Land lock or brown?.. I mean goby or sculpin

[Roys Boys]

Fish spit this up in Seneca lake let’s hear it.. 

[Sk8man]

The easiest way to tell is difficult from the pics unfortunately Steve. The Sculpin has two fins on the underside while the Round Goby has only one fin and it resembles a "suction cup" Just looking at the pics it appears that they are Freshwater Sculpin.

Edited April 3, 2023 by Sk8man

[Frogger]

👍

[Roys Boys]

[Sk8man]

Oh Oh! Looks like the Round Goby has arrived (or possibly been there awhile)

[Followed The Waves]

Roy's Boys!  Are you guys doing any good?  The north end always seemed a little slow for me early in the season but it's probably just me… 

[schreckstoff]

 Round Goby

[Roys Boys]

Goby it is!

[Frogger]

Boy I’ll tell ya Steve, they were spitting them up left and right yesterday, must be a lot of them to be feeding on them like that. 

[Reel Doc]

As far as the salmon/trout fishery goes, does it really matter if the bottom bait fish are Sculpin or Gobies?  Their life cycle and habitat seems identical, unlike smelt vs alewife.

[Sk8man]

Gobies can contain Botulism and they can out compete Sculpin which are a re considered a native (rather than invasive) species

[Reel Doc]

Point/Counterpoint.  With the number of invasive/stocked non-native fish in the Fingerlakes and Great Lakes, these ecosystems will never be what they were 1 or 2 centuries ago.  Gobies are sensitive to and typically are killed by botulism and predator Salmonids that eat them do not typically contract Botulism.  If we fully cook our Salmonid catch, no human risk.  Also, Gobies do consume significant numbers of zebra mussels.  It takes an invasive to control an invasive......too bad we haven't found one to control the lamprey.

In the end, I applaud the DEC for providing us these Wonderful lake fisheries despite all the issues with invasive species, including plant invasives.   

[Sk8man]

Although it may be unclear whether Gobies pass botulism on to humans they do however pass it on to other fish that eat them as well as birds that prey on them. They also indiscriminantly eat the eggs of other fish such as perch, bass, walleye and many others. They severely disrupt the food chain and food web so despite them eating the zebra mussels which is thought to be the source of the botulism and they may supplant a native species such as the freshwater Sculpin it is not without cost.

[Followed The Waves]

I see a similarity between the aquatic invasive species and other "land" invasives.  I live in the woods and I am constantly at war with Japanese stilt grass, barberry (deer ticks love it), woolly adelgig (kills hemlocks), the emerald ash borer (all ash trees are now dead and gone), Gypsy moth caterpillars (small infestation last year but by the looks of the eggs, it's gonna be worse this year), the spotted lantern fly (haven't seen one yet but they are here), maple decline disease, etc.  Ugh...

[jk1]

Hay Billtown, I am in Warrensville.  I jig, not a fan of trolling.  Have a small 14 foot grumman utility that some one on here called trailer trash = so that is what we call it.   we go up every week but to Keyuka to catch the small lakers to eat.   Many friends have bigger boats up to 17 foot, but are small style and my buddy do not like the bigger waters.  So it is Keyuka for us......jk

[Followed The Waves]

Geez, you're close.  I'm over on Log Run Road.  I am a jigger at heart but with the lamprey issue on Seneca, I bought some trolling equipment to cover more water and target silvers---no downriggers---just lead core and Dipseys.  Once the fleas and weeds become a PITA, I go back to mostly jigging.  I just got some pretty 1 ounce Titan jig heads from Lunker City yesterday.  Hopefully I will get them wet by next weekend.