Has Been

Question. What do you do with the fish that are in bad shape once the box is full & you are in C&R mode?

More fish hooked means more fished killed. What happens when the succes rate does not increase when using 3 rods per ? how bout 4? There is every opportunity for Trollers to hook up & with the tech that gets better every year ,I should think that would be enough. If you don't have a full crew, drag someone off the dock to take ,give some poor jetty guy the chance to experience the big lake. And yes our out of state guests should get the same treatment we residents get. Also I should add that how much you choose to spend in pursuit of the fish should have no berring on this issue.

Hey L&M ,don't include me in 'The Common for all that fish NYS" . I'm am opposed to the three rod rule for reasons I have stated before , so do not speak for me.

Back before the Zebras showed up ( maybe 20 years ago) even on a clean water day you couldn't see the bottom in 6 feet of water very well . When I was a kid & we went to Cape vincent to fish the weeds around Fox & Grenideer Islands were Thick. Now I can see the Bass on the bottom at 20 feet somedays. Went back to the cape & no thick weeds & you can see the bottom easily in all the places we fished back them. Thats from the zebras filtering out all the Nutrients & plankton out of the water or so I'm told. No phosphous or better fertilizers make for no weeds so it's a vicious circle the cormerants take advantage of.Which is why I say you never know what will happen. The canal runs from Niagara river to Oneida so I think thats how the goby are there. They came from the other way. And We stock so we get aroung natural selection a bit.DEC grabs the fish ,gets tha eggs & mates for them. Puts them in a tank , Hatch t& grow them to a certain size , then release them where they want in the numbers they want. That part is hardly Nat selection.

Inshore I use a 7' med action spinrod W/ 20 lb power pro & 20-30 flour leader. White bucktails 1/4 to !/2 oz tiped w/ shrimp work well for me.

Do they work?

And as for the sizes of the salmon , does genetics have anything to do with it? Take eggs from smallfish & maybe you get small fish. Take eggs from the first spawners & maybe they run the rivers a little sooner each year. Just a thought. Early on about 1978 we were disscusing why they like a different color each year . My buddy Shongo speculated that maybe it was where the eggs came from . I think we were getting some from Michigan at the beginning.

Unfortunatly these things happen no matter what has been done to stop it. The barriers for the carp will only work so long untill life finds a way & they suddenly show up. I fished smallies a lot & I attribute lot of the decline to VHS( maybe from the goby). Did a number on the Rockies , Sheapheads & Smallies. They are starting to make a comeback slowly & who knows what will happen there. We are catching more wallys than we have in previous years . Where I fish for perch the creek is packed with small niagara blues but the perch have gobys. I think fish are oprtunistic & hit whatever is an easy meal. Perch patterns work on Salmon, not their prefered forage. . Glow green laderback J is a hot lure when salmon are close in fall , looks like a perch to me. . The fishing changed when the zebras showed up to me because the water cleared up.Less nutrients, less bait, means less fish can be supported I know , but it's not that bad.Sizes are down because of it but the fish are there. Colors that work pre zebras were not as effective after. No one knows for sure what will happen till it all pans out & even then we might have surprises. I think the fishery will survive one way or another. Might be different ,but it will survive.I think the fishing was better when the lake was "polluted".

As I recall the goby invasion was going to kill the fishery way back when. The Zebras were going to do the same thing but the fishery prevails. I say you never know what is going to happen .These Aiaisn carp are suppose to take over also. You just don't really know . A lot of the biggest perch I caught the last few springs were full of goby to . The fish love them . I used a three inch trick stick ( brown gold ) on a 1/16 oz jig head draged on the bottom & did real well. About 20 years ago there was a huge die off of alwife. Floating on the surface all over, the surface shimmered with them. DEC said netted salmon looked stressed out because of lack of food. To me that would mean if they were that hungry they would hit any lure presented. The Salmon looked healthy to me . A record Brown was caught then also. They were lacking funds & wanted to cut back stocking so I think they were looking for an exuse. Maybe fish stairs would be better.

How do the fish climb the ladders with no hands & feet?

When they outlaw guns only outlaws will have guns ( or Obamas well funded private malitia) I wonder how many sportsman are feeling good about being a liberal upon hearing this great news? First I have heard of this . Ah , ignorance is bliss. Another uphill battle to keep our freedoms. Thank you Kristan Killibrand for being pro gun , then changing your mind when becoming a Senator. Glad we can count on you. November can't come soon enough, lets hope we can still vote.

It is a steelhead drift rod that was made in 9 10 1/2 & 12 ft. I think . My buddy had 2 12' he had with 47's that he longlined with & had good success . I think he used 6 or 8 lb w/ sticks in the spring.

And while I hope that 10' 7 wt I have been dooling over or that............"gizmo " for some finds it's way under the tree I hope to receive the same gifts I recieved in past years - my strike indicator coming to an abrupt stop & the hookset w / that telltale headshake or - one of those lifeless rods that jumps after a long hours of trolling w/ a lot of nothing to show or - thr taste of those freshly fried perch or my best buddies BBQ ribs. or my best - on my favorite ADK lake a misty still morn seeing my buddy the Bald eagle & the call of the loon that still melts my heart w/ just the thought of it. And to all of us , to be able in good health to experience them all over again. Sheryl Crow said it best " Its not having what you want , Its wanting what you have. " Merry Christmas

Gentelman, there is a lot of fishing between now and spring.

I am 51 and they are going to have to pry the rod out of my hands when I go.

I love those steelies but those browns with all their stream colors are as remakable as it gets. We are so lucky to have this fishery right in our back yards. Every time i go i count my blessings on the way. Just the chance to be on such beauties is a lot to be thankfull for.

i love the pictures of the kids w/ the fish , it reminds me of mine when they were that young . But the majority of the pics were of Beautiful scencs of nature. Thats what I'm talkin about gents ! there is hope for you guys yet. Good job!