Good article on Seneca Lake fishing

[cransy]

http://www.fltimes.com/news/something-s-fishy-seneca-lake-anglers-worried-about-lower-fish/article_ff95a77a-40b6-11e6-afb5-d3d339d2f86f.html

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[Pete Collin]

What a shame.  Seneca was on fire when I got into lake fishing 10 years ago.

[Frogger]

Definitely an impact to the fisheries somewhere. I'll have to look back a couple of years ago after a derby someone asked why we were releasing breeder lakers we caught during it to let them fight another day, the person said the lake had too many and we needed to cull the population. Mmmmm. Well consider it culled I guess.

[bulletbob]

  Its due to the Round Goby, no question.. This year in Cayuga, I have caught ONE sunfish.. one... After several times trying.. Same last year... The Gobies eat everything in thier paths.. there is NO way any native fish can protect their nests or newly hatched young.. Go to a clear water area in Seneca or cayuga, a few feet deep, and drop a few worms in.. Instantly it is attacked with lighting speed from every direction by hundreds of Gobies.. not one or two, but hundreds.. Saw it myself several times last year.. Its only my opinion, and I hope I am wrong,  but I think Perch, Sunfish, Rock Bass, Pike, Pickerel , suckers, and Black Bass will be close to extinct in the Seneca/Cayuga complex in 10 years or less.. They simply can't compete, and can't protect their nests from the unrelenting attacks.. I have seen it on Youtube- a sunfish bravely trying to ward off hundreds of gobies from devouring its egss.. It simply could not do it.. If it turned to the left, the ones on the right would grab eggs until they were all gone... I am SO saddened by the fact that I can't even take my 3 year old grandson fishing on these lakes with a bobber and worm for sunnies, perch and rockies.. Tried several times, and we caught nothing but "those stupid Gobies" as my little grandson Landon calls them.

 Years ago i would stand on shore at cayuga and catch hundreds of fish with a tiny jig tipped with a little piece of worm, big massive Bluegills, foot long perch and rock bass, and so many big Smallmouths, you would get sick of looking at them.. I'll never see fishing like that again.. it started with the Zebras, and when the Gobies came, it was the end.. RIP Finger Lakes.. at least the ones that those wretched Gobies can get into... bob

[Never Ends]

I have caught more fish in the last 5 years on Seneca than i have in the last 33 years.

Starting 3 years ago i started to notice more bait fish than ever and this year it is unreal.

I have never seen so many LL Salmon on the south end than i have seen this year.

The Derby winner this year was a record breaker.

The Salt plant has been around for 100 years. 

The same 7 wineries have owned all the grapes for the last 50 years.

 

I love reading those articles as i love basically having that lake to myself when i am out fishing because people think the lake sucks for fishing.

The lake is a challenge, which is why i love it.

[Sk8man]

The article is an appropriate one and it hints at the central issue when Seneca is discussed and that is "complexity". There are folks that believe that the lake is dying and others who suggest that there is nothing wrong whatsoever ....that it is only a "cyclical" minor downturn. I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. There is a complex change or set of changes going on out there; some of which may be natural processes (e.g. gradual eutrophication or gradual change in the type of lake water/underlying bottom structure such as siltation  and vegetation  structure associated with changes in warming of the water and/or chemical structure such as  availability of bio-limiting factors such as nitrogen or phosphates). The article mentions numerous additional man introduced factors which may hasten the eutrophication process as well as other things which may be offshoot issues and theintroduction of invasives with yet unknown ramifications . Despite the dire forecasts Seneca is far from dead and I do remember folks pronouncing Lake Erie dead only to rise from the "ashes"  and become a very viable fishery.

It also does appear that some form of change needs to occur inthe way the periphery of the lake is used to curb obvious run off such as fertilizer and animal waste from farming, the introduction of pesticides and nitrogen containing chemicals such as lawn fertilizers as well as pest control products containing  toxins known to kill fish.  I see a lot of this same thing on Canandaigua Lake as well and it is frustrating as well as dangerous as some of these chemicals or their constituents remain in the drinking water and are not taken out by the treatment process.

 

Seneca Lake does not "suck" for fishing but it has become more difficult to fish and especially for folks unfamiliar with the lake and the habits of the fish. Changes are certainly occurring in the lake  but I don't believe anyone yet has a handle on exactly what is going on out there or the potential impact over the next few years let alone the future. For those folks unfamiliar with the lake I'd suggest doing a charter with either Nick http://www.reelstoriesfishingcharters.com/index.html or Sean http://www.reelhookedup.com  to get a good feel of the lake and  some tips to improve your fishing experience.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Sk8man

[Keep'n it Reel]

I have caught more fish in the last 5 years on Seneca than i have in the last 33 years.

Starting 3 years ago i started to notice more bait fish than ever and this year it is unreal.

I have never seen so many LL Salmon on the south end than i have seen this year.

The Derby winner this year was a record breaker.

The Salt plant has been around for 100 years.

The same 7 wineries have owned all the grapes for the last 50 years.

I love reading those articles as i love basically having that lake to myself when i am out fishing because people think the lake sucks for fishing.

The lake is a challenge, which is why i love it.

if you are saying that salmon fishing on the southend is better this year then it has been, than my hat is off to you sir. I for one have noticed a huge decrees in them, are they still there yes but I know for a fact 3 summers ago could fish a evening for 4 hours and get 4-5 in the 6lb class and a bunch smaller and also some bigger. Now I fish it for 8 hours and hope to catch a few salmon. I don't have the 20 plus years of experience fishing on that lake like some do but I can say in my last 10 years of fishing it hard, it's changed a lot. And I agree that we see a bigger better class of fish in the last 2 summers my boat has seen multiple lakers 14+ pounds Browns from 10-14 pounds 2 rainbows that were over 12 and a salmon that I won't even put a number on just gonna say big . But with that said I would like to see more smaller fish. And my self along with others did help with lake trout stocking on the southend last year and hope to see that continue for a for years .

Joe

[bulletbob]

I have caught more fish in the last 5 years on Seneca than i have in the last 33 years.

Starting 3 years ago i started to notice more bait fish than ever and this year it is unreal.

I have never seen so many LL Salmon on the south end than i have seen this year.

The Derby winner this year was a record breaker.

The Salt plant has been around for 100 years. 

The same 7 wineries have owned all the grapes for the last 50 years.

 

I love reading those articles as i love basically having that lake to myself when i am out fishing because people think the lake sucks for fishing.

The lake is a challenge, which is why i love it.

 Gobies will not effect stocked Salmonids as much.. They don't compete, and by the time they are stocked they can eat a fish the size of a Goby... Try fishing the shorelines for panfish and bass, and let us know if the fishing is the best its ever been... bob

[lakebound88]

Anyone ever thought maybe the big fish are being caught and seen more often due to the lack of the middle class of fish? Just curious if anyone has the same thought process... fishing has remained steady so far for me, but I have witnessed the decline as to when the fishing begins to pick up and it has definitely pushed later into the year and cuts out a bit sooner as well.

Nick

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[hermit]

This is a good example of why the DEC Angler Diaries are important. Each of us can only fish one spot at a time, and with so many variables it's very hard to say what's happening with one data point. But having as many data points as possible will help NYS figure out what is going on. So even if you only fish a handful of times a year, please consider it!

[Never Ends]

I have "Seen" more LL Salmon this year than any other year on the South end, West Side where they always are. I have caught some as well. More than years past. 

 

I have also caught more Perch, Bass and Bullhead on the east side, off of my wifes dock in the past 2 years than ever before, which prior to 3 years ago i NEVER had any luck there. but now it is plentiful.

 

I dont consider myself an expert Fisherman by any means, im just relaying my experience and what i see/catch etc... (maybe i really sucked in the past and learned a thing or two which is why i am having more success now.... Or....)