Sk8man

Just a reminder as it is close to the end in many places especially if we get significant rain and the ice will be dangerous too. It is also the last day of Pike Walleye and bass in the Finger Lakes today (15th).

Dylan you might want to call the Bay Bridge Bait Shop 315-587-9508

You know in the Atlantic Ocean - Cape Cod in particular they have combined efforts between commercial fishermen, recreational sport fishermen and top notch scientists and marine biologists to study the habits of Great White sharks because they are of extreme importance to the ocean ecosystem as the top predator. Thus they get first hand concrete information and knowledge from the folks out there "real time" as well as the critical other end of it the folks who have the expertise and equipment to compile, analyze and interpret the data as well as generate "what if" scenarios". This is the type of cooperation that should be brought to bear on this situation on Lake O as the Kings are the top predator here as well and having a better understanding of them and their habits is crucial to the problem as well as potentially part of the solution. The DEC has the biologists, there is the research boat from Brockport, and we have a ton of interested parties in the charter guys and sports fishermen here on lake O. Perhaps the involvement of one or more of our state representatives should be queried about it such as Assemblyman Brian Kolb etc. The only way the state responds is by reaction (as in most bureaucrasies) not by proactive action. Albany calls the shots for all state agencies for everything.....his royal highness the Emperor takes it to a new level by micromanaging everything he can and when someone does something he doesn't know about (whether positive or negative) or he doesn't approve in advance they are summarily fired......how is that for a motivational incentive to the workforce? One potential area of influence is the state legislature (despite their many faults and limitations).....his hand can be forced on some issues if enough of the politicians are worried about their own butts and public opinion.

One of the potential problems is that they tend to spawn in late November and into December and the stream conditions may not be great for that at those times (water levels etc.).

I can't help but think specifics of the water quality or perhaps the weather extremes were different for the Seeforellens because when I was stationed in Germany in the sixties those huge browns were being caught in small lakes near me (20 lbs plus that I saw with my own eyes were common) and the water was quite muddy and murkish compared with many of the cold water lakes here and the temperature range over there never got down to the extremes we see here in the winters. I wonder if they just couldn't adapt over time to the conditions here. I know browns can adapt to warm water better than other trout but I'm not sure about cold adaptation.

Very well put Vince.

They experimented with them in some of the lakes thinking they would become huge like the ones in Europe but they didn't survive well or live up to expectations so they canned the program.

Severne Point launch only possibility right now.

I haven't been there recently but after many years of fishing there I can tell you that if you go you'll have to be incredibly careful at this times of the season maybe even more so than some of the other lakes and it isn't because of the ice thickness well out into the lakes as much as it is the shoreline situation and gas pockets randomly occurring throughout the lake. Once the snow starts melting and we have had more than normal amounts this year the numerous little(usually insignificant) streams around the shoreline become swollen and empty their contents under the ice often unseen and that moving water erodes the ice from underneath where you can't see it. One of those streams is located nearly next to the launch ramp (to the north of it). Not only may there be potential problems going out but also coming back in after it was cold in the AM but then warmed up while you are fishing and then when you come back in the area around the shoreline has become unsafe (been there done that) making it treacherous getting back to solid ground. What I'm saying here is don't just go by someones report of ice thickness alone and assume you'll be fine out there. This part of the season is the most dangerous on all these akes because of changing (but often unseen) conditions. The early season problem of not enough ice is one that is more easily detected.