My first laker... Very surprised.

BSmaster · January 1, 2015

I caught this on a FL trib. this past Tuesday. It was not the mouth. It was at least a mile up a strong flowing trib. I have heard of this happening but I have never seen it before Tuesday. It went around 7lbs. didn't measure length. ~30in.

Sk8man · January 1, 2015

Looks to me as though he may have been starving given the relatively large head and slender body. Probably there in desperate search for food. Certainly less common for them to be in a trib this time of year when most bait is deep in the lake although they may do it in Spring to get eggs of other fish ( I've found fish eggs in their stomach contents before along with various other things like sunfish, perch, stone cats. and once a small pike).

TileMan Dan · January 1, 2015

That was my first thoughts also, large head relative to rest of body.

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Sean Youngblood · January 1, 2015

My guess would be it is spawned out.

Nautitroller · January 1, 2015

Very cool catch!

Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

lakebound88 · January 2, 2015

Usually signs of malnurished..

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

keukakatch&release · January 2, 2015

I've seen it a lot on Cayuga tribs. The oak used to get a laker push, as well as Oswego.

salmodan · January 2, 2015

Def spawned out. lil pile of loose eggs under its head in the pic

Sk8man · January 2, 2015

It has always been my understanding that lake trout spawn in lakes and often in deep water but I'm not a fisheries biologist either.

TileMan Dan · January 2, 2015

Looked that pic over hard again after all the posts. It very well might be spawned out but its head is large in comparison to the rest of its body even with the lower jaw extended as it is in the pic. I believe it has a malnurishment issue.

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

lakebound88 · January 2, 2015

There is an article online of lakers and the cause of being malnurished. The lack of essential food will cause it. They could eat plenty but I'd the bait they feed on is not supply the nutrients it needs they will have long skinny bodies and large heads. We see many of these. Unfortunately you'll never know. A spawned out fish will still look proportional to the test of the Bodie with just the loose bellies. Instead these malnurished fish look like a sucker on a stick.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

lakebound88 · January 3, 2015

Pretty sure those are not eggs. Def stain on the snow from the fish. Gotta be. Lakers spawn o gravel bottoms in the depths of the lake in September to october.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Frogger · January 3, 2015

From years past with doing fall electroshocking in some of the bigger tribs it was not uncommon to see a laker, a brown, or even a pike make it upstream. I'm not surprised, and I would think the food source being totally different than in the lake, she was starving, insects, minnows, and eggs are not much for a hungry laker that normally feeds on lbs of sawbellys daily. Les and others are spot on with normal spawning occurring out in the lake on the gravel shoals. Not sure if she was released but she would make it back I'm sure.

Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United

Nautitroller · January 3, 2015

I caught a Laker last year that looked somewhat malnourished, opened it up and it had a tube jig in its stomach, no hook just the tube, tough to pass, lol. Could be a bunch of different things. Funny I have also caught Lakers with lower jaw injuries from a previous hook, ( looks like an extra mouth) and they have been healthy, go figure... I wonder if some fish are like people some have higher metabolisms then others, ie fat, thin..

Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

lakebound88 · January 3, 2015

That lower jaw issue is a deficiency in growth. Almost like a tongue out the bottom of jaw right? We got three lakers and a bow like that last year. All fish were healthy. In August we got a laker that's spine looked like an S

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Nautitroller · January 3, 2015

Yes on the tongue out the bottom jaw.

Thats interesting that the hole is a deficiency. I remember your"S" spined Laker.. Do you you know what the deficiency is from? which nutrient?

Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Edited January 3, 2015 by Nautitroller

BSmaster · January 3, 2015

I honestly did not think this would be a hot topic. I will give more info.

I did catch this at a cayuga trib where three weeks earlier I caught numerous parr and smolts. This day I caught one premature fish and had missed this fish or others of the same size.

I kept the fish. Had a cup worth of fresh and very wet and loose eggs which I tied up for my trip to the Oak yesterday. They worked well and would have worked better if the water level is where it should be for this time of year. I do not fish for lakers because I think they are not worth it for fight or fare but my Mom likes them for table fare so I gave her the fish meat and I know several chinese people who love the salmonid heads for soup. When I gutted her I found an empty stomach but as you see the cold kept me from looking too much. I expected to see a little rainbow parr but nothing. I know a guy that fishes a seneca trib and has told me that he has caught every game fish that exists in the lake up the in the stream. Why they run is unknown to me. After seeing shows where fat lakers are cut open and rainbow smolts pop out I really didn't want that eating machine left up there in the spawning grounds. It lacked girth but the head on that flat body was all business.

BTW those are eggs in the pic. The fight was typical head shaking and it was strong. Not that it showed up in the pic but the tail was bigger in porportion as well.

anybody wants specifics PM me. I won't offer more info over the full web.

Joe

BSmaster · January 3, 2015

That lower jaw issue is a deficiency in growth. Almost like a tongue out the bottom of jaw right? We got three lakers and a bow like that last year. All fish were healthy. In August we got a laker that's spine looked like an S

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Nick, I would like to know more about this. I admittedly didn't know what to look for.

lakebound88 · January 3, 2015

Joe, we should meet up sometime. You're just in corning right?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

quality time · January 4, 2015

Ben got one like that ice fishing Owasco that had a 5" plastic grub in its gut. Wes

Tripleduece50 · January 4, 2015

Hey Joe been reading your post for some time.... a while back I put 2 and 2 together and realized I know you. This is Jeremy Smith, I did not realize you were such a stream fisherman. If u ever wanted a partner to join yah let me know I am always up for fishing. I went to Keuka day after Christmas with the boat was a beautiful day to be out. Nick, Joe and I grew up close to each other and still hunt joining properties (small world). Joe how did yah guys make out with those deer? pm me, Jeremy

Salmo slayar · January 4, 2015

Nice fish! Every year the lakers make a decent run on one of the popular cayuga tribs. The run is usualy pretty early in the fall, I want to say early October, but they usually come in before most the salmon, so not a lot of people on the stream that time of year. I think it was 3 or 4 years ago now, but that fall we caught a ton of lakers. W e landed 5 or6 lakers out or a single hole one morning. But they seem to move outof the creeks pretty quick too , I remember one year bumping into a guy who had a couple or lakers on his stringer, he showed me the hole they were laying in and it was packed with fish, but it was almost sunset. I dreampt about those lakers all night, but when I got back to the spot at first light the next morning, not a fish in sight.... Nice fish, and thanks for sharing!

Sent from my ADR6300 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

H

Edited January 4, 2015 by Salmo slayar

Sk8man · January 4, 2015

This thread now has me really thinking.....do the lakers go to the streams looking for food after they spawn (often in November in deeper gravel beds in the lake)? They are definitely "opportunists" in the way they feed and will ingest almost anything so also wondering if they are there scarfing up on the eggs of other fish and smaller fish encountered. I doubt that they spawn in the streams themselves but at this point it is a puzzle for sure. The bait in the Finger Lakes is usually deep right about now so they may have figured an alternate way to feed. It certainly is interesting. This issue points up once again the benefit of this forum for learning....the chances of hearing about this otherwise would be about zero point crap if not discussed here .

Edited January 4, 2015 by Sk8man

Tripleduece50 · January 4, 2015

The lakers I caught on Keuka last week 26th of Dec. had eggs in them so they all are not spawned out?

Sk8man · January 4, 2015

When I mentioned November it was just a representative date because it would not make any adaptive biological sense to have a species all spawn at the same time so that makes sense.

Sign In

Recent Topics

Sponsored Links Your Ad Here

HOT Topics

Quick Links

New York State Fishing

SIGN UP TODAY

Upcoming Events

My first laker... Very surprised.

Recommended Posts

BSmaster

Sk8man

TileMan Dan

Sean Youngblood

Nautitroller

lakebound88

keukakatch&release

salmodan

Sk8man

TileMan Dan

lakebound88

lakebound88

Frogger

Nautitroller

lakebound88

Nautitroller

BSmaster

BSmaster

lakebound88

quality time

Tripleduece50

Salmo slayar

Sk8man

Tripleduece50

Sk8man

Create an account or sign in to comment

Create an account

Sign in