Sodus Bay Cisco’s

[jimski2]

 

 

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[ogrob56]

Is there solid ice on the bay?

[Gill-T]

Cool.  I heard they move into Sodus and I-Bays.  That is a 4 year old king's fillet mignon.  

[Tyee II]

How do you cook em? Smoke em whole? That sounds good to me!

 

Do you guys find Cisco in your King Salmon? I know a Laker would eat that...

Edited January 18, 2018 by Tyee II

[Gill-T]

1 minute ago, Tyee II said:

How do you cook em? Smoke em whole? That sounds good to me!

 

Do you guys find Cisco in your King Salmon?

 

Actually......no.

[Todd in NY]

I've never seen a Cisco before. Thanks for the fish ID lesson 

[jimski2]

Parking at Sodus Bay is a gridlock. Plows, school buses and emergency vehicles are blocked out. Police, residents and other fishermen are irate. Use a UBER to drop you off if you go there.

[GAMBLER]

I wouldn't call the Ciscos king food. They get a little too big too for kings. I can see lakers feasting on them. 

[Sk8man]

3 minutes ago, jimski2 said:

Parking at Sodus Bay is a gridlock. Plows, school buses and emergency vehicles are blocked out. Police, residents and other fishermen are irate. Use a UBER to drop you off if you go there.

It never ceases to amaze me that with the millions of other possible places in this wonderful playland we have here that the "lemming" or "herd" mentality takes over and people just go with the herd rather than using their brain a little. I think we perch fishermen are especially prone to this for some reason (like the gold miners) whether on the ice or boat fishing. Even out on the vast  ice space when someone hauls in some good ones the crowd merges on them.....is it just "human nature?"....or bad manners I've had guys even come right in and use the holes I drilled near me so I could switch things out....

[rolmops]

The DEC stocked 26000 Ciscos in I-Bay four or five years ago. Did anybody catch any in I-Bay?


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[Xxx]

I know many don’t know this formula but it seems to stand true with walleye fishing, especially like in the western and central basins, I’ve never fished the eastern basin. Any hay who”just go out and find the pack”!! Back to the formula they claim 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water, maybe this explains that nature of the beast??

[jimski2]

Herring are pickled and preserved a lot.


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[Tyee II]

8 hours ago, GAMBLER said:

I wouldn't call the Ciscos king food. They get a little too big too for kings. I can see lakers feasting on them. 

They get big fast and they quickly become competition for Alewives and young Salmonids.

 

The Feds are trying to force Cisco stocking into Lakes Michigan/Huron right now with claims that they will be a good forage fish for Chinook (along with the other Salmonid species), which is why I am curious if you guys that fish near known populations of Cisco ever find them in your catch's bellies. 

 

Seems the Feds need to find another way to spend the extra money from the cuts in Laker numbers... A tribe in Michigan has been working toward Cisco restoration in Traverse Bay and supposedly their numbers are doubling year to year now.

[Gill-T]

They are being restored because they are native, but also to potentially bolster Lake Trout populations.  They don't carry the thiaminase problem to natural reproduction that alewives  do.  Very high in fat/oil content if kings can target them.  The 99% of bait in the stomach of Kings is 4-5" alewives.  I don't see that changing any time soon on Ontario.

[rolmops]

The finger lakes and Lake Ontario used to have huge cisco populations ,but they were destroyed by alewives  eating all their spawn. Has the DEC come up with a mutation that will not be eaten by the sawbelly/alewives?

[Broadhorizons]

11 hours ago, rolmops said:

The DEC stocked 26000 Ciscos in I-Bay four or five years ago. Did anybody catch any in I-Bay?


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Not in Ibay but I've caught a couple trolling browns in Oswego and one float fishing in the river in the last 3 seasons.

[Lucky13]

18 hours ago, Gill-T said:

The 99% of bait in the stomach of Kings is 4-5" alewives.  I don't see that changing any time soon on Ontario.

There are billions of alewife in the Lake, even with the downturn in numbers.  DEC has stocked less than a million of these fish so far.  There is also a remnant population in Chaumont Bay, but they have even stocked some there.   From a Cornell website:

"Cisco Coregonus artedi are an important native prey fish species for lake trout Salvelinus namaycush and Atlantic salmon Salmo salar. Today Chaumont Bay holds one of the last known remnant spawning stocks of cisco in the New York waters of Lake Ontario. Although Lake Ontario cisco populations are likely heavily dependent on the success of the Chaumont Bay population, little is known of their spawning habitat or the degree of reproductive success. Cisco populations are also threatened by the potential loss of genetic diversity and possible introgression with lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis following recent reductions in population size. Restoration of cisco in Lake Ontario has been identified as a critical element to the successful restoration of other salmonids, as they offer an alternative prey base that is low in thiaminase. However, simply increasing cisco numbers is not sufficient – availability of suitable spawning habitat and the genetic integrity of the spawning stock are vital for a strong, self-sustaining population. This project will identify habitat characteristics associated with successful cisco reproduction and map currently utilized (and under-utilized) spawning habitat to guide population supplementation efforts. In addition, genetic data will be used to evaluate population risks based on inbreeding and hybridization effects as well as to inform broodstock collections and hatchery procedures in support of restoration."

 

At least some of the literature I saw would indicate that they died back due to the eutrophic conditions that obtained in the Lake and in their spawning habitats in the mid 20th century.  They need cold water with a lot of oxygen, especially when they move into the shallows and embayments , and bays like Irondequoit could not support them before the water quality improvement of the last 40 years.  I am sure alewife ate a bunch of eggs or fry, but as is true with most environmental problems it looks a little too simplistic to blame it all on the alewife.  

[Lucky13]

Cisco were stocked in Irondequoit Bay in 2012 (9000), 2013 (9000), 2014 (145,000), and 2015(100,000).  in 2015,1000 were stocked in Chaumont Bay.  Sodus Bay got 22,109 in 2016.  This data is from Mike Connerton's reports on LO stocking in the Annual Unit reports. 

 

It is likely that they will become food for Lake Trout more than pelagic species like Kings as they tend to be more benthic in their orientation, while the alewife is pelagic.

Edited January 19, 2018 by Lucky13

[Tyee II]

That's some good info, Lucky13. Thank you.

[ogrob56]

Just expanded my vocabulary by two words. Of course I’ll forget them in 24 hours.

[schreckstoff]

Some interesting historical reading, including Cisco

 

http://www.glfc.org/pubs/TechReports/Tr60.pdf

 

Edited January 21, 2018 by schreckstoff
Previous link didn’t work

[Lucky13]

Oh come on, Ogrob56, yer picture doesn't look that old!  Easier to remember than keeping straight 200, 400, 600 copper, all them dipsy's, etc ad infinatum!!!   

 

I'm thinking "Benthic" and "Pelagic"?  You need to understand these terms to understand the Fish Community Objectives for the Lake, the Guidance Document for overall management on both sides of the border.

 

This is the link: http://www.glfc.org/pubs/FisheryMgmtDocs/Fmd17-01.pdf

 

Please note that this is an updated document that just came out in July of 2017, but based on what was said in the spring, there should be no major changes from the earlier Objectives.

 

Edited January 20, 2018 by Lucky13

[rolmops]

On a side note, I now remember catching what probably were ciscos in front of the Genny in early spring ,either snagging them on lures or actually hooking them in the mouth. They were anywhere between 8 and 12 inches long. I did not know what they were ,but they reminded me of small striped bass.

[Lucky13]

Are you sure they weren't small white bass.  We used to hammer them at Russell Station, some up to 2lbs once in a while.  They look almost just like a striper.

Edited January 20, 2018 by Lucky13

[UNREEL]

On 1/18/2018 at 9:23 AM, rolmops said:

The DEC stocked 26000 Ciscos in I-Bay four or five years ago. Did anybody catch any in I-Bay?


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We've seen a few floaters in I-Bay during the heavy stocking years, '14 & '15, but have never caught one