Seneca Lake stocking

[FishingTheFL]

I read an article post on Finger Lakes Times web site about how terrible the fishing in Seneca is because how much bait there is. I don't know how true this is tho. I personally have never seen a bait school as big as the one in spring on Seneca. Maybe the charter guy was just mad that he wasn't catching as much. More bait the bigger the fish right? Maybe harder to catch but from pics I've seen of fish on Seneca... they seem bigger and healthier

[lakebound88]

Fishing the fl, I was on of the captains mentioned in the article. However, I was not one who stated that. BUT, there is a lot of bait out there, as I mentioned previously, DEC felt there was a shortage, so, with that said, the possibility of lack of catching this year could very well be associated with the small fact if true, lack of bait, lack of stocking efforts means lack of fish to catch, so the ones you do catch are big and healthy. I'm just going based on my 30 plus charter trips and an easy 80 trips in a season on the lake... I could be wrong...

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[Sk8man]

The "balancing act" that Seneca performs (along with the other Finger Lakes and Great Lakes) is truly a precarious one and the effectiveness of it depends on many factors - some within the control of humans and some not. All of these bodies of water are experiencing problems and stress. My first fishing encounter with Seneca occurred in July of 1949 when I caught my first smallmouth black bass in the Yacht Club bay at the north end and since that time I've seen many ups and downs in the fishing. At that point in time you could see all sorts of fish of various sizes swimming around in the water right from shore....not so anymore. In the mid to late seventies it took around 6 hours to catch a legal salmonid and when the stocking effort increased the fishery for trout at least rebounded very noticibly and with some fluctuations since it has remained a viable fishery up to the introduction of the invasives. One of the things that I find a striking difference in these lakes (I have fished all of them but Otisco for many years) is the lack or absence of immature fish  of various species (large and smallmouth bass, perch, sunfish and bluegills minnows of various types etc.) around the periphery of the lakes (e.g. near docks, among the rocks and in the grass beds) as these areas used to be packed with small fish. Instead these areas are covered with zebra mussels and appear quite "sterile" and I think this situation is a true indicator of the relative health of the lakes that can be readily viewed firsthand regardless of trawling information for bait or deep water species samples for that matter. The introduction of the invasive species such as Zebras Quaggas fleas etc. in my view has totally changed the very nature of these lakes because they have pretty much wiped out the phytoplankton and zooplankton that the fry and immature fish feed on and the traditional spawning beds for various species have also been contaminated and destroyed  leading to poor reproduction of baitfish and everything above it in the food chain. There may be an occasional cloud of sawbellies and a few distributed or suspended but I still remember seeing bait covering vast areas of the lakes from 150 ft to the surface for the lengths of many football fields.and the bottom covered with what appeared to be rainbow smelt (which have largely disappeared like the canary in the coal mine). When you take out something that basic at the lowest level of the food chain it is disasterous but it takes time to see the full result.  It takes years for this to happen and given the size of these bodies of water (vs. ponds etc.) it appears gradual so the true total effects are not seen right away. It isn't just a matter of the levels of baitfish  present in the lakes either or the predator to bait ratio it is the variety of living organisms available lower in the chain to support everything higher in the food chain.  These major problems and shifts are not going to be solved by just increasing stocking levels alone or even getting a better handle on the predator to bait relationship. Some sort of "restorative" act (s) has to take place in changing back the very nature and water structure of these lakes and this will not be happening anytime soon. Don't be deluded in thinking that just increasing stocking levels or getting the balance of bait to salmonids in balance will solve this situation

Edited October 9, 2015 by Sk8man

[Hookedup]

Good post all of you guys and thanks for helping out Nick. The lake is not what it used to be and most likely never will be. The problem starts miles from the lake with miles of farm land cleared, drain tile laid in every field every 5 yards and millions of tons of liquid crap pumped on the fields hours before thunder storms. Winery's clearing more land spreading fertilizer, pesticides and what not. Then the same hippy A-Holes go protest a LP storage site its a joke. All that crap ends up in the lake. It all starts with the little things you don't notice. And they are all things that will not change. On the scale of what's important to the state the fishery we love will always get trumped by other things its the same with lake O. All we can do is hope the stocking continues and help out where we can. One thing that totally pisses me off is letting everyone bang on the Bows in the small feeder streams that feed the main creek. That's an easy fix close them. Easy to enforce, if you walk out with a fishing rod your arrested, walk out at night and don't own the land arrested. I caught lots of bows on Seneca this year like I usually do but the Laker and Salmon fishing was poor at best.

Edited October 9, 2015 by Hookedup

[Sk8man]

Thanks Sean....very good points and something I too am all too aware of and neglected to mention above. Gee blue-green algae in the lakes? I wonder how that comes about?

Edited October 9, 2015 by Sk8man

[Iron Duke]

Good post all of you guys and thanks for helping out Nick. The lake is not what it used to be and most likely never will be. The problem starts miles from the lake with miles of farm land cleared, drain tile laid in every field every 5 yards and millions of tons of liquid crap pumped on the fields hours before thunder storms. Winery's clearing more land spreading fertilizer, pesticides and what not. Then the same hippy A-Holes go protest a LP storage site its a joke. All that crap ends up in the lake. It all starts with the little things you don't notice. And they are all things that will not change. On the scale of what's important to the state the fishery we love will always get trumped by other things its the same with lake O. All we can do is hope the stocking continues and help out where we can. One thing that totally pisses me off is letting everyone bang on the Bows in the small feeder streams that feed the main creek. That's an easy fix close them. Easy to enforce, if you walk out with a fishing rod your arrested, walk out at night and don't own the land arrested. I caught lots of bows on Seneca this year like I usually do but the Laker and Salmon fishing was poor at best.

X2

COULDN'T AGREE MORE !!

Mike

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[grumpy cat]

Thank you to Captain Nick (Reel Stories) and the crew on Keepin It Reel for taking the time out of their personal lives to try to improve the fiseries for all of us. I for one am glad to hear they put fish in the south end...have they ever done this before? As for those questioning why not Lodi, what is wrong with spreading the wealth? Sounds like you will get yours in the spring. Hurray for that too, more fish for all of us. As for the article that quotes local Captains....who cares if you agree with them or not. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. I know one thing for sure, it seems the catch numbers are down and when these Captains are saying they too aren't getting lakers/salmon like they used to then people should listen. I would think very few of us spend the hours fishing Seneca like Reel Stories and Reel Hooked Up. I'm listening, hopefully DEC is as well.

[ifishy]

so the zebra and quaggas accelerated a process that was started by the clean water act.  the fact that less untreated waste and just less waste overall means the lakes become less productive.  seneca is historically (before industrilization) a low production lake.  it was the excess nutrients phosphorus being a big one that caused the high levels of plankton that led to the large numbers of fish many years ago.  the ecosystem has changed drastically multiple times since.  clearing of the land and lots of drainage ditches full of fertilizer actually has the effect of fertilizing the lake ( which would increase the algae and thus the lowest levels of the food chain that would actully lead to increased baitfish.  the mussels more than mitigate this though and even with more agriculture the overall volume of nutrient loading is way below what it once was.  all this means that long lived slow growing fish tend to top the food chain and desity tends to be low.  lake trout are interesting in that a healthy adult population will prey upon there own young this is one of the reasons they can thrive in low production lakes but the result is a fishery that is very vuanerable to overfishing. that is why catch and release is so big on the major lake trout lakes of the north.  

 

i think seneca is in the middle of another ecosystem change.  I have not personally seen gobys there yet but i'm sure they are around.  I would think there population will explode soon and probably result if a couple of years of slow fishing (lots of easy to catch food around) followed by a noted increases in fish size.

i would be interested to hear from those that fish it more often especially the perch guys has anyone noticed the gobys starting to pop up yet or have they been there for a while and i'm just uninformed (possible)  the lakes stocked this year could find themselfs growing up surrounded by food

[Bigfoot]

Are any of the Catherine stocked rainbows (adipose fin clip) showing up in the Lake catch?

[Keep'n it Reel]

Are any of the Catherine stocked rainbows (adipose fin clip) showing up in the Lake catch?

i have seen some and I also just went back through some pics and looked and a few of the pictures I have also show clipped fish!!!

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[reeldilemma33]

Did they fin clip them? If so which one?

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[lakebound88]

This past season. I only got one stocked bow....

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[Bigfoot]

The stocked rainbows are missing the tiny fin (adipose) on the top of their back just behind the dorsal. I've fished with experienced anglers that failed to notice this clip. It's also been used before in some lakes on lakers in combination with other fin clips.

 

You can be sure that DEC will be looking for this in the angler diaries and the spring electrofishing to see if the rainbow stocking is worth continuing.

[FishingTheFL]

Gotta say it... and I might be venting a bit... but fishing on Seneca sucks. The fish that I have caught there were like dragging a boot in.... and some one stated that when you catch them on Seneca they are bigger... Not true. Maybe the lunkers, if you catch one... but still compared to any other body of water, Seneca gets two thumbs down for all species except perch and Pike... to bad Pike season isn't even open during the best pike fishing...

Mostly venting but I'm in 20 years... Seneca sucks.

[Nautitroller]

Gotta say it... and I might be venting a bit... but fishing on Seneca sucks. The fish that I have caught there were like dragging a boot in.... and some one stated that when you catch them on Seneca they are bigger... Not true. Maybe the lunkers, if you catch one... but still compared to any other body of water, Seneca gets two thumbs down for all species except perch and Pike... to bad Pike season isn't even open during the best pike fishing...

Mostly venting but I'm in 20 years... Seneca sucks.

I hear ya but I disagree a little. Its a huge lake that can have a hot spot here or there or the whole lake can seem void of fish. I always get excited to fish there because of the potential for big, big fish. It can be finicky but overall its an awesome fishery that consistently produces big fish. It's a challenging lake but it doesn't suck.

I should be out there tomorrow I may change my mind on that previous statement,

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[FishingTheFL]

I hear ya but I disagree a little. Its a huge lake that can have a hot spot here or there or the whole lake can seem void of fish. I always get excited to fish there because of the potential for big, big fish. It can be finicky but overall its an awesome fishery that consistently produces big fish. It's a challenging lake but it doesn't suck.

I should be out there tomorrow I may change my mind on that previous statement,

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LoL. Like I said had to vent after morning in the north end both sides deep and shallow. I wasn't the only one out there frustrated, couple others just weren't producing. Plus no bait.

Here is something I did observe.... on the way out just before sunrise, bait was in front of the canal entrance 18 flow with fish. I kept moving assuming they were just perch. Probably should just put a top line out but I was trying to get to deeper water.

On the way in to the dock, it looked like tons and tons of baby trout swarming the area. Lateral line with spots on the back. Maybe cause Seneca plankton is dying off bait is starting to move back in for cover and food supply.

I still can't figure out why my boards won't run with the boat. They seem to be back heavy and front comes out of the water with the weights all the way forward. Even tried boards with 10lbs mono but changed nothing. I put a 45° bend in the tow arm like I read on Blood tackles pro tips. I'll try it tomorrow. A buddy told me to run copper on a board for Brown's but can't get the board to run right... maybe it is... good luck tomorrow. I'm torn between north end of Cayuga by Shady beach or go for a Seneca slob. Chocies....😜

[lakebound88]

I ready to go off. This turned into a bash fest for the lake. Between the PMs ive gotten and the comments on here. It's a wonder I even let people know.

I'm done with this site.

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[ERABBIT]

Nick sorry to hear about all the crap , personally I like your post. BUT do what's best for you.

Take care

[Nautitroller]

Nick sorry to hear about all the crap , personally I like your post. BUT do what's best for you.

Take care

X2 on that statement.

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[reeldilemma33]

People complain... Ahhhh well

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[FishingTheFL]

I think some of the ones you let to in the north end made their way into the state park area. Was loaded with baby trout! Spots on there backs?

There were lots of ducks working on them if my eyes don't lie to me and they were trout. Is it possible team release them later in the year when water fowl have migrated south? It might help the success rate. Another thing is the loons were stacked up on port and starboard side marks exiting the canal picking them off... Just a thought for future generations.

I truly do care about the lake, and glad to see your efforts!

t

[Sk8man]

Nick I think the problem was we got way off topic from your original post and I apologize for  starting the off topic stuff.  You were merely letting us know about the stocking and I think that things drifted off the mark from there but try to keep it in perspective too s*&^t happens and this website is a really good one when we play by the rules and when we don't get caught up in things and go astray. Fishing can be and often is a frustrating activity when folks don't have things dialed in and there can be many reasons for that but the Internet has become the vehicle for venting frustration. I wouldn't lose any sleep over this posting information bud. We enjoy your posts and I for one appreciate you letting us know about the stocking down at that end of the lake.

[TileMan Dan]

Yeah when was the last time any thread on this forum didnt stray from topic at hand. We wonder why the younger generations minds are all over the place.

[grumpy cat]

I ready to go off. This turned into a bash fest for the lake. Between the PMs ive gotten and the comments on here. It's a wonder I even let people know.

I'm done with this site.

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AMAZING...this guy takes time off from his work (job) to do something he thought was helping his fellow fishing friends but gets grief from them on this site. I have read many posts from Captain Nick on the LOU sharing information trying to help new and old fisherman at their craft. Seems to me once again he was trying to do the right thing only to be criticized for it. Thanks to those that have taken his knowledge away from us on the LOU.