Whitefish stocking for lake Ontario

[Sean Youngblood]

I saw this article and thought it was interesting. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.h ... 5B8185F0D3.

[LongLine]

At last years "State of the Lake" meeting the DEC was just embarking on a study of ciscos into the Big-O. i.e. studying which ones might survive, etc. Should be interesting to find out how they made out at this years meeting. A healthy cisco population would help Laker population.

Sean - If you edit your post & separate the word "interesting" from the link, then link will work

Tom B.

(LongLIne)

[Sean Youngblood]

Thanks LongLine

[jimski2]

Back in the early 1950's, we would leave Buffalo and head out to deep waters off Crystal Beach and fish for blue pike in May and June. A dip of minnows was brought to start fishing with our handline and spreader hooks. We only had one fishing pole, my father's, at the time. Coleman White Gas lanterns were set out at dusk and the emerald shiners would school up in their light. A long handled dip net would be used to replenish the minnow supply with more emeralds. Occasionaly a different bait appeared in the lanterns light. They were ciscoes which had a short life in the bucket but were eagerly sought by the blue pike.

One year the small blue pike disappeared and following years yielded only larger and older fish. Commercial fishing was blamed for the demise of the blue pike. But the whitefish, ciscoes, lake trout and other coldwwater species also disappeared.

The culprit in this case was the huge masses of smelt that devoured everything small enough to swallow. In the mid 1960's, the Canadians started trawling for the smelt and by getting their numbers down, the "dead Lake Erie" started to return to life.

With the smelt numbers now controlled by salmon and trout now, whitefish are returning to Lake Erie. Ciscoes could possibly return with a little help from us. They are a herring smaller than a whitefish that subsists on the little plankton type critters. They are an excellent fine boned type of forage for all the predators ought there.

[W.W.IV.]

Nice report jimski2, since the mooneye and smelt population took a dive in lake O the perch and walleye fishing has been great but not every day. .

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

Well if emerald shiner population explosions are an indicator of health, Lake O and it's harbors are heading in the right direction. As for the yellow perch and walleye populations, it's always been frustrating to me that the Salmon program hasn't been publicly recognized for making their resurgence possible. The Alewives and Smelt are not in trouble, not even close. All thats happened is the Salmon and Trout have brought them closer to healthy balance, so the other fish have a chance to hatch. Long live the KING!

[Tim Bromund]

Ciscoes could possibly return with a little help from us. They are a herring smaller than a whitefish that subsists on the little plankton type critters. They are an excellent fine boned type of forage for all the predators ought there.

and they make for a damn fine smoked fish as well (ciscoes are also called bloater chubs, so if you see smoked chubs in a store somewhere, that's what they are, yummy!!)

Tim

[jimski2]

Another good point for the ciscoes is they are a better food for Lake Trout that does not have tha thiamine troubles that cause reproduction problems like alewives.