Canandaigua Native fish

[cdgn troller]

Since we've talked about the stocking programs of other lakes I thought I would chime in on the shape of Canandaigua's fishery. I went down to Woodville yesterday to see the weight in for the Avon Anglers Derby, for 2 reasons. The main reason to see the state of the fishery and curious to where and what they were catching them on! Two my surprise the fisherman were slightly tight lipped, but brought in some good fish. The winning fish was just over 11lb with 2nd and 3rd in the 10+, with several in the 7-9 lb range. There were 26 fisherman with roughly 7-10 boats. they weighed in 16 fish. The thing that surprised me was that out the 16 weighed in and the 25 or so fish I saw, only 1 was a stocked fish, which was a 9lber. BTW all fish were lake trout, and they were all FAT, healthy looking with fish. It should not surprise me though, I keep a log for the DEC and I think in the past 2 years have only caught 3 or 4 stocked fish. And as for Rainbows, back in the late 90's to early 2000 we were catching good number of rainbows with many in the 5-7 lb range, then things declined in the mid to late 2000's but the last 2 years have really picked up again. Last year in the Canandaigua derby we caught around 30 and a buddy of mind caught around 40, all of which were successfully released, none were over 4lbs but was really good to see. IMHO I think Canadaigua is doing well, the rainbows are reproducing well, Lakers are thriving, and some monster browns live there too! I am in favor of the 1 rainbow limit, and raising the lake trout take, I think it would make Canandaigua the best Lake around to catch some nice bows, not that it isn't already! Could not get a real report from any of the fisherman except deep, using spoons, and no bait.

[Second Chance 22]

Thanks for this excellent report.

One thing that you should keep in mind is that DEC did not fin clip lakers stocked in Canandaigua before 2004. As a rule of thumb, if you catch a Laker there under about 25 inches and it doesn't have fin clips it is probably wild. If you catch a Laker over 25 inches - you usually can't tell. Odds are the bigger fish you saw aren't wild, but were in fact stocked. The 9 pounder you saw with a clip would seem to be an exception to the rule.

Traditionally the catch on Canandaigua has run about 75% lakers and 25% bow's and browns. The last couple of years the catch has run 90% lakers and 10% bow's and browns. Clearly, more Lakers need to be taken.

Thanks again.

[blueghost1]

The Diary program is a great way for the DEC to keep track of stocking fish. We keep a book for Canandaigua and Seneca. Glad to see you do the program also Brett!

p.s, The "spot" in Seneca is heating up

[FLXTroutman]

Hey Brett, it is interesting how we can share fishing stories and fishing programs, what we get em on, how deep, how fast, if you have all the gear that I have and you go out fishing good luck have fun. Use your gear, catch fish, I know I catch more fish than a couple of the charters on Canandaigua Lake and I will tell you and them what I got them on. Tight lipped old timers...

[Hookjaw]

Fished with the FLTA on Canandaigua on Sunday. Not to toot my own horn, I finished 2nd. The fishing was the toughest I've ever seen it on this lake. I do charters on all of the Finger Lakes and I would have to agree with cdgn troller that this lake has done well, at least in comparison to most others I would encourage everyone that is fishing the Finger Lakes, even if it's one day a year, to participate in the DEC diary program. I also agree with FLXT routman..."tight lipped old timers". Have been fishing with these guys for a few years now and NOT A ONE has ever given any secrets, if there is such a thing. Gotta love them tho, they do know how to fish I post all my "secrets" on my web site after most of my trips. I marked fish in the top 50' but no takers. Most fished were stacked up at the south end of the lake. Also marked fish along the bottom in 150-175'. After having no fish in the box we dropped down to the bottom with light weight thumper rigs. Ran Sutton 44's and small yellow homade spoons with good success. I say good, we only boated 4 lakers all day. Had one other laker that felt like a real decent fish but it came off about half way up. Two were short and released. Two were kept for the weigh in...and the frying pan

[georged]

I keep a diary on the trout I catch on Canandaigua lake. I also see about 95% native trout. I actually thought it was odd and that maybe I was missing something. I was working on the boat today hoping to get on the water soon.

Georged

[fins&feathers]

Wasn't there a complex system of clipping other fins; left vs. right anal fin and left vs. right pectoral fins to know exactly what year a laker was released?

[jerktroller]

Lake trout get a different fin clip each year. Bath Hatchery or Fisheries in Avon would know what year got what clips. Like 2nd chance said-clipping only started in '04 so you can't tell if a big laker is stocked or wild