Sk8man

Those west side fish don't have a chance now Ed with both you and Andy over there

First of all Joe you've gotten much prettier since the last time I saw you Oh I see it wasn't you holding the laker Happy Birthday! and that was a great way to spend it pardner. The action sounds better than that reported lately at the north end too.

WWIV and Pequod - Sorry we didn't get a chance to actually meet you as we were BSing with a few folks we knew and didn't realize that there were other LOU guys there. Hopefully next time. Hope the motor problem turns out to be a minor one.

Thank you Ted and the folks at Seagers for putting things together so well. It was a lot of fun and I hope more folks will participate in the future...they are missing out on a fun tournament.

Nick I think the problem was we got way off topic from your original post and I apologize for starting the off topic stuff. You were merely letting us know about the stocking and I think that things drifted off the mark from there but try to keep it in perspective too s*&^t happens and this website is a really good one when we play by the rules and when we don't get caught up in things and go astray. Fishing can be and often is a frustrating activity when folks don't have things dialed in and there can be many reasons for that but the Internet has become the vehicle for venting frustration. I wouldn't lose any sleep over this posting information bud. We enjoy your posts and I for one appreciate you letting us know about the stocking down at that end of the lake.

I guess you don't have to worry though because your head seems to be stuck in yours.

Thanks John.

Thanks Sean....very good points and something I too am all too aware of and neglected to mention above. Gee blue-green algae in the lakes? I wonder how that comes about?

The "balancing act" that Seneca performs (along with the other Finger Lakes and Great Lakes) is truly a precarious one and the effectiveness of it depends on many factors - some within the control of humans and some not. All of these bodies of water are experiencing problems and stress. My first fishing encounter with Seneca occurred in July of 1949 when I caught my first smallmouth black bass in the Yacht Club bay at the north end and since that time I've seen many ups and downs in the fishing. At that point in time you could see all sorts of fish of various sizes swimming around in the water right from shore....not so anymore. In the mid to late seventies it took around 6 hours to catch a legal salmonid and when the stocking effort increased the fishery for trout at least rebounded very noticibly and with some fluctuations since it has remained a viable fishery up to the introduction of the invasives. One of the things that I find a striking difference in these lakes (I have fished all of them but Otisco for many years) is the lack or absence of immature fish of various species (large and smallmouth bass, perch, sunfish and bluegills minnows of various types etc.) around the periphery of the lakes (e.g. near docks, among the rocks and in the grass beds) as these areas used to be packed with small fish. Instead these areas are covered with zebra mussels and appear quite "sterile" and I think this situation is a true indicator of the relative health of the lakes that can be readily viewed firsthand regardless of trawling information for bait or deep water species samples for that matter. The introduction of the invasive species such as Zebras Quaggas fleas etc. in my view has totally changed the very nature of these lakes because they have pretty much wiped out the phytoplankton and zooplankton that the fry and immature fish feed on and the traditional spawning beds for various species have also been contaminated and destroyed leading to poor reproduction of baitfish and everything above it in the food chain. There may be an occasional cloud of sawbellies and a few distributed or suspended but I still remember seeing bait covering vast areas of the lakes from 150 ft to the surface for the lengths of many football fields.and the bottom covered with what appeared to be rainbow smelt (which have largely disappeared like the canary in the coal mine). When you take out something that basic at the lowest level of the food chain it is disasterous but it takes time to see the full result. It takes years for this to happen and given the size of these bodies of water (vs. ponds etc.) it appears gradual so the true total effects are not seen right away. It isn't just a matter of the levels of baitfish present in the lakes either or the predator to bait ratio it is the variety of living organisms available lower in the chain to support everything higher in the food chain. These major problems and shifts are not going to be solved by just increasing stocking levels alone or even getting a better handle on the predator to bait relationship. Some sort of "restorative" act (s) has to take place in changing back the very nature and water structure of these lakes and this will not be happening anytime soon. Don't be deluded in thinking that just increasing stocking levels or getting the balance of bait to salmonids in balance will solve this situation

Total BS Here is a pic from this Sunday

I believe that a lot of the laker spawning has traditionally in years past anyway happened down near Peach Orchard as well as the north end so it could make real good sense to put them in down there. Hopefully some of the spawning beds have recovered by now from the flooding years ago and the silt deposits on the beds.

I have never believed that taking too many rainbows by trolling fishermen has been the origin of the general problem with low numbers being reported on Seneca. The major possible problem in my view was that of stream degradation down near you relative to flooding and the fact that quite a bit of spawning was dependent on it for a particular year class (s) as it is at the south end here on Canandaigua and possibly the "lifting" of spawners while vulnerable. I never experienced that reported problem on Seneca or here because I was specifically fishing for bows in the top 70-75 ft of water (on purpose to avoid lakers) while many folks use a much more general approach to fishing and most of the time I was fishing a different part of the lake (northern half) where there are active spawners using the smaller streams and not dependent on the one down in your area. If the numbers of rainbows have come up as quickly in the lake as suggested it would probably not be because of the one fish rule it would relate to better spawning conditions and less or no flooding of the beds the past few years in my view. I am not against the one fish rule per se but I think it was prematurely enacted and incompletely thought out and it was inappropriate to extend it to lakes where there is no known problem (e.g. Canandaigua) just for the sake of "continuity". As you folks reported after the recent tourney there isn't a lack of rainbows here at all.

I guess despite it being VERY unpopular and especially coming from a long term stream fisherman it could have been much more productive to close the stream fishing for a few years so that the redds aren't trampled at least on that one main stream and it makes it easier for enforcement because nobody would be allowed there day or NIGHT. I still remember seeing an 18 lb. rainbow in the ice chest in front of Harman's Sport Shop when I was a kid and realizing even then what a great fishery we had there and I too hope it returns to at least a better one for them than now.

I'm not sure about Owasco right now bait-wise but the perch are transitioning from tiny crayfish (immature) to minnows right now so they may have been there but not going for the worms and they have been right in the weeds rather than along them where we have been fishing them successfully.

My thinking is that the lake is very big and there are many feeder streams on it and not all of the spawning is at the one at the south end as I stream fished many of the others on both sides of the lake (names left out on purpose ) for many years with very low fishing pressure because few fishermen realized they were present there . The main problem was locals living right nearby who took many of the spawners at night illegally. It could be that the rainbows already in the lake (and streams) could benefit from the addition of some genetically strong rainbows introduced and stocked near the other streams that have water year round. The complaint was that there were few rainbows in Seneca and that the stream at the end of the lake had been severely compromised with high water conditions and environmental factors which compromised the spawning efforts. For years bows have been my "specialty" and I often fish specifically for them and the one limit is a problem in that regard because even though I release nearly all fish if a bow goes belly up I go back for them and keep them so that pretty much ends the fishing for them because if another does the same you have no choice but to leave the fish and that is wrong. They are a wonderful fish and it would seem to me that the existing population of them could use some help in proliferating. Adding more landlocks is also highly desirable as they are real acrobats and add a lot to the fishing experience. I wish they would add some to Canandaigua too but the available streams are much more limited for spawning here. Thanks for helping out with the stocking efforts Nick.

Before you consider those factors take time to get a good handle on the undercoating and preparation of the base metal of the blanks because if it is not effective all the other stuff will be fruitless.

Sure wish those numbers were rainbow, browns and landlocks each along with the lakers

I release everything but the fish that go belly up after release and rainbows can be a bit fragile when the water is real warm. I always look forward to the Fall colder water fishing. You guys are a great bunch of anglers and I wish each of you the best of luck out there. Stay safe.

Hey Mike we saw you at the north end in the AM but we were in close in the grey Penn Yan fishing for perch and it was a good day for us as well Man... those jug rigs were almost back to Naples Nice going on the bows Guess maybe you guys can see why I had the problem with the one limit on Canandaigua a while back but hopefully it will help out the fishing long term anyway.