lumberjohn- thanks for input on Owasco Lake

[felixjayce]

Lumberjohn,

I just got back to NH. from NY. and all I can say is I'm jealous. Just as you said, Owasco was very fishable while Lake O. was too rough for my 17' boat. Fished Sat. from 4-8 pm. and did well. Mixed bag: 6lb. rainbow, 5.5 lb. brown, 3.5 lb. walleye, 4.5 lb laker, and several smaller lakers. All fish were caught 38-40' down on riggers and leadcore with small 2.5" spoons in alewive, chart/black dot colors. Headed out of Emerson launch and fished the middle of the lake in 90-180' of water. Came back on Tues. and fished 8-11am and we did awesome on the lakers. Tried the middle of the lake again and nothing so trolled the shore where the houses are right on the road and got into them hard. 10 lakers all 38-55' down over 65-120' of water on riggers(lead not working). Same size spoons but orange with black dots was getting a hit every 15 minutes. 2 at 7lbs., 5 at 4-5lbs., and 3 at 3lbs. I'm pretty sure we could have caught lakers all day long but regretfully had to pack up and head home for NH. Lake O. was okay but smaller kings this year, 8-13lbs. Largest was 23 lbs. I'm so glad I brought my boat and took your advice. Thanks again!

Chris

[lumberjohn]

felixjayce,

Wow!! You did well. That was a very nice mixed bag of fish. Maybe I should skip going to Lake O. and put my boat back in my hoist and stay at home. I trailer it in Aug/Sept while I work the salmon. I went to Ontario out of Fair Haven sunday and struck out on the salmon. Fished 100-420 fow but the screen was pretty blank save for an occassional baitpod. On the way in we were marking fish and bait like crazy around 20 down over 80-50 fow. Dropped some B&S Rapalas and small Stingers to 18-20' and we got three very nice Smallmouth on the riggers. It was a small consollation to an otherwise unproductive day. Glad I could help you out and that you had success. Owasco is a great little lake with a little of everything to offer.

[felixjayce]

I just got back from a trip to the finger lakes and was exremely impressed with the avereage size of the trout/ salmon. Does anyone know the primary forage base for these fish? Is it alewives, smelt, or others? The reason I ask is I live in NH. and we have Lake Winnepesaukee which is 44,000 acres with lots of deep water but the average size of the fish is a joke compared to the finger lakes. We have other lakes in the 3,000- 5,000 acre size range and it's the same deal. Our primary forage base is smelt which are not very hardy and my theory is fish don't get as large off feeding on smelt as they do on let's say alewives. What are your thoughts on this? I only fished Owasco Lake but was amazed at the average size. Are all the finger lakes like this that hold trout/salmon? I'd like to get some feedback from you guys so I can contact NH. Fish and Game and see if perhaps we should be focusing on a better bait source. Any NY fisheries biologists out there who have observations on this? I hope you guys realize what a superb fishery you have out there with the finger lakes and Lake O. Every time I leave all I can think about is the next time I'll be able to come back. In my opinion this is one of the best overall places for size and variety in this great country of ours. I'd move in a split second but family prevails. I thoroughly appreciate your input and advice.

PS. Lumberjohn- a big thanks again!

[lumberjohn]

In answer to your question, "Are all the finger lakes like this that hold trout/salmon?", the answer is, pretty much. Seneca is known for it's fantastic, and big Lake Trout. Cayuga has it all, w/ plenty of Atlantic Salmon, though not that big, w/ Rainbows and some really good size Browns. And the rest of the Fingers ain't too shabby either. All of the Finger Lakes and Lake Ontario originally had large populations of smelt as the natural forage. Alewives were introduced into almost all the Fingers and Lake O and they did extremely well, much to the detriment of the smelt and trout. Not only do they compete with the smelt for food, the smelt, and Rainbow Trout spawn sooner in the spring, and the Alewives feed on the baby smelt & trout fry. Alewives spawn from June to July in shallow and on Owasco the walleyes & smallmouths go on a feeding frenzy then starting around midnight and lasting until 3:00 AM in the shallow water. Hardly anyone fishes them then on this lake except me and a few other guys. Smelt populations have crashed in the Finger Lakes, much to the chagrin of any spring smelter. From my understanding the smelt prefer colder temps than Alewives so they tend to be at deeper depths. Alewives have a vey high oil/fat content in proportion to their weight. That's great for growing big fat predator fish. Problem is, you are what you eat. In my opinion, trout, and fish in general, taste better off a smelt forage base vs. alewife base, and stream caught trout that eat bugs and worms and such taste the best. Skaneateles does not have alewives and it is illegal to use them as bait there. Consequently, they have a great rainbow fishery as well as Atlantics and some Browns. The fish run a bit smaller but there are plenty of them. It is unlikely you could convince the NH fish & game dept to introduce alwives in the NH lakes. It's not always good to mess w/ mother nature. Introducing alwives will do a job on your native smelt pops. You are right about one thing, NY has been blessed with some awsome fisheries, thanks to the glaciers. I've lived in NJ, PA and Idaho and they have nothing on NY when it comes to lake fishing and the number of lakes and variety of fish available from them. Mamy other states, if they have lakes at all, they are dammed up rivers. Ya can't beat it.

[bosco]

Do you suppose that's why the Walleye out of Irondequoit Bay taste so bad in comparison to say Honeoye Walleye? because the Alewives are their primary forage? And ARE Alewives IN FACT the primary forage base on this body of water? I suspect so but would anyone confirm this?

[GAMBLER]

Bosco,

Alewives are primary forage for I-bay walleyes in June/July when they come into the bay to spawn. The rest of the year thet are eating perch, shad, and other bait fish. I have noticed the same thing that the I-bay walleyes are not the greatest eaters.

[felixjayce]

Lumberjohn,

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm just trying to figure out a way where NH. could grow their fish as large as yours in NY. We too have glacier lakes but our avereage size fish just doesn't compare. Thanks for enlightening me and now I know that F&G would probably laugh at me if I even brought up the topic. We do have a 300 acre lake near us that is stocked by the lake assoc. and their are alewive in the 1000's. Let me tell you, the browns grow big in this lake, up to 12lbs.(very rare) and a good shot at 4lbers.

Thanks Again,

Chris

[chugbug]

I believe lakers feeding only on alwives also suffer from a thiamine deficiency which interferes with natural reproduction . If there is smelt in the diet this problem doesn't happen. Just what I have heard from those in the know.

[lyk2fish]

I checked out the area you reported on Chris, Was great, alot of bait there. Found one good pod with hooks all around it. Went through it 12 times and had 10 releases. Landed 8 lakers up to 6 pounds and a 5 pound rainbow that was awesome. 4 of the fish came from 26 ft down over 147. every lure from spoons to raps got hits. I had alot of fun and I wanted to thank you for the detailed report.

In terms of the walleye, it was hit or miss for me this spring with taste issues. some catches were great and others tasted like more mud than fishy. As lumberjohn stated you are what you eat. these fish stay shallow for a couple months in water that was over 70 degreesat times in july. There were nights the water got muddy from the bass, northerns and walleye chasing the alewives. also I found the smaller the better for the fryer. 19-21inch fish tasted the best and the 22 and 24 was hit or miss. Anything over 25 and that is common here on a good night did not fare well in the fryer. Lastly fresh is best, any that I ate the day I cought them were great, even the big ones. However if I let them sit a day or two in the fridge or put them in the freezer they were not too good. Back in school I did some research on Oneida lake. We found that when the walleyes were on young of the year perch they tasted best, then Aug came and the Gizzard shad exploded. If you were lucky to catch a gorged walleye during that time frame the taste changed dramatically for the worse. These fish also feed shallow in warmer water for a couple of months.

Thanks for the report.

[felixjayce]

Lyk2fish,

I'm glad you were able to experience some of the great fishing we had and it was much too shortlived for me. Sounds like I missed the hot bite over on Lake O. by about a week. Oh well, there's always next year. The weird thing is I hate the taste of fish. I try to release as many as possible if they have a chance. If not , I make my neighbors very happy. I love to catch them and the bigger the better. Best of luck for the remainder of the year to all on this board. I guess I'll have to settle for our smaller NH. fish.

Thanks,

Chris

[icedauber]

Love this lake. We have come out last 5 springs. When Cayuga is to cold or windy the fishing here is great. Will I need flea flicker line if we make a trip week after next? thanx

[IRISH56]

With the colder nights we've been having lately I would imagine the fleas should be out of the picture. Last weekend on Cayuga they were not much of an issue.

DAN

[rusty1034]

I was out mon. am, and the fleas were a big pain. surface was upper 60's.

The lakers were abig pain too. Kept pulling the line out of the releases.

Rusty