Any smelt left in Seneca or Cayuga

[pokepole39]

Hi all its getting that time of year again , wondering if their are enough smelt left in Seneca or Cayuga to get some for bait ? Havent been that way in several years and when i moved it was alfull couldnt find any . doing some fishing back home this year and love them as bait , Any help would be appreciated for sure .thanks all and hope you all have a great season !!!

[ddubs3]

If there are hardly any left, maybe you are better off leaving them alone rather than trying to catch the few remaining for bait.

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[lakebound88]

If there are hardly any left, maybe you are better off leaving them alone rather than trying to catch the few remaining for bait.

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Agreed...

Ontario streams get runs still...

If the FLX got the runs , there is a chance fishing would improve...

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[rustyrat]

Owasco still has healthy runs. Here is my take on Cayuga. There has been a lot of development on the ridges where the farms were/are. This development has changed the drainage into the lake. I have 3 small private creeks on my road that were the best smelt creeks on the lake. Now they are compleatly dry in the summer. No water No smelt. Have not seen a smelt in those creeks for 9 years. The major tribs still get a few here and there. Lots of work to get a dozen for the bait can. The Niagara river in may would be your best bet.

RR

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[Neo1945]

I read a recent post about what happened to all the Smelt, and it concerned the Lamprey eel control programs run by DEC.

Thought that to be interesting.

[fish-on]

I by mine from a store, called Ithaca tofu, frozen in a bag. CHEAP!

[Neo1945]

fish-on,

any idea where they come from?

[Second Chance 22]

FYI, you can't take smelt from Cayuga and use them for bait anywhere in NY except Cayuga.

Also, I heard from a couple of sources that there were decent smelt runs in Taughannock Creek last year.

[Splitshot115]

Would like to see DEC put a stop to smelting on the fingers for a few years.

[fish-on]

Not sure, I'll check though.

[pokepole39]

I see were some wish to leave the smelt alone ! Am I wrong or is their still not a smelting season open on the lakes . If you go by that theory maybe we sould never fish during the spawning season at all ....Or maybe we should have the dec cancel their lamprey program and let the smelt recover ,after all arent they consuderig raising the trout limit on lakers to thin them out on cayuga ..Or better yet lets use hooks so big we cant hook peanuts and let them grow.. thanks and good luck fishing .....

[lakebound88]

Read second chances post.. you legally can not transport the smelt for bait...

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[rustyrat]

The DEC doesn't care about the smelt. They are an invasive species. They won't manage the population. They actually changed the times you can smelt and lowered the limit about 10 years ago.

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[irishbailey86]

all i know is they taste great and anyone who is willing to go out in the middle of the night to get them, let alone knows where and when to do it shouldnt hear any greif over it....if they are infact an invasive species then who cares......weve got native baitfish too.....they are managed. i hope!.....if they got overfished it was because some scumbags dont know their limits......take what u need ,haste is waste......if i saw a pool full of em id jump right in and fill my pockets but i wouldnt clean em out of the creek!....i dont think that my generation should suffer because guys wanted to exploit the fishery back in the day.....i know how it used to be and ive heard storys of buckets upon buckets full of smelt being taken from seneca and cayuga tribs by guys who didnt have any ethics....still happens but not to the decree that it used to b/c they are overfished and harmed by other dec programs.....it is what it is i guess, we pay our dues to have a license and we should be able to smelt! too bad our state wont recognize them as a viable species. sounds like just another NYS headache we receive for paying outrageous taxes and fees to get the short end of the stick when it comes to our wildlife preservation.

[fish-on]

This is why i buy mine now, Who wants to go out at 10 at night for nothing, Im not using them for bait. Also, i don't think theres a limit on how many you can buy from a store. Yes iv'e seen truck loads of them pulled from cayuga in 5gal. pals, Thats no joke, The old milikan station was noted for it, Guys would use nets with 20 foot handles wade out up to your armpits, One dip net is overflowing with smelt, This went on for years, Thats probably why they're gone.

[Second Chance 22]

One pair of smelt can produce 12,000 to 50,000 offspring. Baby smelt eat zooplankton which now exists in greatly reduced numbers due to competition from Zebra and Quagga mussels. So, the fisheries just can NOT produce the numbers of smelt they once did. In lakes where the zebra mussel populations have exploded and then crashed, smelt populations have improved after the crash.

In the old days, smelting was only allowed until (as I recall) 1:00AM, so they had better chances to spawn undisturbed than they do now.

I think the theory that the lampracide treatments had something to do with the decline in the smelt populations doesn't hold water. In the Finger Lakes, only Seneca and Cayuga have had lampracide treatments. But, smelt populations have also declined during the same time period in other lakes- such as Keuka and Canandaigua (these lakes have never had lampreys and haven't needed to be treated).

Maybe we should be stocking sturgeon to reduce the number of mussels and restore the food chain........

[quality time]

Nail on the head second chance!

[ioiosoiwork]

I smelted for years on Seneca's small east hill side tribs (late 60's early 70's) there was a 8 quart limit, net size, can't remember if there was a time limit, & it was heavily patrolled by DEC when the runs were good. Just like the fine trout fisherman on here we "policed" our own, ratted out the poachers & drunks, the litterers, & anybody else who abused the sport or the locale. I don't think & can't remember if anybody froze any in our "group", but we took our 8 quarts & ended up at some poor wife's house, using her dress shears on fish heads,tails, & belly's & my thumb cold & sore running up their belly's spine to clean them out. I can remember a kitchen covered in flour, & the smell of hot oil, & & tasty morsels of fish w/ good company ........... & a friend (husband of fore mentioned wife) "complaining" about how much "housework" he had the next day (GOD WHEN DID I GET THIS OLD TO TALK LIKE THIS OF MEMORIES)........ ANYHOW it is my understanding that the demise of such smelting activities was because 1.) the properties we once utilized were sold & now somebody's home or cottage & 2.) the introduction of zebra mussels ? No?

[ioiosoiwork]

........yeah what second chance 22 said

[Neo1945]

For Second Chance 22 (sturgeon to reduce the number of mussels )

Doesn't look like a good solution.

see: http://www.uvm.edu/rsenr/emarsden/McCab ... n%20ms.pdf

[Second Chance 22]

Why not? The article states that zebra mussels have a negative impact on juvenile sturgeon. DEC doesn't stock juvenile sturgeon, the one's they stocked in Cayuga some years back were much bigger, like 18 inches when stocked. Your article also clearly states that older sturgeon utlize zebra mussels for food.

[Neo1945]

You may be correct ... I was just thinking of Seneca where there are no Sturgeon ( I think) at present. I do know that the DEC is not spending much money on anything right now ... seems they have few funds to spend. If Sturgeon would work & not hurt what we now have (Perch for instance) then bring 'em on. In the end we all have the same goals don't we.

[lakebound88]

I am a firm believer in sturgeon in Seneca lake...

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[pokepole39]

Yes I know they were abused badly ,hell my uncle used to get them by the 55 gal barrel full so he could smoke them and give them away to customers at his barber shop . I also know that until the lamprey program they were still plentifull and you could walk on them in the creeks !!! viable fish ,how many millons were spent in NY on lanters ,boots and nets ,gas for the lanterns and cars ... Face it ny has a joke of a dec program they never get it right either over manage or undermanage but never right ... dont believe it look at how many deer a farmer or vinyard owner can kill for the hell of it and its all legal ..those that dont wish to smelt should stay home and drop the i dont do neither should you even if its legal dont do it .. hell stop running your boat on the lake and polluting it then fish from shore .. just a thought good day all ..

[lakebound88]

That got taken out of context... I'm all for smelting.. I do believe we can help build it back up... but to catch them just for bait seemed kind of pointless.

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