Cayuga Lake Sturgeon (pic)

[chuck527]

Had the opportunity to ride along on the Lake Trout egg harvest off T-Falls today. As an added bonus the DEC had set a couple nets for Sturgeon. I thought if we saw one that would be really something but ended up with 6 in the 2 nets. All 6 were tagged and released succesfully. Also had several carp well over 30lbs, one nice channel cat and far too many lakers to count, not to mention several hundred feet of copper wire and a sutton spoon. It was a great day and I really appreciate Kelly and the other guys from the Bath Hatchery giving me the invite/tolerating me.

[ray koziatek]

Thats cool !

did they say how old,or the groth rate? ,,,,,,, just wondering how many years i have to wait to get a 700lber

I can se some kid fishing for carp....DAD um DAD I JUST COUGHT a 500 LB carp,,,,,honest it was as big as our boat.................

:thats it young man go to your room for lying......

[tcon]

Very cool Paul. Thanks for the picture.

Tom

[lavarock64]

Thanks for sharing your adventure! Great pix. Any idea of prior year catch rates?

Lavarock

[Mortigan]

I'd love to see one up close some day. Thanks for sharing.

[33canuck]

That's awesome

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[ERABBIT]

Thanks for sharing.......

If you get a chance how about a run down on what they did out there........any special size they were looking for

[MikeyP]

Thats cool !

did they say how old,or the groth rate? ,,,,,,, just wondering how many years i have to wait to get a 700lber

I can se some kid fishing for carp....DAD um DAD I JUST COUGHT a 500 LB carp,,,,,honest it was as big as our boat.................

:thats it young man go to your room for lying......

Growth....Caught.....See....that's (x2)

[chuck527]

Posted 3X

[chuck527]

I will try to break down the day which hopefully will answer the preceding questions.

Started 7am pulling the 2 sturgeon nets first. According to the DEC these Sturgeon were stocked in the early 90's and to there knowledge it was 500 fish and that was the only stocking. I believe these were the first nets they have set any time in recent history so they were not sure what to expect. These fish ranged from the low 40's to 60 inches. I'm assuming from the age of these fish the females should just be reaching sexual maturity. The Sturgeon we did catch appeared extremely healthy! As far as a 700lb speciman I think it would be many years away. Growth rates seem right in line. I'm guessing the 50+ inch fish were probably all females and the lower 40's were mostly males from the same year class. Probably another twenty years before those females really push into the hundreds. They caught 5 Sturgeon the day before.

After tagging the Sturgeon we picked up 2 laker nets and held on to 9 ripe females. We then proceeded to shore where there was a hatchery truck waiting with male brook trout. The eggs were taken from the lakers and then the male Brookies were "milked" to produce Splake. Once the eggs were fertalized they were put in coolers.

Went back out to pull the remaining five Lake Trout nets. All the eggs were harvested from the ripe females and fertalized with the males. Again the eggs were placed in coolers and soaked in a Thiamine vitamin B solution and these were going to the Bath hatchery to later be used in more local stocking projects (Fingerlakes).

I really expected a much higher mortality rate than what we saw. The ones that did not make it were being sent to a DEC lab for samples and VHS testing. Most Lakers taken averaged between 4-8lbs. There were about 6 fish in the 9-12lb range out of most likely 200 lakers netted. It was a very interesting and informative day to say the least. They said in years past they would spend almost a month in Seneca to collect what they get off T-Falls in 4 or 5 days. Hope that answers most of your questions, Paul.

[chowder]

Thank you for delving into such detail in your report on the ichthyology field work & good for you for getting involved. Sturgeon sure are pretty cool! -Andy

[ERABBIT]

A BIG thanks chuck527 very interesting indeed

[143447]

really great stuff thanks for sharing

So is a Splake a type of trout stocked in the finger lakes??

[MikeyP]

Thanks Chuck. Very interesting and informative report!

[Hookjaw]

Great post Chuck! Very informative, thank you

One question, approximately what percentage of lakers had fresh lamprey marks?

[PolarBear]

Thanks for taking time to post the information

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Splitshot115]

Great info Chuck527...........

[choo-choo]

nice...interesting....thanks for sharing your story

[lavarock64]

Thanks again!!!!!!!!!

Interesting that the sturgeon are reaching a reproductive state............... Lets hope it's successful. That would make for an interesting tight line!

[buckboardjr]

This is all so interesting and I am glad to see others taking interest in the whys, hows, whens, ect. ect. It shows people care about the fishery and it's long term success. Nice job Chuck!

[OldTex]

Thanks for the detailed report..Chuck..I'm gonna get rigged for Splake and Sturgeon fishing...Just kidding....VERY interesting about the sturgeon....I've been fishing Cayuga a long time and never knew about the sturgeon

[chuck527]

really great stuff thanks for sharing

So is a Splake a type of trout stocked in the finger lakes??

The Splake were to be raised and released elsewhere. Wish I had taken a picture of the male brookies they used. They were year old fish that weighed on average 3lbs. They were certainly beautifil specimans.

As far as fresh lamprey hits there were a few but not alot. Most fish were very clean.

[1dogshy]

thanks..... It was very interesting...!!!!

Glad you shared it with us..

[143447]

really cool stuff, Thanks

[Neo1945]

I wonder what that says for Seneca ?