Salmon River news

[Yankee Troller]

Copied from another site. Could be here say, and it could be legit.

I went to the upper reservoir today and was surprised to see that even with the recent rain that the level had dropped another 1.5 ft in the last week

Also heard that there is a meeting scheduled for Monday between Brookfield power and the DEC

It appears that due to the low water levels they may not be able to kick up our flows Sept 1st to 330CFS

and will most likely stay at 185 CFS or less as long as they have to

We just might be looking at another 2007

Might want to start getting on the DEC azz now. We were shorted this Spring, let's not make it two years in a row our salmon stockings have fallen short. I know there are a few organizations/associations along the lake. I belong to the Genesee Charter Boat Association and I know we keep in constant contact with the DEC. I think they need to have solid contingency plans in place if the run is bad due to low water.

[GAMBLER]

Good thinking Rick. After the amazing season we had this year, I would hate to see all these genetics of big kings go to waste. I did notice a lot less skippers this year. 2 years in a row of bad stocking would make for some long seasons and stress on the other year classes of salmon.

[Fishtails]

A LOT less skippies this year....kinda has me concerned. Let's pray for a good tropical storm to take it out of the dec's hands.

[jason]

if we dont get rain they need to shut the estuary down and dont let guys line across the river like they did in 2007. i believe that really hurt the run that yr.

[Yankee Troller]

if we dont get rain they need to shut the estuary down and dont let guys line across the river like they did in 2007. i believe that really hurt the run that yr.

I agree

[bandrus1]

can I ask a question without getting shot at

if 2007 was so awful for the fish why did we not really see all that bad of an impact on the 2010 and 2011 fishing... seemed fine to me

[Yankee Troller]

can I ask a question without getting shot at

if 2007 was so awful for the fish why did we not really see all that bad of an impact on the 2010 and 2011 fishing... seemed fine to me

There was definitely an impact on the Salmon fishing in open water. I know at the Oak a lot more Steel were beat up on. The East end beat up the Browns and Lakers pretty bad. With other fish to catch if Kings aren't around you target other species. This year was the first year the cycle would have been over with and it topped the last few years easily. Granted it was a weird season primarily due to odd weather patterns.

[GAMBLER]

The numbers of matures were noticably lower. If you fish the East end of the lake, you may not notice a difference once they start staging but the smaller ports to the West it was more noticable. There were matures around but not nearly the numbers we were used to seeing.

[BSmaster]

if we dont get rain they need to shut the estuary down and dont let guys line across the river like they did in 2007. i believe that really hurt the run that yr.

Please excuse me, I do not know a lot of the specifics, so I am going to ask this with a sophmore like attitude. How did they line in the estuary? I fished (estuary) in august a few summers ago and the water in the river was low and I do not see how this is possible. Also, They added the Estuary and the mouth to the trib rules last season, so this should be deterring the guys in the row boats with their snagging spoons. DSR claims to be fish friendly. I am more worried about them getting hung up above Pulaski.

I agree that it would be a shame if the direction the fishery is going had a down turn. I have noticed a quality increase over the past few years. I won't mention the creeks, but a few of them have me worried about natural reproduction with levels what they are.

[Has Been]

Get on the DEC for what Exactly?

[GAMBLER]

Get on the DEC for what Exactly?

2007 they did not get enough eggs to make the quota. Get on them not to change things so it does not happen again.

[Yankee Troller]

Get on the DEC for what Exactly?

To see what their contingency plans are.

[jason]

when standing on rt 3 bridge and you see guy line up west of the bridge at least 40 guys per line, the fishing never get a chance. then when you look on the east side of the bridge and see guys lined up across the river keeping fish huddle in pockets all the way to the dsr thats what im taking about.

what is the new estuary mouth rule?

[LongLine]

if 2007 was so awful for the fish why did we not really see all that bad of an impact on the 2010 and 2011 fishing... seemed fine to me

Probably because there was a boom in the wild population. An awful lot of little guys were caught in those years & a lot had adipose fins. Take a real good look at the recent posted photos of 15-25 lb fish. Majority have their fins intact.

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[Chinook1981]

Last I knew the natural spawning success rate is less than 3%. The water level is not an issue for the fish to make it to the hatchery. 200-300 cfs is plenty but at that level its like shooting fish in a barrel. A percentage of the salmon river fisherman are totally in it for there own personal pleasure and they could care less if it hurts the fishery. However I don't think many of the anglers are educated on the science of the spawn that they could understand how they are impacting it. In a low flow year they should consider managing the king fishery like they do in Alaska. Up there they end the season when needed to assure that enough fish get to the spawning grounds. I hope there are folks at the Dec that understand this as we'll as some of us on this board.

[ Post made via Android ]

[bandrus1]

Last I knew the natural spawning success rate is less than 3%. The water level is not an issue for the fish to make it to the hatchery. 200-300 cfs is plenty but at that level its like shooting fish in a barrel. A percentage of the salmon river fisherman are totally in it for there own personal pleasure and they could care less if it hurts the fishery. However I don't think many of the anglers are educated on the science of the spawn that they could understand how they are impacting it. In a low flow year they should consider managing the king fishery like they do in Alaska. Up there they end the season when needed to assure that enough fish get to the spawning grounds. I hope there are folks at the Dec that understand this as we'll as some of us on this board.

[ Post made via Android ]

I'm pretty sure it is closer to 40%

[Chinook1981]

That would be great if you are right. I was given that figure by a knowledgeable source. Can anyone confirm the correct figure from literature?

[ Post made via Android ]

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

Great thread, Rick. Thanks for jumping on this. I don't think I could stand to see anymore shrugged shoulders like we did in 2007, and like we did after that fall. Absolutely no contingency plan in place despite the outcry of going to just one hatchery. We ended up soliciting volunteers to gather Salmon out of 18mile to help out the DEC, but they told us those eggs didn't "eye up" well because it was such a warm fall and they were stressed.

[bandrus1]

when you said 2% what did you mean...

Im pretty sure last i saw somewhere that 40% of the kings were non stocked

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

can't even get the biologists around the North and South shore to agree on what percentage gets missed by that clipping trailer. I had one tell me it's upwards of 30%. No,, you cannot count on natural reproduction, especially if there are low flows and pillaging of the bedding Salmon occuring.

[bandrus1]

of course you cant count only on natural

but he success rates are way higher than many people think

[Chinook1981]

Did a quick Google search I did not find an actual published document just opinions and heresay like my own. I don't see how it could be 40% when prime spawning habitat is limited and there are so many anglers finding sport in lifting activley spawning fish. Good thread and discussion. Think ill call Dec Monday.

[ Post made via Android ]

[kingslamon22]

contingency plan...fish ladders in oswego river system leading upstream to onieda lake.

[Legacy]

Contingency plan? Whats that? When the DEC has been asked about this (at the state of the lake), they have had no answer. Lack of state funds= no contingency.

[Legacy]

can't even get the biologists around the North and South shore to agree on what percentage gets missed by that clipping trailer. I had one tell me it's upwards of 30%. No,, you cannot count on natural reproduction, especially if there are low flows and pillaging of the bedding Salmon occuring.

The amount of "wild fish" ive boated this year scares me and i have a very tough time believing the numbers we are told. Truth is... more wild fish will eventually = less stocked fish. The DEC has already admitted they had an issue tagging fish with the trailer in year 3 and and their 1-3% number of fish not getting clipped was way off. And because of an issue, none of this years stocked fish were even clipped. I dont put too much faith in the clipping trailer or of the DECs salmon study. I think it should give us some very cool info but certainly not enough information to make future fishery decisions.