Couple days on the Susky...

[Sluggo / NY]

Finally got the little boat down on the river. A bit disappointing, considering that the river conditions look ideal. I just couldn't find fish! I got three keepers the other afternoon and two today. It sure was nice to be out there in a short sleeve shirt though! That's probably it for me till the season opens back up in May. Almost time to get the big boat rigged and ready. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

[justtracytrolling]

Same thing here for me Chris! None of my contacts are doing anything special either as of last night.

[nysprint]

Hey guys I haven't gotten out yet but I know a bunch of guys that have been and everyone says same thing. One here one there not the norm.

[stealhead4748]

Its been a weird year for sure... Ive been going every single day and catching quite a few but its been either going a at like 5am and hitting them till it starts getting light or heading down right at dark and hitting them from about 6:30 till 8... I've always just used bucktails and though they have been working some the bulk of the fish I've been getting have been on #6 rippin raps. But during the daylight hours its been way to hit or total miss.

[justtracytrolling]

Ive only been going at night and have really only used big stuff...13 cm and up and suckers, but normally we get more big fish than we are getting fish! A few over 24 inches but mostly hammer handles. Im sure i could jig up a fish or two in several spots but the spots i associate with bigger fish in winter are slow...and to be honest im not trying hard to find em. Gonna try otisco this weekend.

[bulletbob]

 Its only my opinion, but something  seems  amiss in the S River.. The walleyes are there, but past few  seasons, I have caught a lot less fish, in a lot more time.. I talk to a lot of fishermen in the stretch from Owego down to Barton, and the story  is always the same.. Just not seeing the numbers we used to..

 Seeing a lot fewer fishermen as well past 2-3 years.. The thing that worries me the most is the lack of small "spike" walleyes, less than about 10 inches.. I used to catch dozens of them some days... Got sick of looking at them.. Past 2 years i don't think I have seen more than maybe 2 or 3... maybe I'm all wet, and just going on the wrong days, or losing my modest angling skills, but boy, I used to catch 4 times the walleye I do nowadays.. past  couple years have been pretty tough, and if I get 1 or 2 in an early evening till dusk session or at dawn till 8 am, I consider it a good trip... Lots of skunks for myself and those around me past few years...  Water looks fine, don't know what happened.. If anything... bob
 

[justtracytrolling]

X 2 for me bob!... stealhead has considerable more time on the river though than me and he is exceptional at jigging river eyes so the term results will vary applies here!!! How long has it been since you caught that monster tiger on light line (4lb?) stealhead....20+? Post a pic

[BSmaster]

I fished the west end (Chemung and tribs) and there was nothing biting - a lot of dead gizzard shad in the water so I headed east.  I never catch a bite when there is dead forage in the water.  Saw a bunch of suckers in Elmira trying to get over the dam and I thought that was weird.  It got me thinking that maybe the eyes were spawning and the bite definitely goes down when that happens.  Went to Vestal and Whitney and had a pick up and a follow but nothing to show for it and no one else around me was doing anything either.  The water looked really good too.  Again, It got me thinking that they might just be spawning already.  As far as the lack of juveniles - yes I have noticed the decline a few years ago on the west end.  (won't speculate).

[bulletbob]

 I am not speaking of the past week or so, before the season closed.. More along the lines of thinking historically.. I moved to Candor from NJ in 1991, and started fishing the river then.. Honestly I knew nothing about Walleyes, being a salt water guy.. However, it was NO problem for many years getting a couple keepers and a dozen shorts on any evening I decided to go in the spring and fall into winter, and I knew nothing about the river...  many nights I would keep  a couple, or one, or none, and then start releasing nice fish because I knew they would always be there.. no problem for years.. If  it was slow on fri night, saturday would make up for it..  I think around 2011 or so, I really started noticing the changes.. Lot fewer spikes, and many nights without a hit, not only for myself, but for every one of the other "locals".. I am  no expert of course, just a guy that likes catching Walleyes on small plastic jigs, but It seems to me I noticed the downturn in numbers after the big floods we had, first in 2006, and then after the  2011 event , it was much worse...
Who knows??.. I am not gloom and doom.. Maybe in 8 weeks we will have the best spring  river walleye fishing we have seen in 25 years..  We can only hope.... bob

[Nautitroller]

Those were epic floods. Many pollutants were put into the watershed. I had a job on the river helping a survey crew plot the river bottom by the sewage treatment plant in Vestal this past year. Honestly I will never eat another fish out of that river. There is a section below the plant where they discharge that was totally void of all life. The black sludge with bits of TP smelled terrible and killed everything! I used to love to walleye and catfish there. Now, not so much!

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[Charlie P]

It was tough that is for sure. I fished about three days a week most of the late fall winter,wasn't good at all

 

I'll post the pictures soon on here that I sent to both Lupardo and Ashkars office as soon as I can, the amount of toilet paper coming down the river was unbelievable.

[justtracytrolling]

I reported the situation to the DEC repeatedly until they told me to stop. I was told the sewage treatment facility is doing the best they can. The flood is the reason we have fishing that is a little off imo. Like Bob said though i think it will rebound and i think we are simply on a downcycle.

[Charlie P]

Here is a few photos.

 

First one is before I dropped the basket in the water the second is after 30 minutes, the other one if you enlarge it you can see the paper in the water.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Charlie P

[Charlie P]

Few more. Jig was after one cast. I did catch a 6 lber that day, but you can't tell me that amount of crap coming down the river is good for the eco,system.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Charlie P

[bulletbob]

 That is absolutely awful.. Not to mention sickening, disgusting, putrid,stinking ,etc... bop

[stealhead4748]

Justin I'm sure I've got that picture stuffed away somewhere. Man that was a long time ago. I still feel bad for keeping that fish..

[justtracytrolling]

We all get older and maybe we see our own mortality, but in any case its common to question what we kill and why. Nothing wrong with being predator...i ate everything i caught back then...and dont feel a bit bad. On the other hand I had one die on me because we took too many pics, and even though we ate it Im still bothered by it...

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