Heads up to trollers. There are emergence traps on the lake bottom and surface marker buoys approximately 5 miles east and 5 miles west of Oswego in ~100 ft of water. We experimentally released surplus Bloater eggs at these 2 sites a month ago and are now evaluating if any survived and hatched. We used large, flagged, hi-flyer buoys to maximize visibility and tried to keep the floats in as small of an area as possible. Plan is to sample these spots for approximately one mouth.
There are NO nets of any kind, the sampling gear is catching 1/2” larval fish. There are lines on the bottom and heavy anchors so probably best to not troll too close and risk snagging.
happy to answer any questions or concerns and thank you for steering clear!
bw
Cool thanks, makes sense.
We are trawling the Youngstown transect (just east of bar) and finding Smelt , Alewife ,Goby , and lakers at all depths, 65ft - 250ft so far.
I use windfinder, best I’ve found so far but I’m always interested in what others use.
Started looking this page for waves : https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/emf/waves/WW3/loww3.html
the buoy data is nice if and when it finally gets in the water.
north winds blow!
Taughannock was do able on Sunday in Great Laker’s 19’ Sea Nymph CC. had to stay on the south side going under the bridge.
Oswego is extra low, the sand gravel power loading bar is skinny in places there
Thank you LOCBA & Rob for the opportunity.
If anyone has any specific questions or topics they would like to discuss please let me know on this thread or via a private message (PM). I’ll be prepared to provide research updates on Lk. Ontario prey fish population dynamics and native fish restoration science.
See you Tuesday!
Sweet C - I agree, thats why I pasted in the LO time series. Why do folks think Goby have had such a large, measurable negative impact on LO bass, what evidence shows that? 20 years ago the Goby eating bass egg videos from Erie came out and with it warnings Goby COULD negatively impact bass populations. Which recent analysis show Goby HAVE hurt LO bass abundance?
Is the “Goby hurt SMB populations” one of those ideas that was assumed but then never tested? Like when the non-native predatory zooplankton, a.k.a. fleas, blew up they were predicted to crash LO alewife food. In reality Alewife ate them, a lot, they provide a late season food source, and increase Alewife growth substantially.
Just suggesting there is value in testing assumptions.
the quote below is my favorite,
bw
“He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.” -Edmund Burke
I’m especially interested in the insights from the sages who have decades of LO bass experience. On these forums I often read how Round Goby had a negative impact on LO smallmouth angling and the creel survey catch rate time series reflect that, plummeting as Goby survey catches shot up (early - mid 2000s)
but I find it interesting how the gill net survey catch rates decline long before Goby show up. I get the whole “Goby are devastating bass nest predators “ hypothesis, I just do not see population dynamics data that supports that idea (in LO or other lakes).
Hope there is a great turnout for the Wednesday mtg in ABay.
Go Bills, bw
I wonder how the bass population dynamics would change if the creel was even lower (like zero). That would still allow for the conservation minded tournaments that catch and release. If the bass numbers go up the Goby numbers go down. Maybe wouldn’t need seasonal regs at all.
I know, I know, just too crazy of an idea. Probably should just stick my head back in the sand and grumble about how things used to be better.
“ IMO this is a good year to change out your mono and check your drags”
King age, temps, and alewife #s definitely look good but don’t forget the benefits of (hopefully) declining lamprey numbers after the COVID bump. It’s pretty simple, but rarely discussed, that it’s harder for Kings to grow to 30lbs when there are more 1lb parasites sucking out all their blood.
An interesting article with some similarities to LO.
Recent declines in salmon body size impact ecosystems and fisheries
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17726-z#:~:text=Comparing
I’ve had the best luck using my big propane weed burner torch at night. Heat melts wings of adults flying or crawling around and the nests burn quickly.
At this site:
http://www.glfc.org/lake-ontario-committee.php
this link:
http://www.glfc.org/pubs/lake_committees/ontario/WeidelEtal_2023LkOntario_AprilPreyfishAlewifeReport.pdf
Thanks to GillT and company I am no longer “without a coho”! Thanks again fellas, great fishing and lessons!
Most stomachs were empty, this one was munching, cool how u can see different amounts of digestion on the Alewife. Could be the difference between dinner last night and breakfast this morning.