Sk8man

The Naples derby and the first day of fishing in Naples Creek is indeed a very congested and often frustrating and perplexing experience as is fishing n general in the other major trout streams on the first day but it also can be exciting so don't let that dampen your spirit either. The major "holes" will be the most congested and people get there VERY early in the morning to nail down their favorite spots. Some spots are predictably more densely populated with fishermen than others, e..g "Digger dam", Eelpot etc.There are years when the fish have made it up to high areas in the creek to Grimes and the smaller ancillary feeder offshoots while at other times fishing may be better in the lower portions of the creek e.g. parking area near Parrish Road, near the VFW on Rt #21 where there are a few holes. Many of the lower points are very brushy and muddy, with some fencing to cross in places so be prepared. Some folks use flyrods rigged with mono so that they can reach out into the stream with minimal casting, but years ago I switched to much shorter ultralight rods and spinning gear which helped to navigate the brush and tree overhangs. The way you rig up can relate heavily to water conditions e.g. whether low water flow, fast/slow water flow or current, clear or muddy. Many folks commonly use prepared egg sacks on a #6 or 8 salmon hook, with split shot placed above the swivel snap. Dependent on water conditions the number and weight of the splitshot is adjusted so the setup slowly bounces along the bottom when cast upstream from where you think the fish are holding up and then drifted toward them. Any time the line stops while drifting it could be a "line stop" indicating the trout has allowed the bait to go into its mouth so you try to pull on them at that point, sometimes it will just be your sinkers lodging in the bottom stones or debris. Other items used as bait may be round pieces of yellow, red, or orange sponge resembling egg sacks and soaked with the scent of eggs perhaps. Other potential baits are spikes (fly maggots), waxworms, night crawlers, red (manure) worms or various artificial objects. One of the most effective objects can be small jigs (especially black ones) with hair on them adjusted for weight with current conditions and tipped with a spike, single hardened egg, or small piece of worm.No treble hooks are permitted and only single hooks with a gap between the hook shaft and point of less than 1/2 inch are permitted. Carry a small short-handled landing net (handle length and net diameter are regulated check DEC regulations). I hope this information may be a little more helpful to you

If you renew your existing Empire pass to the State parks by March 31st they deduct $10 from the $80 charge so it is $70. The pass is good until 12/31/19. You can do it online if you have a n email address and password that they have registered for you from before (they didn't have mine on file) otherwise the number is 1-518-474-0458. A live person actually answered the phone much to my surprise

catmandu - check your PMs

I know most of us may run multiple dedicated (e.g. 3,5,7,10 etc. colors) and may run them from boards much of the time so we use them from backing, it can make sense if not running from boards to choose a couple 10 colors and then they can be just run at the various lengths up to ten as needed. I know they may run a little differently than from the backing but it does cut down on the number of rods carried.

At best any determination of species observed on a fishfinder is a "guesstimate" for starters. It is always tempting to interpret all the marks seen as trout and salmon. In point of fact whether fishing Lake Ontario or the Finger Lakes there are various species detected by fishfinders. Secondly, the "guesstimate" regarding species is usually made by noting the positioning of the mark in the water column often with reference to the water temperature noted. Again, multi-species (e.g. suspended bass) can and do inhabit these regions. Fish finders vary greatly in the cone angle of the particular transducer which largely determines what is seen while trolling - the wider the cone angle the more volume of water covered by it and the further out from the boat the information is detected to a point. What I am getting at is that there are a lot of variables involved in making an inference about the particular species of fish detected or even what they may be doing there. Rainbows are "roamers" and may be found in various positions in the water column and for a variety of reasons. Fish or trout in general may be well outside of the cone angle much of the time while trolling, and fish marked on the screen may or may not be the ones that hit the lures while trolling. Seeing the marks on a fishfinder and "connecting the dots" should always be considered an inference regardless of species targeted. Just as an example, while trolling Seth Green rigs on Seneca I have caught a bullhead estimated to be 80 ft down over more than 300 ft of water. I thought for sure when it hit that it would be a small laker The question remains: What the heck was he doing there?

Thanks for the good news Vince

The one thing I would mention here is that the Seeforellen strain (grow to huge size) of browns was tried in Owasco and Seneca Lakes in the past and they didn't fare well. I know Lake O is a different environment but I don't think that pinning our hopes on them should be a primary strategy.

Ifishy - Thanks for the insights. I attended a talk given by a faculty member of a college near here discussing some of the things going on in the Finger Lakes and the actual estrogen aspect was discussed along with a number of other similar structured chemicals such as those used in plastics and the potential impacts on the fisheries. It was also mentioned that they have found traces of things like Viagara, amphetamines, and a host of other chemicals that don't belong in the water. Many of these things are not routinely filtered out by conventional water treatment either so there are residual amounts in our drinking water also.They are monitoring some of the Finger Lakes tributaries looking for potential sources too. The fact that Lake O is at the bottom of the Great Lakes may make it something of a "reservoir" for some of this too but it is probably fortunate also that it may cycle through via the pathway to the sea further diluting the contaminants.

The truly interesting thing to me is the rapidity of the supposed changes. Usually significant genetic changes and adaptation have been thought to occur in much slower intervals as in thousands or millions of years.....this certainly suggests otherwise, and does it mean that there may be "forms" of genetic adaptation (e.g. short term and long term)? I'll leave it to the scientists but scratching my head nonetheless.

Check your PMs

Just a little something to keep in mind for the adventurous folks ready to be the first out of the gate. It is possible to get out the channel do some fishing and then the big ice floes come out the channel from the bay and you might not be able to get back in to the launch so be careful if you do it.

Very good advice. You younger dudes are the future of this sport that the rest of us love so much. It looks as though you have the fish handling/release down and the fishing techniques so it pays to keep in mind that a varied audience will be viewing the video and safety comes first when out there and it is important to always role model for the folks even much younger than yourselves. Nice job on the video and thanks for sharing.