Gill-T

Good pull Brian. So true. My own observations about the up and comers would be the shakers look like typical shakers. The 1.5 year olds this August were fat fat fat (3 times for emphasis). It would appear the record crop of YOY alewives last year are getting chomped and next years two year olds should be the beneficiary. Adult kings prefer the 4-5.5” size of alewives so I can see why the adults this year were small and did not benefit from last years bumper crop of bait.

2019 history https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70204588

https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/111196.html from 2020, sheds some light into why size was down.

I think we all can agree this year class of three year old kings was weak. What we can debate is the poor three year old numbers may show what can happen from an over reliance on less predictable natural reproduction on a given year. Conversely, if there were less fish in the system, why were the fish smaller?

Dbl post on Alewife survey link. Please remove.

The lake has changed. It is more Niagara-centric than ever before. Ask fishermen that fish Fair Haven or in Canadian waters how much bait they see. They will tell a different story. Fish are more concentrated. Michigan is similar with feast or famine. Now more than ever you need a trailerable boat to chase the bite. Long gone are the days you can make good boxes year’round out of every port. Lakes are getting cleaner up river not dirtier. Adapt or perish. Michigan anglers have adapted fishing techniques for when the fish are plastered to the bottom offshore. The winner of the derby on Lake Michigan won out of a 17’ boat taking fish out of both Wisconsin and Michigan ports chasing the bite. The DEC can’t tell the fish to spread out. If you put more fish in the system it doesn’t mean they will park themselves off Oswego. They still will be to the west most of the season.

👍

I think the work around the X-ray scan was already shown by the fillets that were stuffed

Almost every walleye I have caught has had an empty stomach

Big body for a scrub

I think about how close the LOC derby weights were this fall. An ounce here and an once there can be a huge swing in the payout. The weigh station should have the fisherman open the stomach on each fish entered. Problem solved. This could work on walleye events also. Bass events, not so much. MLF has it right with their catch and release format.

Does anyone know if charges were filed?

Special resident partnering license I assume? Congrats. The meat is delicious.

Not a good start. They just don’t make zippers like they used to. One doe with flag up ran by me so far otherwise no movement. Not even squirrels. I think critters are sensing the storm bands approaching and are already bedded.

Let’s get ready to rumblllllllllle

John, like many bad things these days, Gobies came from Russian ships. BTW they make great smallmouth bait. You can’t transport them but once caught, send them to within a foot of the bottom tail hooked.

Nice catch.

I took a stroll on some state land around Ellicottville to see what mast is dropping. Zero Beech, zero oak, a few apples trees bearing fruit and a few hickories. My takeaway from the walk is hunt agriculture because there ain’t much food in the big woods.