Fingerlakes Steelhead

[salmonjoecoho]

Do guys you think the DEC would ever even consider stocking some strain of steelhead in the finger lakes, or maybe just the larger ones like Seneca or Cayuga? I think it would be so cool to have big steelheads swimming around the lakes and in the tribs, i really believe steelhead would add a new dimension to fishing these lakes. I also think they would do quite well considering the size, depth, and available forage present in some of the fingerlakes.

[ray koziatek]

steelie or steelhead is a name we refer L.O. rainbows as ..a true steelhead is a ocean goining rainbow of sorts do a google search...in the past seneca rainbows a 10 lbr was common place and 15 lbrs were not unheard of ,that was back in the day of smelt and lots of forrage fish AND 1000000000 FEWER lake trout and lifting (snatching) was unheard of by the stream fishermen,now the bows can hardly reproduce (due to stream conditions,lifters,andbedstompers crossing in the shallows where the eggs are layed),are not stocked,and have to work hard to feed due to the compatation of lakers and agressive landlocks. so a 7 lb rainbow in seneca is 6 or 7 years old a 6 or 7 yearold rainbow in L.O. is more in the 10 to 17 lb fish...

[Zebedee]

Was just talking to my dad about this over the weekend. He used to pull me from school every year on April first so we could go stream fishing (We usually fished the Keuka Outlet and sometimes Catherines). Neither one of us has had any interest in stream fishing for about ten years. I heard there's a stream or two on the East side of Cayuga to pull some brookies from I may try a week or so after the rush is over...but I'd much rather be pulling lines.

[salmonjoecoho]

Thanx for that info ray, pretty interesting stuff. These past couple of years on Seneca there has just been tons of bait fish (sawbellies i think), the fish finder would literally go black with them in some spots. Is smelt a species of fish that can be reintroduced into the fingerakes with any type of success?