Dead bait fish

[Reel Chaos]

Shoreline of Fair Haven has these washing up anyone seeing this on the south shore?

[schreckstoff]

I saw a few of those yearling sized Alewife at ramp in Little Sodus and heard of others in Port Bay. Likely to see more over next few weeks as inside water warms and the bid schools of them start coming up from deep water. 

[yank my line]

For the last week, the perch I've been catching have been eating them up. I caught six today over a pound each and every one had alewives in them. 

[Chas0218]

The walleye we've caught had some in their bellies.

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[Gill-T]

There is so much friekin bait on the south shore, the lake managers need to consider revoking the chinook cuts from previous years when alewives were in decline. This year class is gigantic!!

[Reel Chaos]

17 minutes ago, Gill-T said:

There is so much friekin bait on the south shore, the lake managers need to consider revoking the chinook cuts from previous years when alewives were in decline. This year class is gigantic!!

Where was this

[AnglingAddict]

Was at my in-laws cottage on Sunday - my son picked about 10 freshly dead juvenile alewives off the shoreline. 

[Gill-T]

Niagara county. All of it. 

[chinook35]

Shoreline of Fair Haven has these washing up anyone seeing this on the south shore?

Back in the 50’s and 60’s ( before the introduction of the salmonids) the beaches around our camp on Sandy Pond were ankle deep in dead alewives we would rake them into piles and burn them. I can still smell them. Lol


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[jperch]

14 minutes ago, chinook35 said:

Back in the 50’s and 60’s ( before the introduction of the salmonids) the beaches around our camp on Sandy Pond were ankle deep in dead alewives we would rake them into piles and burn them. I can still smell them. Lol


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Yes, back then the "shiners", as we called them, were disgusting on the beaches.  After they were on the beaches they would be alive with maggots.  In the summer there would be schools of them that seemed to be a mile or longer long.

[Traveling Circus]

On 5/17/2021 at 2:20 PM, Gill-T said:

There is so much friekin bait on the south shore,

Last Friday, off 4 mile, we trolled for 1/4 mile with the lines bouncing off bait..... Don't know that I've ever seen that b4.

[Sweet Caroline]

Does seem to be a lot of small alewife around this year. Saw them in the lake and at my marina on the south end of Ibay. I thought the alewife nearshore and in the bays this time a year were the spawners but these look too small to be of spawning maturity. Interested to see what the trawlers come up with. My guess is catch rates will go down with all the bait around and less salmon stocked but there may be some giant kings caught in the next couple of years. Likely need a couple good hatches before DEC considers bumping stocking numbers back up. This year could be good for alewife production with the warm spring we are having.  Low to mid 80s the next few days. 

[brucehookedup]

That size bait is dead in fish bellies and on the surface. Very few big alewives in the fish. Seen smelt , perch, and those 1 yr old class of alewives. No doubt a banner year for the future. Fish numbers are way down in all species here in rochester. This is the worst i have seen in 40 yrs. Bring the numbers back.

[schreckstoff]

Keeping the alewife spawn timing and ages straight can be counterintuitive. Alewife  definitely come inshore early, but more to eat (or die) vs to spawn. Spawning is more like late June, July, even early August. Spawn Can be earlier in embayments. An abstract about LO alewife spawning, (here) from a great fisheries scientist and friend . PM me if u want the paper.
 

Bruce is spot on with calling them age-1 or yearlings. I see some posts talking about these small alewife as YOY , but the YOY or young of year (from this year) won’t be around until July or Aug and will be tiny then . Ultimately they grow to 3 or 4 inches by winter. These 3-4 inch fish are age-1 and as many are seeing can be REALLY abundant in the spring when spawning and survival conditions are right the previous  year, but they will draw every predators attention, I loved the post about jack perch chowing them.

Bruce your observation about the few adults is key, and A-L-A’s points about multiple hatches too! It doesn’t take many adults if conditions are right and we seem on the right warming track this year so far. The work we did with Brockport showed even a few age 1 fish ( very few, only big ones ) could spawn....but it’s not thought they help much.

 

What’s most fun to contemplate is what happens with wild kings in a year like this when there are so many similar sized Alewife, does their survival shoot up...which then boosts predatory pressure that crop alewife back down?

 

I’m all fired up to fish with Great Laker on Friday, still looking for my first coho! 
 

no wasted fish flesh right VP!

 

 

I know, this pic both resembles and describes me  

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

21 hours ago, schreckstoff said:

Keeping the alewife spawn timing and ages straight can be counterintuitive. Alewife  definitely come inshore early, but more to eat (or die) vs to spawn. Spawning is more like late June, July, even early August. Spawn Can be earlier in embayments. An abstract about LO alewife spawning, (here) from a great fisheries scientist and friend . PM me if u want the paper.
 

Bruce is spot on with calling them age-1 or yearlings. I see some posts talking about these small alewife as YOY , but the YOY or young of year (from this year) won’t be around until July or Aug and will be tiny then . Ultimately they grow to 3 or 4 inches by winter. These 3-4 inch fish are age-1 and as many are seeing can be REALLY abundant in the spring when spawning and survival conditions are right the previous  year, but they will draw every predators attention, I loved the post about jack perch chowing them.

Bruce your observation about the few adults is key, and A-L-A’s points about multiple hatches too! It doesn’t take many adults if conditions are right and we seem on the right warming track this year so far. The work we did with Brockport showed even a few age 1 fish ( very few, only big ones ) could spawn....but it’s not thought they help much.

 

What’s most fun to contemplate is what happens with wild kings in a year like this when there are so many similar sized Alewife, does their survival shoot up...which then boosts predatory pressure that crop alewife back down?

 

I’m all fired up to fish with Great Laker on Friday, still looking for my first coho! 
 

no wasted fish flesh right VP!

 

 

I know, this pic both resembles and describes me  

Come fish Niagara County and pop that damn Coho cherry! Or maybe you shouldn't as your family will send you out for more and you will be in your buddys ear asking for more yearling plants!

Sadly, yes there is LOTS of "wasted fish flesh" as those bait pics Gill has been sending you are NOT the 1 yr olds. They are GIANT alewives--so big that even adult Kings could have a hard time choking them down. Should be ideal for pig Lakers though. They are rattling riggers and hitting spoons like they did in the 70s and 80s. 

The pressure on the Kings is insane. We never needed the cut--WE the anglers as well as the damn cormorants, and Walleyes were already instituting a cut. This fishery cannot be sustained waiting on a good King or Coho wild hatch every 4--6 years.     

[Gill-T]

Looks like I need to dust off my 6” Tomic spoons. 

[signalman]

That,s a beauty.

[Sweet Caroline]

Tons of dead and dying small alewife on surface out of Ibay today.  Is that happening down west as well? The kings I did get were well away from the bait. 

Edited May 21, 2021 by A-Lure-A

[Gill-T]

Large amount of Seagulls and cormorants present are plucking the dying ones from the surface in harbors to West, so no accumulating carcasses that I can see

[Sweet Caroline]

At least some relief for the new stockers. Maybe they will have 1/2 a chance this year. 

[schreckstoff]

A bunch of dead and dying small alewife on the surface out at Sandy Creek today too.
 

Still looking for that elusive first coho....could also use a net man who can scrap up big LTs and not knock them off the hook. I guess that is why his handle is “Great Laker” and not  “Great Netter”. It was a big old cool dinosaur of a fish, hit a spin n glo behind a cowbell, 85’ or so. Good times! 
 

 

[brucehookedup]

Shreckstoff bust a move offshore, top 50', bright stuff, match the size wise. I have been keeping my 25' rig at 42.5 degrees. We need more fish in this lake for sure. Less fish i have ever seen of all species in all my years.

[LongLine]

Saw maybe 6-8 cormorants swimming & diving in 165 FOW on Thurs off Long Pond.  Also maybe 2 dz small alewives swimming in circles on surface, obviously wounded.  Didn't mark any pods though.  I always thought those birds were better hunters.

[thork9]

Remember they need money to pay for the Coumo bridge, stop using are fish license money on hiking trails., change the head of who is making wrong decisions. Just ranting

[LongLine]

Saw quite a few small ones floating in the Genny today.  No visible wounds.  (up by Turning point)  Didn't see any birds around.  Wondering if it's a food thing.