fisherman777

Yeah that seems to be the situation as you described there. Noticed the curly leaf pondweed back in June forming a ring around the deep edge of the lake. Once that died off, initial weed growth was only moderate until the herbicide treatments which seemed to kill most of the deeper weeds remaining around the lake. Better weed growth was in the extreme north and south ends in shallow water but a lot of that stuff didn't seem the healthiest either. Seems the herbicide treatments might be doing more harm there than good.

Those early weeds were gone by the 4th of July. Herbicide treatments happened there late June, was a flyer at the launch after it happened. Noticed very little weed growth anywhere on the lake July through August and very stained green water. East side had lots of decaying algae. Haven't been back recently but may head down there this weekend and can give an update.

Ranger or Beckman

Sandy didn't lose their steelhead...kings and bows yes but Sandy received more steelhead in 2020 than in 2019.

Pen projects have more to do with survival after release than imprinting. Imprinting is a secondary benefit. That being said, I think it will have a lower return in years to come. A lot of fish lost by taking away those pens. Who knows though...the trade off to cutting Sandy kings and a few other smaller tribs around the lake was so more fish could be put into the pens of the larger ports in response to the overall stocking cut. Genny and Oak pen fish don't have a far ways to go to stray into Sandy. But I wouldn't necessarily bank on it being like it's always been...definitely make sure to appreciate the next few seasons... I'd be more concerned about the loss of domestic bows since that has always been a significant part of the "steelhead" catch at sandy from my experience.

1) Night is usually better for the pier in my experience, but guys catch them in the daytime successfully too. Early in the run, it depends a lot on different factors like cloud cover, wind speed and direction, water temperature, water clarity, etc. Of these factors, I'd argue that water clarity and temperature are the most important. Dirty water with poor visibility never seems to be as productive for me, and too warm of water temperatures also create a tough bite. As the run progresses into October and more fish come in close, you can pretty much go out there whenever and catch them as long as you're patient. 2) Yes those are good salmon lures and will catch fish off the pier, but they're not the best for distance. Often, the longer the cast, the more water you cover and the more likely your lure is to pass in front of an angry fish. But if you feel fish are in very close to the pier, start chucking those. Also, you noted you use Cleo's in different glow patterns, but if those aren't working, try some other glow spoons. Moonshine brand casting spoons are super popular for pier casting now, and several other spoon types also come in glow patterns (ko wobblers, kastmasters, krocodiles, yecks, just to name a few). 3) Focus on getting out as much as possible. It varies considerably day to day. One night everyone on the pier will be hooking up left and right and the next night, fish will be jumping everywhere and not biting for anyone. It's a guessing game sometimes, and the best pier guys go all through September into October functioning on little, if any sleep. Everyone gets skunked out there eventually too so don't get discouraged if a guy next to you is hooking up and you're not. Your time will come. Hope this helps.

State park launch is open and branchport is ice free. Good luck.

Just a heads up, the DEC doesn't post a lot of seasonal jobs on their actual website. Most are posted on the NY State jobs website statejobsny.com and they get posted throughout the year depending on when/where fish and wildlife techs/seasonal biologists are needed. Just something for him to keep in mind as he's looking for jobs in New York in the future. Also, keep on the lookout for civil service examinations. Most permanant jobs with the DEC tend to require a specific test, though not all. Best of luck to him in his search. Corey

No trebles from the 104 bridge to the falls except on floating lures. From the mouth till then trebles are good to go.

I for one know exactly what happens with the media covering fish catches like this because my dad is the sports/outdoors writer for the D and C. Last year, he wrote a column on a bass fisherman who caught a 45-50" musky in the St. Lawrence and unfortunately killed the fish. I thought that my dad was wrong to write that story and paint the guy as a hero when in fact he was just some idiot too uneducated to see how precious a fish like that is to the fishery. My dad told me he felt it was wrong too but the paper sees big fish stories as a way to sell, no matter what happens to the fish in the end. He got a lot of angry emails after the story ran from a lot of musky anglers and also a lot of emails of people saying how great a fish story that was and that they were going to try to catch a musky now because of it. I think the non-fishing public in general still doesn't completely get catch-and-release the way a majority of anglers do. Most of my relatives at family get-togethers still ask how a fish tasted when they see a picture on my wall and I always have to go through the process of telling them that I let it go. There certainly needs to be more work done educating the general public on catch and release and its benefits, especially with species like the musky.