Sampson state park

[final flight]

Drove to samson today (102 miles one way) and reserved a slip for the national lake trout derby, while there I talked to a perch guy and he showed me some pictures of the perch he has been catching.. All I can say is WOW they are pigs!!!!

[Sk8man]

Time for a commentary regarding the perch fishing there.

 

I've fished out there for over 50 years through good times and not so good times. For about 18 or 20 years there was about a dozen or so locals and top notch old timers that knew about the perch fishing there. Before limits were imposed (50 perch now) people used to catch huge garbage bags full of beautiful perch and although a lot of perch were caught most of the guys threw back the large female "spawners" and kept the 10 -12 inchers this practice perpetuated the cycle of returning spawners which kept the life cycle going since perch have a relatively long life span. For the past few years VERY intense fishing pressure has occurred at that particular place most of which has been targeting the perch especially the "jumbos" which are usually the females ripe with eggs. Human behavior is nearly always puzzling in one regard because we humans seem to often think in "magical" terms regarding numbers attached to resources....always thinking or believing that we are dealing with INFINITE quantities of things especially in nature. It is as though these things (e.g. fish)are coming out of a hole in unlimited quantities and will be "replaced" overnight so we return to the same spot day after day and in the meantime bring our "select" friends along and then down the road we wonder what has happened to that resource....must have been the Zebras or Quaggas, or the fleas, or pollution.etc. when in fact the problem is US. We fail to comprehend that it takes YEARS for some species to get up to size. Yes there are many perch in that large lake but there are limited spawning areas nearly all of which have been gravely compromised by the Zebra invasion and egg predation by alewives. I fished my usual spot through the ice onlly once this year but with well over a hundred guys there in that limited area i left disgusted in about an hour people starting up gas augers with only 3 ft or so of water, people using a hole that you had drilled a few minutes before without asking etc. Last week I arrived at 6 AM to find boats lined up to launch and a dozen or so folks already fishing from shore. I counted 47 boats that launched while I was there in the AM and 32 of them were all lined up out in front of the breakwall about 50 ft from each other anchored and not suprisingly I didn't see anything much caught by anyone there. If this kind of pressure continues with folks keeping the spawners etc. there will be nothing left there in a very short time. Pretty sad to see......especially when there are literally hundreds of great perch spots within 5 minutes of the launch...but the herd mentality has taken over as well as greed (keeping the spawners).

Edited April 8, 2015 by Sk8man

[zackblain]

Gotta love the internet

[quality time]

I think 50 fish for a limit is way to high. 15 panfish makes huge fish fry. Greed is what ruins it for everyone. Manitoba has some great fishing because they are mainly catch and release. Rule in my house is to not keep more fish than you can eat in one meal. How many fish end up in the freezer to only end up in the trash.

[lakebound88]

Rollie. Pretty sure you were up this way again the other day with the boat?

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[ifishy]

an interesting thought the herd mentality might actually help if everyone is fishing right on top of each other than the other good perch spots are being left alone.  This might serve to preserve the population.  If the herd moves than the that opens up the previously pounded grouds to recover.  Seneca can be a tough lake to perch fish which only serves to encourage look for boats method which is annoying if your the boat out looking for you own spot.  Now to completely push short sighted selfish politics, the alewives are killing the perch population therefore they must be controlled the best way to do that is to stock kings in seneca  man I would love to see that happen. 

[yellowgold]

Amen to that someone finally flippin said it!  Yes, Sampson has been outta control the last couple years, Helen Keller could catch fish there.  Biggest problem is greed and facebook. People wanna brag about the huge jacks being caught and are not smart enough to release 14+ inch perch.  It doesn't help that the perch are making it stupid easy being so close to the launch/marina/wall. The "meat men" that caught wind through social media from outside the local guys didn't  help either.  Why fight deep snow and long ass walks when you can get outta ur car and catch fish in minutes. Most fisherman realize that 90 percent of the fish are in 10 percent of the water. Without question no other spot on the lake has that concentration at the moment, shallow or deep.   

[ERABBIT]

Just two question, is everyone paying the park free to get in?

Why can they fish in the marina thought all state marina didn't allow it? Lodi is posted and if you are doing it down there when I'm there I will show you the signs and explain about the the possible prop issue.

If everyone is paying for the use of the park that launch there boats I'm fine with that.

If I launch my boat or pay for a slip and get fishing line or other garbage  that may have come from the ice fishing in that marina I would be P.O> big time.

I'm guessing a lot of these guys are selling them which is legal.

So the best thing we as a group could do to slow this down would be to some how get the DEC to make perch a game fish. Then you could still take 50 if that's what you want and the ones selling them would stop or if they get caught pay for it..... One other thing we can do is to inform them like the walleye guys , they know when the eye's in the river or else where that they spawn are stacked up and easy to catch to release the fat heavy females to do there thing.

OK , I'm stepping down off my soap box.....

see ya in the spring Rollie. 

[Silver Fox]

Gotta love the internet

Bingo! And it IS as simple as that. Same thing is happening in the lake Ontario tribs during the fall.

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[reeldilemma33]

Final fight why did you have to drive? They take reservations via phone and have a map on the Internet to show what slips are labelled.

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Edited April 8, 2015 by reeldilemma33

[final flight]

Wanted to check it out, inbetween jobs , bored but didn't want to drag the boat up , and yes nick it was I ran about 12 miles up the lake looking for fish, almost to long point, finally found a few , soooo.... Derby day I'll be a north ender slip # 70 at Samson

[LakerTaker85]

Everyone I know, knows there are perch in Sampson! HAHA

Go get them there's tons lake wide, we will never run out of perch

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Edited April 8, 2015 by LakerTaker85

[potsie225]

Have a closed season for perch during the spawn, let they do for walleye.  I think its Mar 15 to May, like first Sat.

[reeldilemma33]

They also have the best hatch success rate of almost any fish in nys

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[quality time]

I'm in slip 31!

[Sk8man]

LakerTaker that is exactly the mentality I was talking about.... pretty short sighted....

Edited April 8, 2015 by Sk8man

[lakebound88]

Slip 92!!!!

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[lakebound88]

Slip 92. Gonna be a good time!

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[signalman]

That a boy les get after them hog,s,i think I will take my boat down there for the derby change of scenery,see ya soon

[lyk2fish]

_{Well on a positive note, I didnt see or hear about this on the internet. I got in my car and drove 2 hrs and figured it out, why.....because the words Perch and Seneca make people silent when asked, especially you locals. I'll admit I walked on that ice and questioned my sanity when excusing myself between fisherman as I walked out, but you know what...., I got em, and I loved it. and myself and my 74 year old father spent 5 wonderful days on that ice laughing, cursing, and enjoying the memories we created. Till the end we sat on that small section of ice watching more than we caught while boats and pier fisherman didn't have much luck. I could have never had this oportunity by asking anyone here "hows the fishing there". in fact i watched guys blatently lie to other fisherman that were coming on that ice that the fishing was terrible......yes its a circus.....yes its a small space.......yes as you all, i'm discusted over people leaving garbage........but its a public park and everyone has the right to enjoy that resource, and the fish within it. For the first time in my life I caught seneca lake perch........... and loved it!}

[ERABBIT]

Slip 92. Gonna be a good time!

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Thanks NICK ,don,t agree with it but atleast it Ok.

Now anyone know if they are charging to get into the park.

I remenber a big plea on here a few year ago asking for money to fix and repair the docks and slips in Samson.

[Sk8man]

Ed I think the parks (Sampson and Seneca lake at least) haven't historically started charging until some time in May near Memorial Day but given the condition of the roads in those parks and the docks at Sampson they may have to re-evaluate that process but on the other hand the distribution of funds received by the state seldom follows logical distribution . I noticed the other day that they were repairing some of the docks in the marina at Seneca.

 

The fishing has been permitted in both parks until some time in April when the boats start mooring there and I've been told by a number of the workers in those parks over the years that the NO Fishing signs are intended to help the moored boat owners keep their privacy and security rather than being aimed at the prop/line issue.

Edited April 8, 2015 by Sk8man

[justtracytrolling]

Hard to believe how many species are targeted when spawning, but if its legal, easy, and big fish there's gonna be crowds eventually.  I think its great guys are enjoying them, but the state isnt stocking replacements and eventually reproduction wont keep up.  And dont get me started on the subject of selling perch...just takes a big group to say no more...

[reeldilemma33]

Slip 13E

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[Sea-IV]

As I grew up on that lake it has seen its up and downs from flooded cottages where the water was extremely high which wiped the bedding areas out and then there were times when I could cast of the dock and catch them one after the other. Oh and yes the old timers ( my gramps being one of them who guided there) would always make us throw back the big ones and never kept 50 or even close. To this day he goes out and catches 5-6 and that's good for the week. The biggest threat on that lake won't be over fishing, it will be the zebra mussels destroying the bedding areas. This can be noticed with the smallies spawning way deeper than ever and even becoming less popular to catch cause it's almost like they disappeared. Just think of what our kids will catch in 5,10 or 20 years that's all that needs to be thought of. Preservation