Lamprey eel serious problem on Cayuga Lake

[wheelingmike]

Late last week I was downrigger trolling on Cayuga Lake between the Great Gully & Aurora on the East side of the lake trolling between 80 & 120 feet down mostly. Almost every time we pulled a downrigger weight up there would be at least 1 lamprey eel attached to the weight. We would hook up w/ a fish and by the time we got it to the boat it would have lampreys on it. Not old ones with marks, but freshly grabbed. I thought I was marking bait fish pods but believe now they were schools of lampreys. They also would hit our spin doctor & e-chip flashers as we were trolling. In a few hours time we seen like 30 eels and god knows how many let go before reaching the boat and surface.

Anyone know besides DEC officers who should be contacted about this? Anyone else coming across this problem? Fished my entire life on Cayuga & Ontario and have never seen such a thing.

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

Thanks a bunch guys, Mike

[lavarock64]

Here is the DEC's take on this from the 2011 DEC Cayuga lake Diary Program. (I highly encourage folks to do this program if you are not already)

Incidence of sea lamprey attacks on lake trout in the 2011 survey was very low. One wound and one mark were observed on the 46 lake trout in a 23.6 inch to 25.6 inch index group. This was well below our target level for lamprey wounding on lake trout in this length interval. Sea lamprey wounding on Cayuga Lake salmonids continues to be low, but there will be a noticeable increase in wounds in 2012 because a fairly large year class of lampreys, born in Cayuga Inlet in 2007, has begun entering Cayuga Lake as parasitic adults. We have opted to “ride this out†and not do an expensive lampricide treatment because we anticipate the impacts to the lake fishery will not be as extensive as in the past. Although there are relatively abundant young sea lampreys (ammocoetes) in Cayuga Inlet, our assessments indicate they are not as abundant as

they were prior to our treatments in 1986 and 1996 (see graph on next page). In addition, the size of the juvenile lampreys varies depending on the habitat they are in, which means their migration to the lake occurs over a few years, rather than all at once. Given this, we expect that the fishery should be able to absorb the impacts of this lamprey year class with far less mortality of trout and salmon than we experienced in the past. What remains to be determined, however, is the abundance of sea lamprey larvae resulting from upstream escapement of spawning lamprey during a high water event in the Inlet in spring 2011.

I certainly hope the DEC has a handle on this. In addition, the DEC plans to stock 5,000 less lakers in 2013. The fact that 8 lb lakers ruled the derby boards this year makes me wonder. 2-5 year's ago, 10 -12 lb lakers ruled the derby boards.

Lavarock

[stinger]

Your not alone on this happening....my post a couple weeks ago.....> viewtopic.php?f=6&t=35301

[bandrus1]

they were very very bad on brown this past spring

[Redeye87]

This weekend on Cayuga this happened to me every time the ball came up as well. Biggest Lampreys Ive ever seen on the Finger Lakes too

[blacksquirrel2]

A friend of mine fished the derby on Cayuga last weekend and said the same thing. Worst he has ever seen the eels. Most every fish brought to the boat had eels attached along with other eel wounds. Hope the powers that be can get a handle on this potential big problem.

[wheelingmike]

So may I ask, "who to hell do we contact to report this to"???

I called the Game Warden for my area and he said he had not heard of it. Suppose to forward it on to the fishery. Told me they do not "poison" the streams & inlets on the fingerlakes like the do the great lakes. If this is not acted upon soon fishing on Cayuga lake will suffer for several years.

[vogel451]

I also had the same problem with the lampreys. They are consistantly large too. We had 3 lampreys on our downrigger ball at one time this past weekend and also got one wound up in our lines when we had a underwater tangle. All lampreys were atleast 18" long and a little larger than a quarter size in girth. I kept the fillet knife by the downrigger and I was litterally hacking them off my cannonball. I dont see how a 18" fish could survive lemprey attacks of this size.

[ray koziatek]

Lamphrey DERBY!!!!! I think part of the treating issue is they didnt want to screw the lake up like seneca in the early 90's almost if not all Smelt were wiped out and the freshwater shrimp they fed on.. The smelt population on Cayuga is almost totally gone with the lower water levels.That leaves the "Trout" streams for the final spawning grounds forr the remaining few..

Another problem is during high water many trout make the barrier with ells attached ,spreading upstream. This was discovered by a person I know who lives near "Stafford" ell dam on Catherine creek. Finally the state did some gravel samples and realized the ells made it over the dam....

Also just a huntch of mine if anyone remembers for a few years in the middle 90's almost every lake trout 's body was puny compaired to its head size (no feed). So i would guess the state treated Catherine to early and aggresive that wiped out most of the "sawbellys" smolts..Hopefully "someone" has learned the dangers of the chemical used .... But after the hudge Walleye kill in "Sandy Creek" a few years back someone musta been making some calculations ,WHAY outa their paygrade.. As i said the last paragraph is just my Plummers opinion so if I'm way off (dont think so) I'm Sorry....

But Hey I'm Justa Plummer!!!!!!!!!! (who has fished a couple times)

[Second Chance 22]

Don't look for any lampricide treatments on Cayuga anytime soon. DEC will continue to try to control them with the fishway on Cayuga Inlet. It works well unless there is a high water event that allows the spawning blood suckers to by pass the fishway trap. This years fishing regulations guide includes an impressive picture (page 28) of a large number of lampreys caught at the fishway and prevented from spawning.

Those that remember the uproar in Ithaca when DEC last tried to treat Cayuga Lake proper will agree that in today's climate the "do gooders" in Ithaca will never agree to a treatment. Also, because the lake is home to lake sturgeon, which are on the federal endangered species list, DEC would NOT be allowed to treat the Cayuga Lake without federal approval.

For what it is worth, the DEC didn't apply the TMF treatment that killed the walleyes in Sandy Creek. That was done by a team from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (don't we do anything ourselves in this country anymore?).

[DtD]

So.......why not provide an open netting season on the eels. I know they are not only very tasty, but a delicacy in other parts of the world, even in higher circles. They are easy to catch, clean, and simple to prepare. What is all this fuss. The DEC should just call the Culinary center in Canandaigua, and get a recipe, a few endorsements, publish and bingo......a delectable appetizer at the many finger lakes winetastings. DONE, WHAT'S NEXT ?

[Sean Youngblood]

It's to bad they are illegal to use as bait.I would love to have a couple hundred in a couple of weeks to take to Montaulk and feed them to some hungry Stripers .Eels go for $15.00-$20.00 a dozen.Our last night their last year we went threw $80.00 of eels between two of us in one night.I bet the Stripers wouldn't even taste the difference.

[Neo1945]

Probably make good bullhead bait ........

[Second Chance 22]

Probably would get introduced into a bunch of waters where they would be a big problem. There are serious reasons why they are illegal to use for bait.

Also, I don't know a lot about salt water fishing, but the eels used at Montauk are probably sand eels, not lamprey eels.

[ray koziatek]

Years ago a Millport friend of mine used to get em with spears when they came in to spawn...Ive never done that but sounds like fun. We could ship em all to Bobs boy for his ell pies.

[wheelingmike]

Here is the follow up I received after contacting several authorities: I suggest taking along a bait or butterfly net to help catch & kill what you can.

Hi ,

Thank you for letting us know what you are seeing out there, and for including the fishing forum link on your other message. We are indeed aware that there are many parasitic phase lamprey in Cayuga Lake at this time. We have also heard several reports similar to yours of lampreys attaching to fishing gear as well as many lampreys attached to single fish.

The sea lamprey which you have observed, are very different, in food habits, and biology, from the American eels, which you and several other people also refer to, in some cases not distinguishing between them. Sea lamprey are short lived fish parasites, with a cartilaginous skeleton, teeth on their tongue and in their disk shaped mouth, and which spawn in gravelly streams. Their young incubate in organic sediments of streams for about three years filter feeding algae and other detritus, before they transform into parasites and migrate out to Cayuga Lake, where they feed on fish for about a year before returning to the streams to spawn and die. They are obligate fish parasites, and while they may attach to other things, they will not attach and feed on warm blooded humans, and obviously won't get any nutrition from a downrigger ball.

American eels are a long lived species which eat small fish and other small prey, have a bony skeleton, a regular hinged jaw with rows of teeth like many other fishes, and which migrate long distances to spawn in the ocean. They can only eat very small trout, do not spawn in the Finger Lakes, and are quite rare owing to the large number of dams they must get through to get here. American eels spend up to twenty years in our larger lakes and rivers before they make the return migration to spawn and die in the ocean.

In most years, the sea lamprey population in Cayuga Lake is limited by poor availability of spawning and rearing habitat, and a barrier on the best stream (Cayuga Inlet), where we trap the adult lampreys attempting to spawn and remove them. In years when the barrier is swamped by high water (2007 and 2011), these efforts are not as effective. Given the good shape of the salmonid fisheries in Cayuga Lake, the relatively small number of surviving lamprey larvae in the Inlet compared to previous flood years, and the expense of conducting a lamprey treatment, the decision was made to ride out this year class (which is peaking in parasitism at this moment), and evaluate the 2011 year class independently. We are currently undertaking a comprehensive survey of the 2011 year class, and starting the planning for a lampricide treatment to remove these lamprey before they transform to parasitic phase in approximately 2014-2015. We are also making extra efforts to track sea lamprey wounding rates on salmonids this fall, and will compare that data with previous years.

Lampricide treatments have been conducted twice on the Cayuga Inlet, and we have learned a lot in the last thirty years about how to safely conduct a lampricide treatment. We are very careful in how we apply pesticides, being careful to monitor application rates, and stream water chemistries, to be sure that we avoid mortality of non-target organisms. By being careful about which concentrations we use, water temperatures and times of year, we can avoid mortality of lake sturgeon and salmonids, as well as the other fish species in the area. We are fortunate that the lampricide TFM is so specific to lamprey larvae, and breaks down within a few days in the environment (it only takes about 9 hours at the proper concentration to kill sea lamprey larvae). Unfortunately we have no method to control sea lamprey once they reach the parasitic phase. What you and many others are doing in killing the lamprey you do see is the best we can ask for, and the most likely to be effective at this point.

Again, thank you for your email, and your concern, but please be assured that this is a short term problem that will not return next summer, and that we are aware of the problem and are working on preventing future occurrences. Part of my job is to listen to anglers concerns, the other part of my job is to go out and do something about it. I am one of about 27 DEC Fisheries employees certified to apply pesticides, trained, and experienced in conducting sea lamprey treatments in the Finger Lakes and Lake Champlain. We are not tasked with this duty full time, but we are ready to take on the challenge when the need arises.

Happy Fishing!

[panfisher]

Thank you....even though I don't often fish Cayuga.....thank you!

[ifishy]

its nice to know there is at least someone who cares and actully tries to do it right even if they are very likely overworked and understaffed gives the impression of good knowledge and research

[pokepole39]

It is no secret the dec in ny runs with blinders on ..this has been a bad problem for years and getting worse ..state is broke and to heck with the sportsman ..we had the same problem with the salvation army derby could not catch fish but marked pod after pod of what we also thought was bait ,,pretty bad when eals atttach cold lead weights and hold on ////and the decs responce we arent aware of that ya right put the blinderts on and heck with the sportsmen in ny

[rustyrat]

The fishing on Cayuga has been fair at best this year. My numbers and weights are way down. The derby weights were way down too. I firmly believe the lampreys are the problem. I was out Sunday and they were on every rigger ball and even on the transom. I'm even wordering if the fish I'm marking are lampreys!

[ Post made via Android ]

[wheelingmike]

I really believe the lampreys are in schools out there. The fish can't stand a chance at this rate. The eels must be killing just about every fish around with the numbers that are being reported. Has anyone else besides me reported this issue to the DEC & or fisheries?

[stinger]

The fishing on Cayuga has been fair at best this year. My numbers and weights are way down. The derby weights were way down too. I firmly believe the lampreys are the problem. I was out Sunday and they were on every rigger ball and even on the transom. I'm even wordering if the fish I'm marking are lampreys!

Ditto

[DtD]

Well, maybe, simple is too easy. See DtD on lamprey. We were on our honeymoon on the St Croix River in Maine. The roasted eel and the bass chowder were elegant and the wild watercress and fiddle head salad were exceptional ! Who has time for this whimpey stuff. Gotta get to the puffballs in the fridge and go for some duxelles for the scrambled eggs tomorrow. ( Boy I think some smoked lamprey would be great with them )

[Neo1945]

If you think they actually school ... it would be a interesting idea to send down the camera and GoPro 'em !!!!!!!

[hermit]

If anyone knows where they spawn in the inlet I'd be happy to go down next spring and do some cleanup... tried to find them a few years back but couldn't. Any tips?

I haven't been out for a few years but I agree with the others above, fishing this year wasn't the same as it was in the recent past.