Lucky13

The Charter Captains watch the bait on $1000 depth finders; the Scientists use long established transects at multiple locations around the lake, and they also get data on age and condition of the bait. The principle behind the transect method is that you get a representative sampling of what is out there, and you are pooling a large amount of sampling. When the transects were producing much larger numbers 20+ yeas ago, there was a lot more bait out there. I have not heard " there is too much bait" in a long time, please quote the scientist(s) who said that. To use your method you would have to get consensus on who those top 5 captains are, good luck with that! Leave it up to VP and Songin, they will increase stocking and the alewife very well may collapse, and then you can kiss the king goodbye, no bait, no salmon. If you want to dump the science, we should do as Andy Todd from OMNRF suggested a few years back at a Rochester SOL meeting, just dump a bunch of fish in the lake and see what gets caught, and if you end up with a bunch 10 lb cookie cutters, so be it, but lets not spend all this money on monitoring that everyone is just going to second guess anyway, especially based on some little graph screens and a few stomach samples. The Objectives say TROPHY king, not a box full of teeners. Maybe those guys catch a lot of fish (but then didn't everyone this year, except of course the Canadians?) but even Vince is not all science.

Thank you Long Line and Shore lunch for saving me a lot of typing. Who appointed these “ ambassadors of the Lake”, Trump? What degrees in Fisheries Science do they possess? I have a lot of respect for Jerry and know that he studies all this in detail, but I’m going with past SOL meetings and Annual Reports, not scuttlebutt from the docks ( especially if it didn’t come from Jerry!). And no fish come from anywhere else now due to the problems with diseases everywhere, even if excess eggs were available. As others have pointed out, it is the bait that is the issue, and what I’ve seen and heard about the bait data is that last year is not overwhelmingly good, just moderately acceptable. So if you want to gamble with your fishery, now‘s the time.

Please detail and provide documentation for this assertion. Also, since west coast strains of Pacific salmon are in general specific to one river system, don't they all "interbreed"? "natural reproduction of salmon is almost non existent from the Genesee to the west compared to 20 plus years ago." Again, please provide some documentation that there has ever been natural reproduction of Salmon on the south shore of the Lake. NYSDEC has maintained for as long as I remember that the only significant source of natural fish on the US side of the lake is the Salmon River. Please indicate where you get your information.

Vest or no vest. at least a few on here must question your sanity!

WOW, that boat is big enough to have a floor and both guys are wearing PFD's. Bravo!!!!

Message about the Genny? Nice fish!

NYSDEC has been stocking 'eyes in 4 or 5 year groupings, as they do in other places like Redfield Reservoir. There used to be a great run up the Creek in early April, but they may have been pounded by the same guys who think it is OK to snag Steelhead. While I don't chase the walleyes myself, I know a couple of guys who do with good success, but they would stop talking to me if I revealed the secrets they have given me, LOL! Suffice it to say, all the info above is good, just remember that oxygen levels drop off rapidly in the thermocline in the summer, and adjust your depth accordingly. Here's what Matt Sanderson of NYSDEC Region 8 said: http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/ibaycreel.pdf DEC stocked again in 2017 according to the (not so easy to use) stocking database

If they leave it up and don't have adequate storage for runoff the following spring, we'll hear everyone complaining about the high water then. What would you do if the system was totally uncontrolled?

They are extremely popular up in the Adirondacks, too. The 44 is likely the best smelt imitation going, maybe along with the mooselook, landlocks love them!

The reports down here is that she agrees with the lakefront property owners that the 2017 high water was caused by Plan 2014, not the all time highest rainfall for March and April combined with high water from the upper lakes, combined with flooding in Montreal and the Ottawa freshet, combined with the low discharge rate in January and February caused by lack of Ice cover on the St Lawrence, which is what all the scientists have indicated would have caused the high water regardless of what controls were in place. Should be "real fun" watching yet another disfunctional Federal initiative unfold!

And creates more room for storage of spring runoff.

You sure they didn't close due to electromagnetic waves? Here's the " Official" report on water level. A lot of Marinas are starting to understand floating docks. Of course, when the upper lakes are low, and there is a full blown drought, lots of boats will be high and dry unless the marina's get to dredging, too. http://lre-wm.usace.army.mil/ForecastData/DailyLevelsEnglish.pdf

Sorry Todd, not saying your boat isn't lower in the water, I was reacting to the silver fox's all knowing pronouncement of how easy it should be to let water go when ever he wants it gone, regardless of whether Montreal is 5.5 feet underwater. They ARE letting more water go to stay on target, and because they CAN, now. This is not the case in the winter if they don't have ice, or it is already flooding in the Lower St Lawrence. " I guess they can adjust the flowrate that they said they were not allowed to do last year" is the mumbo jumbo, not the science that explains why they can and can't take certain actions at certain times.

If you were to take the time to read the information on discharge protocols on the IJC web page, you might understand the different seasonal limitations on releases, and especially the need for ice cover(not there in winter 2017) to maximize releases during the winter, also the impact of the Ottawa River spring flood and flooding in Montreal and also along the St Lawrence, and we should not forget the record rains of winter-spring 2017, all of which have been reported to cause the 2017 high water, and none of which continued into 2018. You can likely put your hard hat away, the sky is not falling this year (although many of you were crying that in spring 2018). A quick look at the high and low level prior to the creation of the Seaway might even make you realize how much worse things could be as seasonal highs and lows were uncontrolled back then, and it could go as high as the fluke year, 2017, and lower than you've seen it lately without the control. SOME places, like downtown Pulaski, and Perinton, NY, got heavy rains, some places only miles away got next to nothing. The level of the Lake is reported as 0.10 foot higher than long term average for August, so they are back to "normal."

Andy Todd of OMNRF reported a run of about 250 matures in the third week of July in the Generaska. There have been strong runs in the Salmon River before Labor day in past years. I just came back from a week on the Tug hill, and spoke with a captain I know in Richland. He said they are getting a lot of dark empty fish mixed in with silvers. The tributaries were running clear except in the bottom of deeper holes. Last Tuesday's rain was very localized, and had no effect on the river above 81 from what I saw going up last Wednesday and coming back yesterday. The rain Friday night likely had more of an effect on SR flows than the flash floods of Pulaski on Tuesday.