No Perch in Canandaigua Lake

[Slack High Sportfishing]

Fished all day today on the south end of Canandaigua for perch and only caught 2 rock bass. If you're looking for perch, go to Lake Erie.

#drinkingthekoolaid

[dry net]

What happened to the video? Watched half, went back to watch the other and it was taken down. Did you take it down because of the comment that was made?

[Slack High Sportfishing]

It was apparently removed by a moderator.

[Slack High Sportfishing]

It took the salty Canandaigua boys 20 minutes to get a mod to drop it lol, I was a little disappointed in the response time.

Edited November 11, 2018 by Slack High Sportfishing

[Slack High Sportfishing]

THE CENSORSHIP IS REAL

[Slack High Sportfishing]

In all seriousness though, one pro member was decent enough to PM me and explain the issue. Apparently, there is a big problem in the Finger Lakes with over harvesting and black market sale of Yellow Perch that I was unaware of. Hence the uproar by locals over the video. I understand their point of view and concern over this issue, but the response and the dropping of the video with no explanation was pretty disappointing. It's too bad that's the way it has to be, but i guess that's the way it has to be.

[GAMBLER]

4 hours ago, Slack High Sportfishing said:

In all seriousness though, one pro member was decent enough to PM me and explain the issue. Apparently, there is a big problem in the Finger Lakes with over harvesting and black market sale of Yellow Perch that I was unaware of. Hence the uproar by locals over the video. I understand their point of view and concern over this issue, but the response and the dropping of the video with no explanation was pretty disappointing. It's too bad that's the way it has to be, but i guess that's the way it has to be.

That black market perching is all over the Lake O bays too.  Lake O can withstand the pressure a little better but the fingerlakes can't handle the abuse. 

[dry net]

I'm from NH and black market perch fishing is foreign to me. The selling of illegal perch is worth the risk of breaking the law? How much are perch worth on the black market? Just don't understand the mindset of trying to profit illegally from the sale of perch.

[devoknevo]

When did the private sale of perch become illegal?

[Frogger]

When did the private sale of perch become illegal?

The day that these pirates went back out the same day to catch another batch over the legal limit of 50 per person and sold them.


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[Silver Fox]

I totally understand about being pissed about some posts that would burn a place up, but your video wasn't at all detrimental to that lake. Who doesn't fish for perch with freaking rubber or fatheads? Its a HUGE lake and for maybe a couple people to recognize the spot.....BFD. Oh yeah, I'm sure it's no secret their are perch in there..lol.

Silverfoxcharters.net

[ontherise]

Craziness... " go ahead and build that grocery store , just don't build it in my Nieghborhood"...


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[Sk8man]

I know looking initially at this post some assumptions may be made, but underneath are some very real issues that vary greatly from the large expanse of lake Ontario and its bays. There are guys that come from all over and the Rochester area to Canandaigua; some of whom are there nearly everyday perch fishing  and selling the perch. This fishing pressure has become much more intense in recent years with the apparent decline or deterioration of the perch fishing on Seneca. They take several  limits sometimes because nobody is there to check. I have personally seen a couple of guys there at the launch that had way over their limit and a good number of the fish were in the 7 inch or so range included. Right up until the mid 2000's you could cruise around the lake in the shallows and huge schools of perch would scatter everywhere. Now you see an occasional small school of usually small perch if any at all. Yes there are still perch there but they are under a lot of fishing and overharvesting pressure.  Some of the vehicles at the launch leave late morning and then reappear in the afternoon. It doesn' take a detective to figure out what that means as it happens routinely. If someone doesn't live nearby it would go unnoticed. These smaller lakes are a very different situation than the bays of Lake O which I have also fished for years. The fish can much more easily be replenished in the bays by fish from that huge lake. When guys come to lakes like Canandaigua and use cameras to spot the largest schools of the largest perch (in large part female spawners) pretty much all year long unrestricted; it becomes very clear that the resource is not infinite as some folks wish to believe. Froggers comment is directly on target. A lot of us release the jumbo spawners and keep fish 11-12 or so inches...the dinks go back in as do the real big girls. These guys decimating the perch fishery for money have no regard for the fishery or maintaining it, or saving it for the future fisherpersons. They just move to another part of the lake or another lake until that is also used up. I'm all for the new grocery store ontherise but the selection becomes somewhat limted when someone throws a grenade inside.

Edited November 13, 2018 by Sk8man

[Silver Fox]

I know looking initially at this post some assumptions may be made, but underneath are some very real issues that vary greatly from the large expanse of lake Ontario and its bays. There are guys that come from all over and the Rochester area to Canandaigua; some of whom are there nearly everyday perch fishing  and selling the perch. This fishing pressure has become much more intense in recent years with the apparent decline or deterioration of the perch fishing on Seneca. They take several  limits sometimes because nobody is there to check. I have personally seen a couple of guys there at the launch that had way over their limit and a good number of the fish were in the 7 inch or so range included. Right up until the mid 2000's you could cruise around the lake in the shallows and huge schools of perch would scatter everywhere. Now you see an occasional small school of usually small perch if any at all. Yes there are still perch there but they are under a lot of fishing and overharvesting pressure.  Some of the vehicles at the launch leave late morning and then reappear in the afternoon. It doesn' take a detective to figure out what that means as it happens routinely. If someone doesn't live nearby it would go unnoticed. These smaller lakes are a very different situation than the bays of Lake O which I have also fished for years. The fish can much more easily be replenished in the bays by fish from that huge lake. When guys come to lakes like Canandaigua and use cameras to spot the largest schools of the largest perch (in large part female spawners) pretty much all year long unrestricted; it becomes very clear that the resource is not infinite as some folks wish to believe. Froggers comment is directly on target. A lot of us release the jumbo spawners and keep fish 11-12 or so inches...the dinks go back in as do the real big girls. These guys decimating the perch fishery for money have no regard for the fishery or maintaining it, or saving it for the future fisherpersons. They just move to another part of the lake or another lake until that is also used up. I'm all for the new grocery store ontherise but the selection becomes somewhat limted when someone throws a grenade inside.

Sk8, I understand, but I just don't see any more traffic hitting that lake due to the video. Trust me, I'd be the first to **** and usually take it in the chin, for myself and others when defending something. That freaking Ice Shanty site is solely responsible for s';t shows on the FL's during ice season, but people will keep on bragging about their 20 Blugill they caught. Look at Silver, tough time with the gills recently and don't think that can't happen to our favorite honey hole east of there.

Silverfoxcharters.net

[Sk8man]

Scott - Iknow what you are saying. I did have contact with the guy who seems like a very good and well intentioned guy by the way, and I let him know the video was well done, but that showing the cottages and specific shoreline areas at the south end of the lake and naming the lake is what I think is problemmatic. I am also convinced that he had no knowledge whatsoever  of the situation and was just trying to share good info with the forum members and I applaude him for that.

[devoknevo]

On ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 4:42 PM, Slack High Sportfishing said:

Fished all day today on the south end of Canandaigua for perch and only caught 2 rock bass. If you're looking for perch, go to Lake Erie.

#drinkingthekoolaid

 

Is it possible you just had a bad day/fish weren't biting, or you were in the wrong spot? I've gotten skunked too but you can't say the whole lake is dead from one experience...Asking for a friend. 

[ontherise]

I think he was contradicting his post that was taken down... If fishing is becoming a big secret then why are we on this forum? We all have places or spots that we cringe when mentioned here. We're here to share.


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[linemankj]

Maybe we should just stop the sale of all panfish

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[Sk8man]

4 hours ago, linemankj said:

Maybe we should just stop the sale of all panfish

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It would be a good start. It is my hope that the DEC shall in the near future re-visit the whole panfish issue. Times have changed drastically from the time that the regulations were formulated. The advent of the Internet (I've been on here before the Web and pics able to be directly displayed publically or videos), the vast improvements in technology such as depth finders and underwater cameras, and especially the ease of GPS recording, and a huge improvement in the specific information available has changed the entire fishing landscape and the regulations haven't kept up with the times as far as panfish are concerned. There is a large difference regarding fishing for them schooled up in bays and trolling the open water for trout in the large bodies of water, and even with respect to ice fishing. All of these things have increased dramatically along with the general human population increases and numbers of fisherpersons fishing for them. The perch represent a rather special class within the fishery as they can not only be sold, but they can be harvested even during the spawning period. Crappies  have a daily limit of 25 and the perch should likewise be included as a consistent general daily limit on all panfish in the Finger lakes at least. Lake O and Lake Erie are a different matter. The 50 per day limit becomes excessive in light of all of the above for the Fingers and certainly is more than a family will consume in one day.

Edited November 14, 2018 by Sk8man

[devoknevo]

Crooks don't obey laws so why would a smaller perch limit help when they already keep over their legal limits? Perhaps calling the DEC when you witness the crime would be a better idea than creating more laws?

 

 

...P.S.: sorry to hijack the thread Slacko.

[Sk8man]

The problem has many aspects to it not just as simple as that. Even the size of perch is a factor....the regualtion would make more sense if it was compatible with the existing 9 inch 25 limit regulation on Crappies on the Finger Lakes for example. I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade or create new laws..just lining out something for folks to think about. I 've talked with a lot of other fishermen who have expressed the same concerns and not all of them are on the forum.

[Slack High Sportfishing]

It was never my intention to upset anyone or key in any perch pirates on the lake or any specific spots on it. To me, it was just another fishing video. I've mostly fished big water (ocean, great lakes) all my life, so I guess I wasnt really in tune with the idea that it could hurt the fishery. I didnt know that there was such an issue with perch over harvest in the finger lakes. I'm a local now too, I live in the Rochester area, but I didnt grow up here, and i only started fishing the finger lakes about 5 years ago. I definitely dont want to see any stocks depleted, or lose any fishing opportunities for future generations. I started a Youtube Channel for a few reasons: My kids thought it was a cool idea and I'm trying to get them more into the outdoors, I get a kick out of making the videos, and I actually find the videos really helpful myself when I'm looking to try a new area, or a different type of fishing. I'm heading to George's Bank to go Cod and Haddock fishing for 2 days next weekend, so I've been watching tons of other peoples videos on how to tie rigs, teasers, presentations etc. The videos have allowed me to be prepared for a new type of fishing I'm not really familiar with. I also hope that if I can get enough subscribers, I'll be able to make like 10 dollars a day in 20 years when I can retire, if I live that long lol... That should give me enough gas money to fuel an old conversion van so I can travel up and down the east coast all year to wherever the surf bite is best. I will try to be more careful in the future on showing sensitive fishing spots.

[justtracytrolling]

It is absurd that anyone can sell panfish on a recreational license. Selling any fish should require a more expensive commercial license that would be lost forever for over harvesting. The DEC needs to address this as well as protecting vulnerable spawning fish. IMO targeting spawning fish makes it tough for a fishery to be self sustainable.

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[JJBat150]

It is absurd that anyone can sell panfish on a recreational license. Selling any fish should require a more expensive commercial license that would be lost forever for over harvesting. The DEC needs to address this as well as protecting vulnerable spawning fish. IMO targeting spawning fish makes it tough for a fishery to be self sustainable.

 

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Not only should the fisherperson loose their commercial license, any fish market purchasing fish from someone with a recreational license should also be punished by loss of business license.

 

Unfortunately, the only way to put an end to it is hit folks in the wallet.

 

Maybe heavy handed, and could be argued as over-regulation by big government, but what other choice is there to protect the fishery ?

 

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[Sk8man]

When you look at about any situation where money is connected to a resource human nature and greed comes into play. The solution here isn't really complicated - just bring the regs for this particular species into alignment with many other species protecting them while spawning, no selling on recreational licenses, and making the size and daily limits the same as for Crappies. It could go a long way in helping out. The correction for the overharvesting is obvious...but my hunch is it could be greatly reduced with those changes when the money factor is removed (and the formal restaurant side of it should be solved as well) and proper monitoring.

Edited November 14, 2018 by Sk8man