DEC Announces "State Of The Western Finger Lakes" Fisheries Meetings

[BSmaster]

Hello,
The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation has issued the following press release:

DEC Announces "State Of The Western Finger Lakes" Fisheries Meetings Meetings to Cover Seneca, Keuka, Canandaigua, Honeoye, Hemlock, Canadice and Conesus Lakes

As part of Governor Cuomo's NY Open for Fishing and Hunting Initiative, the public will have the opportunity to discuss the Western Finger Lakes fisheries at three upcoming public meetings in February and May, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced today.

The February meetings will concentrate on the fisheries of Seneca, Keuka and Canandaigua lakes, while May meeting will focus on the fisheries of Honeoye, Canadice, Hemlock and Conesus lakes.

"These public forums on the State of the Western Finger Lakes provide an opportunity for DEC Fisheries scientists to share their knowledge about the fishery resources," DEC Commissioner Joe Martens said. "Governor Cuomo supports these efforts to provide excellent opportunities for interested anglers to interact with the managers who study these fisheries. Our staff is committed to sound management of the Finger Lake's fisheries resources and strives to maintain high-quality angling opportunities and the associated economic benefits they support."

The Finger Lakes and their tributaries support thriving populations of fish, including a variety of trout and salmon, bass, walleye, yellow perch, panfish and esocids. Seneca, Keuka, Canandaigua, Honeoye, Canadice, Hemlock and Conesus lakes comprise more than 73,000 acres, and a 2007 statewide angler survey estimated more than 883,000 angler days spent on these Finger Lakes. The estimated value of these fisheries exceeded $12 million to the local New York economy.

Meeting dates and locations are:

Tuesday, February 25, 2014: 6:30 p.m. - 10 p.m. at Stage 14 in the Student Center at Finger Lakes Community College's main campus, 3325 Marvin Sands Drive, Canandaigua, (Ontario County). Marvin Sands Drive is located off Lakeshore Boulevard. Ample parking is available. For directions and a campus map, visit: http://flcc.edu/directions/.

Thursday, February 27, 2014: 6:30 p.m. - 10 p.m. at the Watkins Glenn High School auditorium, 12th Street, Watkins Glen, (Schuyler County).

Tuesday, May 20, 2014: 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. ELIM Bible Institute's Tab Chapel, 7245 College Street, Lima (Livingston County).

DEC fisheries biologists will provide updates on the status of trout and salmon fisheries, warmwater fish, fishing regulations, sea lamprey control and DEC's Angler Diary Program. There will be time allotted at the end of each scheduled program for the audience to interact with the presenters.

In conjunction with these meetings, DEC will host an Angler Diary Program quality Control meeting prior to each meeting from 6 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. All current Angler Diary Keepers and anyone interested in joining the program are invited to attend.

Governor Cuomo's Open for Fishing and Hunting Initiative is an effort to improve recreational activities for in-state and out-of-state sportsmen and sportswomen and to boost tourism opportunities throughout the state. This initiative includes the streamlining of hunting and fishing licensing and reducing license fees, improved access for fishing at various sites across the state, stocking as much as 900,000 pounds of fish, expanding fishing clinics and increasing hunting opportunities in various regions. Through these efforts, New York has become a premier destination for bass fishing tournaments at the Great Lakes, Finger Lakes, Lake Champlain and Oneida Lake.

In support of this initiative, Governor Cuomo this year has proposed the creation of 50 new land access projects, which will connect hunters, anglers, bird watchers and others who enjoy the outdoors to more than 380,000 acres of existing state and easement lands that have gone untapped until now. These 50 new access projects include building new boat launches, installing new hunting blinds and building new trails and parking areas. In addition, Governor Cuomo included $4 million for hatchery upgrades in this year's Executive Budget.

[BSmaster]

I have never attended any of these meetings for state of the lake(s).  I think I can make one of these.  Is it worthwhile?

[Trouthunter]

I WILL BE THERE AS I HAVE ALOT TO SAY . HOPE TO BE ABLE TO PUT IN A WORD OR TWO

[zackblain]

Really wanted to try and make it to the canadice/hemlock/honeoye one but I have chemistry lab til 9 on tuesdays. Anyone on here planning on going?

[Bigfoot]

Reminder, the meeting at Canandaigua is Tuesday night (tomorrow) and the Watkins Glen meeting is Thursday night.

[Sk8man]

Hope there is a decent turn out tonight.....

[livewire]

How about Cayuga Lake?

 

Will there be a Eastern Finger Lakes meeting in the future?

Edited February 25, 2014 by livewire

[Bigfoot]

The Eastern Finger Lakes (Cayuga, Owasco, Otisco, and Skaneateles) meetings were held last winter.

[paman]

Hope there is a decent turn out tonight.....

Plan on being there. Hope there is some official info on why the smelt population has been decimated.

[Playin Hookey]

I went to the eastern lake meeting last year and I feel that they need to have a one more to deal with the lampry problem in cayuga lake.

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[Bigfoot]

Last I knew, DEC was planning on treating Cayuga Inlet this year to control the large

2011 age class of lampreys. The adult lampreys in the lake will pass from the system

this year- either because they are captured and destroyed at the fishway, or because

they spawn and die.

I don't have any idea what purpose a meeting would serve at this point.

[Sk8man]

I went to the meeting last night and although a lot of charts were presented capably by some good guys from DEC I didn't feel that I had found out any significant NEW information. A lot of serious questions remain such as: what can be done about the fleas, the zebras and quaggas, and why aren't rainbows, landlocks and browns being caught in any numbers on Keuka,and what has happened to the browns in Canandaigua, what has happened to the smelt, and the status of baitfish populations etc. It was also admitted that they may have been premature in imposing the 1 rainbow limit on Canandaigua as recent data suggests a strong population right now. It was also noted that their are too many lakers in the fishery right now. The fact that the money in the Conservation Fund ($40 million)is being held up by Albany was also noted as well as the need for funds for projects within the total DEC- not just the fisheries program. It was extremely clear that their decision making process regarding stocking etc.hinges almost totally on diary cooperator information and that they need as much VALID information as possible but are concerned about having enough diary cooperators recording info.  It is a bit disconcerting that they are so dependent on "subjective" reporting information though. I had previously kept diaries for Seneca, Keuka, Canandaigua and Cayuga for about 25 years and then opted out for a variety of reasons one of which was some"questionable" reporting of the data. I overheard a fisherman (during a derby) say he just estimated all the data at the end of the season rather than recording as he went along (as he should have with actual measurements and data). I was pretty disgusted so I quit doing the diaries. Last night I re-evaluated that decision in light of the need for accurate data that was expressed and it's importance to the decision making process and I signed up again. I would encourage any of you who might be"on the fence" about it to do it too. The decisions that are made however are only as good as the collected data so it is imperative that folks are accurate and consistent in their recording of it.

 

There was also some discussion about problems with Catherine's Creek "washing out" and habitat deterioration there. Lamprey treatment efforts for Catherine's and the Keuka Outlet were also discussed and the problem with the lampreys in Cayuga was briefly touched upon and it was noted that treatments were intended for this year.

 

I know there were others from LOU there so jump in with additional stuff that you felt important that I didn't mention.

 

P.S. There weren't many empty seats at the meeting...pretty good showing of interest....but also noted not many YOUNG people which is a concern as far as the future goes....

Edited February 26, 2014 by Sk8man

[hermit]

Thanks a lot for the summary!  I too have been on and off with the diaries and one factor is it's a bit of a pain, especially on busy days.  I found the best thing (for me, anyway) was to have a voice-recording pen along.  Catch a fish, measure it, record on the pen.  It was easier than trying to keep track of paper, and I never brought the diary itself along in case of an accident so I was always trying to deal with all these pieces of paper.  The voice recorder did make it easier.  Making stuff up at the end of the season can't be helpful for the DEC, better to not do it at all!

 

As for all the good questions you mentioned, I think many of them don't have solutions or are expensive to try to answer.  Nothing can be done about the fleas or the mussels, they're here to stay.  And now the gobies too.  The other questions like browns in Canandaigua would probably require a lot of time and effort (money) to figure out.  Trying to get the money to the DEC is a great first step I think.  They are very understaffed and underfunded as we all know.  

 

I also think the 1 rainbow limit is a good experiment- see what happens.  Maybe Canandaigua didn't NEED it, but it could change a good fishery into an outstanding one.  Having this limit on a lake with a decent rainbow population, alongside the more troubled lakes, can only be a good thing as far as data goes. It can always be changed back in the future.

Edited February 26, 2014 by hermit

[Sk8man]

All good points hermit. I forgot to mention that someone asked about putting the diary info online and they said that they have been considering it but their IT folks have reservations regarding security of their network....

Edited February 26, 2014 by Sk8man

[Bigfoot]

We really need to increase the number of diary cooperators. With limited participation the biologist just aren't getting accurate data to base their management decisions on.

On Keuka Lake for instance, diary keepers only (as I recall) reported 9 rainbow trout. I know for a fact that two of the guys that operate charters on the lake took (and for the most part released) at least 60 rainbows last year. So,in this case the data that DEC receives does not reflect the state of the lake. On the other hand, they didn't have any better luck with browns and landlocks than anyone else.

[FLXTroutman]

I wanted to attend the meeting but was unable so thanks sk8man for listing the topics of discussion.  I will join the diary program again as I had participated one year and kept good records and then we added a child to our family and my trips were fewer and I kept terrible records, since I was just glad to get out and fish. 

I am curious about the browns as I have fished Canandaigua for 10 years since I relocated to the area.  I have caught a few good sized fish trolling over the years, but only one dink last season and none the prior 2 seasons.

I remember the Canandaigua Trout Derby a few years back before they changed the format ( 3 or 4 years ago), the top 5 fish placed were all browns caught by still fishing with sawbellies.  No doubt they were hawgs and probably wall hangers but they had to be breeders that were taken out of the system.  Unless of course the DEC says the browns don't naturally reproduce as they say with the lake trout.  Perhaps the browns have become more weary of the fishing pressure concentrating on the abundance of bait which I seem to see year in and year out.  Also as Bigfoot stated the numbers of anglers providing data for any of the lakes can be incomplete due to the number of anglers not providing data.  I know after seeing tg8's picture of a burbot last fall caught on Canandaigua I will be doing more jigging this summer attempting to catch one of those fish.  And I will do my part to keep every lake trout I catch and give them a good smoking and provide fillets to my neighbors family.

[Smells Fishy]

 Sk8man what do you do to keep a diary? measure and weigh? do you report after every trip? anything else?

[Sk8man]

It has been awhile but you list the species, length, weight, body of water, date, any fin clips and where located, number of hours fished etc. If you contact the Region 8 DEC office in Avon they can set you up with the little record booklet just let them know which lakes you are interested in (separate book for each lake). This data s recorded after each trip as accurately as possible. One of the difficulties is in encountered when you release fish in terms of weight but if you do a quick length measurement you can closely estimate approximate weight by using the weight chart in the DEC syllabus (Official Regulations Guide). Les

Edited February 27, 2014 by Sk8man

[Smells Fishy]

Ok Les I will definitely get in touch with them.. thanks for the help. -Andy

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[Trouthunter]

YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT A BROWN IS A DIFFERENT FISH THEN A LAKER OR RAINBOW THEY ARE A EDGE FISH MEANING THAT THEY LIVE ALONG THE EDGE OF DROP OFF SO IF YOU WANT THEM THAT IS WERE TO FISH  I HAVE FISHED THESE FINGER LAKES FOR 35 YEARS & THAT IS WHERE THEY ARE CAUGHT

[ERABBIT]

Here is the contact page on the web for all of them ............

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7927.html

Edited February 27, 2014 by ERABBIT

[Sk8man]

It is true that browns in the Finger Lakes have a little different habits than some of the other trout species but many of us fish specifically for a given species such as rainbows and browns on Canandaigua for example and we have had good success in the recent past in catching big healthy browns with our methods. As Flx Troutman has said up to about three years ago we were getting them but the last two years I caught just 2 sub legal sized browns using the same methods used for years successfully with "zip" in the way of results....something has definitely happened to them here. I continue to catch rainbows at will (and good ones too) and avoid the lakers most of the time because of the way I set up. I've fished Canandaigua Lake since about 1968 including a lot of night fishing specifically for browns back in the 70's and 80's at the south end and the browns (8 or 10 pounders were no big deal then) are just not here in numbers or size any more. I also used to fish for them on Keuka at Hammondsport and Branchport on Keuka with success but I haven't heard of many caught over there either lately.

Edited February 27, 2014 by Sk8man

[Netbender]

Thanks for updates! I wanted to attend myself, but was unable to make it. I have been on Kueka for the past 7 years. The important questions, as mentioned before need to be addressed a bit quicker it sounds. The stocking program must be a difficult project to manage, I am sure. I have kept a diary every year, and yes, the DEC will need all the data they can get. On the other hand, blaming lack of data over all these years, sounds like a bit of a cop out. I fished Lake O for 15 years prior to landing a cottage on Keuke. I watched the Salmon fishing go bust, do to false records and bad stocking, only to come back better then ever, with hard work and actions taken.

Has anyone talked to or has the DEC every thought about cage stocking in the FL's? Might offer a better return on percentage of fish reaching adulthood.

Thanks again for the updates. I hope the conversations continue and we can keep an organized effort to increase everyone's joy and usage of these lakes.

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[Sk8man]

I should mention also that it was apparent to us that the DEC guys are pretty overwhelmed by the magnitude and complexity of the problems facing them in getting a handle on what's going on in the Finger Lakes right now. They have severe budget and staffing restraints imposed by the "out of touch" and largely incompetent legislature and Governor. They are spread very thin and without money allocated to fund new projects so to the degree that we can give them some assistance (i.e information etc.) and vocal support (letters to our legislators to push them) it helps to look at this in the sense that "we are all in this together".

[justtracytrolling]

Spot on Sk8man! Managing anything requires record keeping and data. The problem here is the managers dont have the budget to collect data on a large enough scale to be effective. We on the other hand, are already doing the research we just have to report our catches. Personally I feel the captains/guides should be the biggest source of data as they fish the most and catch the most. I have found the region 7 people to be very helpful, and encourage everyone to participate in the angler diary program, or stop complaining!

Justin

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