The Fishing Line - May 5th Issue

Freshwater Fishing, Fisheries Management, and Fishing Access News

In This Issue:

• Fisheries Survey Profile: Conesus Lake
• Attention St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario Walleye Anglers!
• Volunteer Opportunity for Finger Lakes Anglers
• Lake Erie Lake Trout Stocking
• DEC Fisheries Staff Spotlight - Melissa Cohen, Region 2 Fisheries Manager

Fisheries Survey Profile: Conesus Lake

Conesus Lake is the westernmost Finger Lake and provides top-notch fishing for largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, and northern pike. To assess the pike population, Region 8 Fisheries staff recently set 3 trap nets at various spots around the lake over the course of 9 nights. Nets were pulled each morning to remove fish from the car (holding area in the back of the net). Lengths were taken from all fish collected, and weight and sex were also recorded for walleye and northern pike. Scale samples (to age fish at a later time) were also taken from the walleye and northern pike.

After processing, fish were released back into the water unharmed. Biologists will use the results of the survey to better understand the status of the pike population, which will provide insight on how effective current fishing regulations are for managing the fishery.

Attention St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario Walleye Anglers!

In its second year, DEC Region 6 Fisheries in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) New York Field Office continues a walleye acoustic telemetry study to better understand walleye populations in the St. Lawrence River and the Eastern Basin of Lake Ontario. The study is designed to assess walleye movements, relative use of important spawning sites, and determine how different spawning populations mix within the system. This information is important to inform management and habitat restoration decisions needed to protect and enhance this important fishery.

Walleye collected from the Black River, Chaumont River, Kents Creek, Oswegatchie River, Brandy Brook, and Little Sucker Brook were implanted with an internal tag that will be detected by acoustic receivers deployed throughout the system. A combined total of 210 walleye have been tagged in this study over the two-year period. Walleye with a surgically implanted tag will have a visible Floy^® tag, either on their underside or at the base of their dorsal fin.

If you catch a tagged fish, you are not required to release it, but we strongly encourage it. Releasing it will allow the fish to continue to be part of the ongoing research project, as the tags have a ten-year battery life. If you catch a tagged fish, please report the tag number and capture location to the USFWS at (607) 753-9334.

Volunteer Opportunity for Finger Lakes Anglers

Are you interested in the management and quality of New York’s unmatched Finger Lakes fisheries? Consider helping DEC evaluate fisheries management actions on the Finger Lakes and their tributaries by joining our Volunteer Angler Diary Cooperator Program.

You can help DEC continue to provide anglers like yourself with some of the best quality fishing around! Through the Angler Diary Cooperator Program, volunteer anglers keep a diary in which they record information about their fishing trips throughout the year, including lakes fished, number of anglers participating, species targeted, hours fished, length and number of species caught, fin clips (if present), and whether fish were kept or released.

DEC analyzes information from all volunteers and a summary of results is sent to each cooperator along with their original diary. This angler-collected data is vital to DEC’s management of the Finger Lakes fisheries. View the 2022 diary summary reports on DEC’s website.

New volunteer cooperators are always welcome and encouraged! 

• If you fish Canadice, Canandaigua, Hemlock, Keuka, Seneca, Conesus, or Honeoye Lake, contact Region 8 Fisheries at fwfish8@dec.ny.gov or 585-226-5343 to become a cooperator.
• Anglers fishing Cayuga, Owasco, Skaneateles, or Otisco Lake should contact Region 7 Fisheries at fwfish7@dec.ny.gov or 607-753-3095, ext. 213.

Lake Erie Lake Trout Stocking

Lake Erie produces a trophy lake trout fishery, with an average fish weighing about 10 pounds and many in the 20-plus pound class. The current state record caught 20 years ago also hails from Lake Erie.

Lake trout are stocked annually as part of a long-term rehabilitation program. Fish raised by the US Fish and Wildlife Service at the Allegheny National Fish Hatchery in Warren, PA were recently trucked to Lake Erie and stocked offshore of Dunkirk, NY by DEC staff aboard the Research Vessel Argo. This year New York received 80,000 and Pennsylvania 120,000 as part of a new rotational stocking program. Prior to stocking, each fish had its adipose fin clipped and a coded wire tag inserted in its snout. This allows data to be collected on recaptured fish over time.

Recently, DEC staff sampled the first naturally reproduced lake trout observed in Lake Erie in 60 years near Barcelona, NY. Genetic testing confirmed that these wild fish were the offspring of our stocked fish. Certainly, promising news for the lake trout fishery!

Lake Erie Lake Trout Rehabilitation Plan, 2021-2030 (PDF)  

DEC Fisheries Staff Spotlight - Melissa Cohen, Region 2 Fisheries Manager

I grew up in suburban New Jersey, away from the ocean, but always wanted to be a marine biologist - no doubt from watching Jacques Cousteau on TV. So, after getting a BS in Environmental Science from Rutgers University, I headed to SUNY, Stony Brook for an MS in Marine Environmental Science. In 1990, I was given the opportunity to work for DEC’s Marine Habitat unit in New York City doing tidal wetlands regulatory work. It was one of the best work experiences I’ve ever had, but I always wanted to live out west so I moved to Seattle, WA in 1993 where I did several jobs including bartending, waitressing, identifying zooplankton, and eventually becoming a middle school science teacher.

I moved back east in 2001 and worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers until able to return to the NYC Regional Office to implement DEC’s I FISH NY fishing promotion program. Since 2003, I’ve worked with other DEC staff, helping thousands of NYC residents enjoy local fishing opportunities. We also assess local freshwater fish populations, posting this information on DEC’s website. Before this job, I never would have thought NYC was home to largemouth bass fisheries on par with those upstate and now I get to share that (and more) information with others. My current job has enabled me to apply a variety of skills and experiences, including those learned from teaching middle school, performing research, and implementing regulations. It is truly the best job I’ve ever had – due to the work as well as my awesome colleagues. Outside of DEC, I spend time with family and friends, playing cards, running, and swimming.