partnering up with powder mills to add some capacity? Obviously money issues would have to be worked out but would beyond that would something like this be possible or would there be hurdles and road blocks put in by DEC not wanting others in there game? I thought there was on non government hatchery in use in Canada, correct?

Seems like New York State government loves to bend to loud special interests groups. Maybe we can band our member Associations together and get on the radar and start forcing some positive changes.

Based on what I have been seeing and getting on the boat by west you must mean Washington and Alaska.

Couple small Browns over here at Sandy Creek. Otherwise blank screen. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Congrats and a nice fish to start off with!

I thought crocodile but it looks thin for one, at least the ones I have or seen. Mine are smaller ones off the pier in spring for browns so maybe the bigger ones are thinner.

You are always welcome aboard Eric if you want a little nostalgia.

Fished out of Sandy Creek (Hamlin) this weekend and for us at least the fishing was some of the toughest for us this year. Saturday: I got my ticket for LOC already but my wife didn't get hers until this morning so we knew today was not for tourney fishing but for fun and our 9 year old "observer" could participate in the fun. Got started about 9:30 ran out to 70 foot of water and put the spread out, heavy on FF and Meat. No bumps as we trolled around for two an a half hours and worked our way out to 250. So we picked up the gear and ran deep. We hit the 32 line and set up heading north, working our way to a finger of structure that went from 560 to 460, which I am guessing is part of the Scotch Bonnet. I was hoping once we hit that bump we would have some action, but a sweep through there showed quiet screen and stationary gear. As we left the area and came back to 490 feet we got a small rip on a dipsey Spin doctor fly in Mountain dew that ended up being about a 8 lb King. A half our later our starboard rigger running meat down 80 feet went off and started to take a little line. Up until now my 9 year old has been catching the fish off the everything but the dipseys, and she has been doing it with mom and dad helping her, doing a majority of the rod lifting while she reels. I figured today was the day she did it all by herself, to prove to her that she was capable landing a fish all by herself. She fought the fish for a longggg time and by the end the 13 pound hen pretty much lay exhausted on the surface as it slid in the net. We are extremely proud of her as this is my wife's and her first year fishing the lake and her only other exposure to fish over bluegill size was a trip on a charter last spring. For me seeing her do this and the pride she showed and the confidence she gained made my whole season. The fish was way to exhausted to revive so we kept it and as I filleted it I notice it gill plate was deformed. Almost like it got folded in and fused exposing most of the gills on the fish. I kind of wonder what the story of this was. Sunday: Got out a little before seven and setup in 40 feet hoping to get a brown that we could put on the scales for LOC. We work the 40 - 90 foot range for a majority of the morning with just one 6 pound brown that cam of the dipsey FF combo to show for it. So we swung out to 160 and picked a teenage king on a rigger rod with a moonshine mag green and white head glow spoon. Not to long after that the sun finally made an appearance and most of marks disappeared. We did mark a lot of bait clouds and fish in the shallows this weekend but just could get anything to go.

Congrats on a great day. A great day like this lasts more than just that day because the confidence you gain setups you up for that next great day.

Wow what a trophy! Fish Hands were definitely not needed!