Lamoka Outing and Curly Leaf Pond Weed in Waneta Lake This Spring

[muskiedreams]

Lamoka Outing and Curly Leaf Pond Weed in Waneta Lake This Spring

Toothy and I were at Waneta on May 28th, the day after inland musky opener. There was a lot of curly leaf pond weed all the way out to about 10-12 feet. I'm sure some of you were there ans saw this. It was very thick at the north and south ends and tough to cast in less than 10 fow. Last week Jim heard from Zach who was there and said that there was dead weeds floating everywhere in big mats, making it difficult to fish. I was just there on Sat. with Todd and there was 2 other boats that joined me for an outing to try to find muskies in Lamoka (more on that later). In the afternoon we went to Waneta lake. The curly leaf pond weed was all gone. The only weeds we saw was some eurasian watermilfoil in 5 to 6 fow and less. There was also some algae bloom happening. I did some checking on the pond weed. Here is a link to a description of it.

https://www.lakegeorgeassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/curly-leaf-fact-sheet.pdf

 

That explains what happened at Waneta. The pond weed came early as explained and died off last week as normal. I just hope this doesn't have a big affect on the native plant population and have a negative impact on years to come. As the summer progresses I would appreciate members reporting on how the plant population progresses.

 

It wasn't the greatest day for the outing at Lamoka, in terms of fish activity. Of the three boats, which each gave it 3 to 4 hrs (2 boats casting and 1 trolling) no muskies were caught or seen. There was only about 4 or 5 pickerel and a couple largemouth bass caught but we might have had the same results at Waneta. The vegetation we saw there was some eurasian watermilfoil in 5 to 8 fow, cabbage in the north half at 5 fow and less and south of mid lake was kind of barren except some lily pads close to shore. The cabbage was brown so I am not sure if it was healthy. We didn't go to the far south end (less than 8 ft). There was also some green snot algae on some of the weeds in the shallows.

 

It would be great if we could document a few muskies out of Lamoka this year. Since the DEC didn't turn up any in the trap netting they did this spring, If we could turn some up, that would help to make a case to possibly start a new stocking program there since it is still unclear if the lake can support muskies. So if any LOU members are inclined to fish for or happen to catch any muskies there this summer, please post the info here or PM me with pics (best if pics show recognizable landscape), date, gender (if possible), measurement, how caught, depth, structure etc. Also if there are any fin clips, that would tell them the age and if it is stocked or naturally spawned. Please no hoaxes. We don't want to see resources wasted on an unworthy cause.

 

Thank you for any support you can provide here.

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2017 by muskiedreams
Put gender in place of the other word. (so it doesn't say "fun loving")

[BP Swing]

I can remember from The old Genesee Fishing contest that huge musky were occasionally caught in Lamoka so it did support them at one time. Unless they stock it again, I guess we'll never know. What would it hurt? There are no trout too worry about there and with them already in Waneta, why not?  I will look at the old guides and see what was caught there was from 1947- 1990.

[muskiedreams]

Edited out the "fun loving" in my post.

[BP Swing]

OK so you had me wondering about Lamoka. I went through every single Whele/Genesee Fishing Guides from 1947-1990 and found 1 (I think). There was one caught from Lamora Lake in 1978 which weighed 39 lbs 6 1/4 oz. I think it was a typo as the R could of easily been a K. Does anyone know of a Lamora Lake in NY that holds Musky? Keep in mind the contest published the top 3 for each month so there was about 10-12 listed for each year. The St Lawrence totally dominated in most years by a wide margin. There were several from Waneta from the 80s on. Back then you had to weigh the fish on a certified scale to enter it. I thought I would see more from Lamoka but I guess not. Strangely I do remember the almost 40 lber caught from there. Weird how I remember things like that but not what I had for lunch. LOL

One other item of note was the 68 lb 5 oz Musky Ruth Lawton caught in 1961. If Art Lawtons 69-15 record was disqualified (in some states and by the IGFA but not NY) then why is Ruths not the record?

In the Fishing Hall of Fame they recognize Cal Johnsons 67 lb x oz as the record (probably because it was caught in Wisconsin).

[muskiedreams]

The Fishing Hall of Fame and IGFA each have their own submission rules and procedures. You have to submit to each one individually. For state records, I believe you have to submit to the state. And it may depend on what category(s) you are submitting for. Examples: largest for species, species for Lb test, fly rod, tippet. Just a few years ago, the IGFA added a C&R category (at least for musky, not sure about other species) where weight is not required, just length and girth with pictures using their official measuring device.