The Fishing Line - October 23 Edition

This Week's Topics:

• 2020 Fall Air Stocking - Mission Complete
• Spring Creek Brown Trout – Making a Comeback
• Take a Virtual Visit to DEC's Salmon River Fish Hatchery
• Increased Flows in Some Lake Ontario Tributaries

2020 Fall Air Stocking - Mission Complete

Staff from DEC’s Adirondack, Chateaugay, and Rome Hatcheries, with the help of the NYS Police Aviation Unit pilots and the use of one of their “Huey” utility helicopters, recently stocked 340 remote ponds and lakes in the Adirondack Park with hundreds of thousands of brook trout. Seven strategic locations throughout the Adirondacks served as staging areas for loading fish from the stocking trucks and onto the helicopter. This eight-day effort will provide countless opportunities for anglers seeking the ultimate solitary fishing experience.

To catch a glimpse of air stocking in action check out this video on DEC’s YouTube Channel.

Spring Creek Brown Trout – Making a Comeback

DEC Region 8 and 9 Fisheries staff teamed up to further document encouraging recovery of a wild brown trout population in Spring Creek on the grounds of the NYS Caledonia Hatchery (Livingston County) following merganser depredation events in the winters of 2013-2015 and drought in the summer of 2016. Even with low flow conditions this past summer, the increased number of wild adult brown trout caught was promising:

“Veterans” section
September 2020 – 144 fish/100 ft.
November 2014 – 28 fish/100 ft.

Section upstream of hatchery dam
September 2020 – 55 fish/100 ft.
November 2014 – 6 fish/100 ft.

Substantial numbers of young of year brown trout were also encountered, particularly in the Veteran's section.

Meanwhile, around the corner at Oatka Creek…
A trout escape cover project on a section of Oatka Creek within Monroe County's Oatka Creek Park was completed in September 2019. The number of wild adult brown trout caught in September 2020 was higher in the project section than in an adjacent control section, a strong indication that that habitat structures are beneficial for improving adult trout survival. This project was powered by a partnership with the Seth Green Chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU), USFWS, and Monroe County Parks.

For maps of Public Fishing Rights (PFR) on Oatka and Spring Creeks click here.

Take a Virtual Visit to DEC's Salmon River Fish Hatchery

During a normal year, DEC's Salmon River Fish Hatchery receives thousands of visitors each Fall during it's annual Pacific salmon spawning run. So what do you do when DEC Hatcheries are currently closed to visitors due to COVID-19? You bring the hatchery to the "visitor!"

Through two Facebook Live posts, people had the unique opportunity to watch activities happening in the Salmon River Hatchery hatch house, while listening to a DEC Environmental Educator narrate what goes on during the Chinook and Coho Salmon egg collection process. ICYMI- links to each post are as follows:  

October 15 - Chinook Salmon Egg Collection
October 21 - Coho Salmon Egg Collection

Increased Flows in Some Lake Ontario Tributaries

New York State Canal Corporation will be releasing more water into Lake Ontario tributaries this Fall to improve recreational fishing opportunities. This is a pilot program that is being tested for the first time this year. The program will provide increased base flows on Oak Orchard Creek and Sandy Creek through early November. Then during November and December, there will be two periods of increased flows in all Lake Ontario tributaries connected to the canal system. More information about the enhanced flows pilot program can be found here. 

Fisheries Fact

DEC raises three “heritage” strains of Adirondack brook trout in its hatcheries. These strains are taken from lakes and ponds that were never stocked with domestic brook trout. The strains are named after the waters from which they came: Little Tupper Lake, Horn Lake, and Windfall Pond. Eggs for these strains are taken from wild fish in lakes and ponds each year, raised then stocked into waters that have the best chances to support natural reproduction.