2023 Lake Ontario Creel Survey Summary - Another Great Year of Fishing on Lake Ontario!

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The Fishing Line - December 29th Issue In this issue: DEC Fisheries – 2023 Year in Review 2023 Lake Ontario Creel Survey Summary - Another Great Year of Fishing on Lake Ontario! Hatchery Highlight – Adirondack Fish Hatchery DEC Fisheries – 2023 Year in Review Check out the list below for some highlights and noteworthy items from the past year here in the Bureau of Fisheries. 2024 already looks to be a very productive year! Cornell Biological Field Station staff caught 13 untagged young lake sturgeon in Oneida Lake during their routine surveys, the most wild sturgeon they've ever captured in one field season. Aging of fin rays from untagged sturgeon indicates wild fish have been documented from every year-class since 2011. A very promising sign for natural sturgeon reproduction in the lake! Michelle Poprawski, Manager at our Catskill Fish Hatchery, was selected as one of Hatchery International's Top 10 Under 40. This award recognizes aquaculture professionals from across the globe that are making an impact in their field of work. To learn how she received this impressive recognition, check out the article. Congratulations Michelle! Fish Hatchery Improvements - a rearing building for cisco (lake herring) at Bath Fish Hatchery will be complete with anticipated production beginning this winter, Salmon River Hatchery observation platforms were completed, a new pond was poured at Caledonia Fish Hatchery for additional rearing space. In September, Long Island’s I FISH NY Program joined eight residents from All American Assisted Living at Upper Lake in Yaphank, Suffolk County, for a day of fun and fishing. They learned about common freshwater fish on Long Island and the basics of fishing, then got the opportunity to try fishing. Most were successful in catching a few sunfish and largemouth bass. Watch a short video on the program. DEC in collaboration with USFWS, Tioga County SWCD, Trout Unlimited, and Tioga County Anglers Association, completed a habitat improvement on the West Branch of Owego Creek, at the DEC Fishing Access Site south of Route 79 (on West Creek Road) in the Town of Richford. Two aging and dilapidated wooden crib pool digger structures were removed and replaced with large stone cross vanes, eliminating streambank erosional issues associated with the old structures, improving angler access and wading safety, and ensuring excellent fish holding pool habitat in the stretch of stream. Fishing opportunities in this area include both stocked and holdover brown trout and numerous wild brown and brook trout. The site will be further enhanced with riparian tree plantings in spring of 2024. Funding for this project was provided by NYS Habitat Stamp funds and Trout Unlimited. Video Release- Lake Sturgeon, Saving a Great Lakes Dinosaur - Check out this video where we got up close and personal with staff from DEC and US Fish and Wildlife Service during the annual egg collection on the St. Lawrence River and learn firsthand what it takes to produce the thousands of lake sturgeon stocked each fall. First-ever walleye telemetry study on Oneida Lake - a 3-year telemetry study of adult walleyes in Oneida Lake kicked off this past Fall. Sixty-four acoustic receivers have been spaced throughout the lake and select tributaries to track the movement of 200 adult walleyes surgically implanted with acoustic transmitters to learn more about where they spawn, seasonal movement patterns, and more. The first data from receivers will be downloaded next summer. Learning about lake trout spawning - DEC biologists are working on a multi-agency collaborative study to identify lake trout spawning areas, as well as quantify the quality and quantity of their spawning habitat in Lake Ontario. Lake trout are native to Lake Ontario and populations were decimated by habitat loss, invasive sea lamprey, overfishing, and reproductive impairment. Wild reproduction of lake trout is currently very low, and DEC and its partners are conducting research to understand the factors leading to low reproduction. This past spring, over 320 lake trout were captured throughout the lake and tagged with acoustic transmitters to track their movements and pinpoint spawning locations in the fall. To quantify current habitat quality, biologists are also using video to map bottom habitat at thousands of potential spawning locations across the lake. Watch the sample video (6 MB)... and...wait for the lucky shot at the end.... I guess they nailed that one! The Bureau of Fisheries upgraded it’s fleet of electrofishing boats by purchasing 10 new boats this past year. These new boats were needed to replace a number of aging boats that are no longer functional or in need of major repairs. Electrofishing boats are necessary for monitoring sportfish populations, fish communities, and invasive fish species in nearshore habitats. Understanding how and why anglers use fisheries is vital for effective management, and one mechanism to get this information is through direct contact creel surveys. This past year, DEC staff conducted creel surveys on a number of high-use fisheries, including Lake George, Cayuga Lake, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Champlain, and Oneida Lake. We'll be sure to share the results from these surveys this spring. 2023 Lake Ontario Creel Survey Summary - Another Great Year of Fishing on Lake Ontario! The Lake Ontario creel survey recently wrapped up another season, and preliminary results indicate: Excellent Chinook salmon fishing in 2023. Angler catch rates for Chinook during the 2023 fishing season were the second highest in the 37-year survey and 40% above the 10-year average. Relatively smaller Chinook (kings) compared to the long-term average, but still running about 18.4 pounds for an age-3 fish. Higher catches of Atlantic salmon across all areas. Although still relatively rare, catches of this native species are on the rise with catch rates 82% above the 10-year average in 2023. Decent brown trout fishing. West area anglers targeting browns struggled a bit in the spring and larger browns were reportedly harder to come by across all areas, but the “cookie-cutter” 2 to 4 pound browns were plentiful in the east and east central areas, and lake-wide seasonal catch rates placed 8% above the 10-year average. Below average catch rates for steelhead and lake trout. Catch rates for these species may have been affected in 2023 because they are targeted less when Chinook fishing is good. Lake trout abundance may also be down due to the record high numbers of parasitic lamprey observed in 2022. Fortunately, lamprey numbers have come down in 2023. More details can be found in the survey’s monthly reports posted on the Lake Ontario Fisheries Management and Research page, and the full survey report will be available in early 2024. The Lake Ontario creel survey continues in the tributaries from now until next spring, so be on the lookout for DEC creel agents and reports in the coming months.   Hatchery Highlight – Adirondack Fish Hatchery Location: 103 Fish Hatchery Road, Saranac Lake, Franklin County Visitor Hours: 9:00AM - 3:30PM, 7 days a week, from April 1 to October 31 Species Raised: Landlocked Atlantic salmon and round whitefish Overview: Constructed in 1885, the Adirondack Fish Hatchery is situated in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains several miles northwest of the Village of Saranac Lake. The site was selected in 1884 due to its premiere location near a consistent flow of cool, clean water from Little Clear Pond and easy access to a railroad and telegraph and telephone lines. In later years, the hatchery created four wells to bring in warmer water during the winter months to speed up egg and fish development of select species. Historically, the hatchery raised multiple trout and salmon species, but today the main activities that take place here include: Raise and stock around 250,000 landlocked Atlantic salmon (eggs collected from domestic landlocked salmon at the hatchery and wild landlocked salmon from Little Clear Pond) Raise and stock around 30,000 round whitefish (eggs collected from wild round whitefish in Little Green Pond and Lower Cascade Lake) Fun Fact: The Adirondack Fish Hatchery is the only hatchery in New York State that specializes in breeding the endangered round whitefish for stocking in waters they historically inhabited, as well as the only DEC hatchery to raise native landlocked Atlantic salmon for stocking in waters from the Adirondacks to the Catskills, Finger Lakes, and Lake Ontario. Learn more about DEC Fish Hatcheries