Seneca perch

[Ray4852]

I think 25 fish limit per angler is a good days catch. We have people that want to take out 100 perch and more and sell them for profit.

[tiogafishaddict]

Yeah I understand. .. but maybe stop the selling on some of the finger lakes... but the dec will do what they do. They still do a better job then pa.

[jcrow75]

Has anyone been to Sampson lately? I'm thinking about that for the weekend at some point.

[FishingTheFL]

Elbow to elbow and no one was catching last weekend.

[justtracytrolling]

The perch in that specific area dont stand a chance....sad

[Sk8man]

The reason nobody is catching is because  the unreal fishing pressure has cleaned them out ....especially with some of the baboons keeping the 5 or 6 inch fish there. Way too much pressure (open water and ice) for such a small confined area.....really too bad to see it spoiled after over 50 years fishing out there.

[reeldilemma33]

Social media you think Les? People not wanting to walk out on Cayuga? Mix of both? Wonder why the fishing pressure all of a sudden?

Odd and sad

[reeldilemma33]

Wanting to walk on Cayuga by which I mean just lazy?

[FishingTheFL]

Cayuga hasn't had much of chance to freeze. When it has, it didn't look very thick or when I gets thick enough we get a day like today where it is 50°. I wanted take my canoe over to Union Springs but didn't get an answer if I could get out there in a canoe. Might be to shallow. Wishing my main boat would float... But its going to be awhile before it warms up to do fiber glass

[Captain Jim]

The north end of Cayuga Lake was absolutely ice free about a week and a half ago. I seriously doubt if the ice is safe.

[reeldilemma33]

Yeah thanks guys I was saying in years past...

[reeldilemma33]

Sampson has been literally elbow to elbow

[FishingTheFL]

Yeah you think somebody was catching something lol

[Captain Jim]

We took a ride to Sampson park about 10:30 this morning. There were only three vehicles there. None of the appeared to be perch fishing, as they were all sitting in their trucks.

Also noted that the launch area was open and had no ice.

[rolmops]

Let us all post negative reports or no reports at all. Maybe some bad pollution rumor including fish with cancerous growths may lessen the pressure. Heck ,we should post some negative stuff about the health effects of our fish on a Russian or Ukrainian  language website. Add to that some cooked up stories of fish poachers being badly beaten up and thrown in the freezing water by local vigilantes and we may make a difference.

[FishingTheFL]

Don't have to lie... there is few fish there. If you got endless hours and 4 to 5 days a week to spend there... you might get a few to stick in the freezer... get a boat, go look for them and then that guarantees nothing.

[Ray4852]

No way a fisherman is going to fish out this fishery. Seneca perch are very prolific. You will never catch perch in clear cold water. Water must be cloudy to catch perch here. The best fisherman on this lake is the cormorant. They do a lot of damage. I watch them during the fall. They flock up heavy off long point. This bird can dive down 50ft to get a meal. Perch fishing is a winter fishery. This lake is very hard to fish because its a north south lake. A little wind on this lake makes fishing very hard to do. You cant feel them bite down 50ft when the wind is blowing 10 mph. When you see them elbow to elbow fishing off the Sampson wall. I sit in my car and have my hot tea and laugh at these people. Its like going to the circus and watching the lions and tigers play.

[lakebuster]

[lakebuster]

Found some at the park in Geneva

[Sk8man]

No way a fisherman is going to fish out this fishery. Seneca perch are very prolific. You will never catch perch in clear cold water. Water must be cloudy to catch perch here. The best fisherman on this lake is the cormorant. They do a lot of damage. I watch them during the fall. They flock up heavy off long point. This bird can dive down 50ft to get a meal. Perch fishing is a winter fishery. This lake is very hard to fish because its a north south lake. A little wind on this lake makes fishing very hard to do. You cant feel them bite down 50ft when the wind is blowing 10 mph. When you see them elbow to elbow fishing off the Sampson wall. I sit in my car and have my hot tea and laugh at these people. Its like going to the circus and watching the lions and tigers play.

 

What I was referring to when I said the perch were cleaned out concerns inside the marina itself. There has been intense fishing pressure on the perch there for months and some folks sell them so they don't toss ANY back.  It is accurate that they are harder (but not impossible) to catch in clear shallow water and that they prefer cloudy water. To think that perch are a fail proof and unlimited resource is a mistake. One  of the things that makes perch popular is also the very weak link in the viability of their numbers and that is the fact that they are a "schooling" fish. Their vulnerabilities can be easily exploited when they become vulnerable and human greed comes into play (or even the cormorants for that matter). For a good part of the season they are dispersed throughout their habitat in smaller groups but in the Fall and Spring they school up in sometimes massive numbers in very contained or dense spots e.g. when spawning or shortly beforehand.  There are still somewhat large numbers of perch throughout the lake but the question is :"Will this remain so?"  The numbers certainly are not what they were years ago and there are many reasons for this ranging from compromises to their spawning and feeding habitats (mussels clogging up the areas, predation of spawn by alewives, lack of cover from less dense weed growth etc.). Add to this increased fishing pressure for a variety of reasons (e.g. bass and pike fishing deterioration, allowable sale of perch and perhaps increased awareness of this, and a host of other things).  All these things are combining to place their numbers in jeopardy and like everything else in life their numbers are not truly infinite despite the assumptions that many folks make. To think that perch fishing will remain good or even viable if this continues year after year is asking for real disappointment.  It appears to be a good time to re-evaluate the 50 daily limit as well as the ability to sell perch commercially on the Finger Lakes.  Nobody is going to be eating more than 25 perch in a sitting so why not make that the daily limit?  These limits also need to be rigorously enforced as well as they aren't currently and there is a lot of fish being kept in excess of the current limit. I know this idea may not be popular with some folks especially those benefiting from the personal gain from the sale of a publicly owned resource but it would be nice if our children and grand children could enjoy the same quality of fishing that some of their forefathers have enjoyed.

Edited February 21, 2016 by Sk8man

[lakebuster]

I agree with lowering the daily limit! And I think it would be a good idea for a size restriction. Maybe 9 inches like crappie. By the time the right people start realizing these things need to be talked about, it will be to late. The sight of Sampson last year was sick. and it's sad to hear about people getting knifes pulled on them for a fish!

[justtracytrolling]

Over fishing can and has wiped out large fisheries, and by large i mean ocean, Seneca isnt an infinite resource. As Les said when fish school to spawn they are extremely vulnerable which is why many species are protected during this time. Even if the perch population isnt falling what would it hurt to cut back in some manner just to insure the future.

[flyrod2]

Les is right on when he talks about the combination of things. The one thing that is difficult to control is invasives. So when we see invasives we need to make adjustment to those things we have control over.Simply managing fisheries post alwife has been a challenge. Limit reductions, eliminate the selling and request more enforcement to put the greedy ones on notice are some of things that can be controlled. If we can eliminate a couple problems often the fishery can survive some issues. Some think that they bought a "catching" license instead of a "fishing". Friend of mine in fishing retail listens to talk when some come in to store and and guys are not shy about bragging of overlimiting or keeping sub legal. They truly think those regs are not for them. We are working on the selling issue as we speak, but unfortunately we missed out on any reg changes as DEC just came out with new proposals. They do however have the power to put in emergency regulations

[BP Swing]

So how do we put into play with the DEC reducing the limit and more importantly eliminating the commercial harvesting of these fish? Also more enforcement should be happening. Whats the first step to take other than convincing ourselves on here? Somehow this should be brought to the DECs attention. If each person calls or writes the DEC, maybe they will get the hint. Do they care though since these are not Trout? (its the only thing they care about it seems)

[flyrod2]

Most all of DEC is in favor of stopping the selling of perch. There are a few fisheries guys in north country who get grief from some of those who like to sell. Overwhelm them with calls and they can send that on up chain. Sometimes noise from constituents carries more weight in Albany and gives regional crew some ammo. The selling ban need to come from legislation in ENCON law, so contacting representatives a must. We have a meeting in early April with Assembly representative and hope to start bill process. Now is the time.