canadarago lake

[stringer01]

I would go along with bigger walleyes to keep the dinks down  not thumbnail size and the computer has def. put the hurting on this lake !!!

[perchprince]

How many small perch need to be thinned out to allow for growth? Is there a way to get rid of ale wives, other than bigger fish? Can we use cast nets when they are spawning. Pp

[davyday1]

How far do u go out for perch

[MBrown4]

30 ft off shore to 30 fow. Anywhere in between.

[big_guy_13021]

i rmember 5-6 yrs ago when i lived down that wsy it was fantastic perch fishing....

[kowboyup]

I live right next to the lake my whole life and I love to ice fish, haven't fished on Cando for a few yrs unless I have small children to take out to have fun catching little perch. Drove by the last few days and if there was 5 people on the lake. Just a shame from what it use to be. Now I drive the hr and half to Oneida or fish Otsego

[filetandrelease]

And I use to drive 1.5 hrs to fish it 5-6 times a year it was great to fish

[kc_]

Please take me Uncle Bryan, I want to catch a bunch of small perch. LOL

[kowboyup]

Only got one little niece left now KC, and shes getting past the fishing small stuff now lol

[slamboney]

I talked to an Encon Officer out there one time. He said in the 80's the perch fishing was outstanding. There were guys commercial fishing the perch day in day out - just filling pails - soon after they put the 25 perch limit into effect - He said this was the first lake in the state to put a limit on perch. Even 10 years ago there were a lot of nice perch in there, I pulled 2 - 15's out of there one day - still my biggest perch anywhere.  Hope it comes back around. 

[Dark Cloud]

Yeah, I refuse to believe that the internet and the pressure the lake saw 4-6 years ago caused this cycle we are in now....
I fished it alot in the late 80s and early 90s, while not the number of guys fishing as a few years ago there was a group that pounded it almost daily and the lake kept on giving. Back then open water eye fishing you also saw alot of muskies loafing around, them and the solid number of walleyes kept the perch numbers in check. That along with a huge forage base of small stuff kept the lake pumping. Add the intro of alwieves which eat a ton of the small stuff perch would be eating and the lack of predators... and we have what we have now...

[MBrown4]

Man these same alewives are killers.wish there was a way to wipe them out like a alewife disease or something.

[ktruman]

been 5 yrs since fishing it, went out with a bang though, had my sons and dad with me sight fishing the sunkin island, we took 2 limits of hoggers that day. then it all went to..........  couple of good points above. my fisheries background will tell you that alewives grow big fish, but once fish are on em they want nothing else.  as far as the limit.....25 is enough for anybody but i was fishing the 80-90's when there would be 300 guys off marble taking buckets. I even used to do it on spring break from college. blew a trany in the truck and in 1 week made over $600. 00 to buy another. too many mild early ice outs, a drop in predators including humans, intro of zebras, reduction of daphnia pulex, a popular zooplankton those perch use to filter feed on, and yes the introduction of the alewife. Lota change here but i bet you could still get some nice ones along with some pie plate gills on that south end as long as your neck dont get to soar.  Remember if you fished early 80's thats all you caught back then were smaller perch.  Mid 80's it started to improve. Maybe we need the limit lifted for a few years to let human predation try to help balance what the walleye and few muskie dont want to eat anymore, a spinny finned perch. Until then im sure there are locals that still gotta a line on good fish.....there just not talking....and i dont blame them.  Fish on everybody.

[perchpopper]

Back in the 80's Art Andrews was the local Dec officer and a great person . I remember him showing us a pile of filleted perch on the ice that would have filled a garbage can , pretty disgusting just for the $$$$ , it sort of took the fun out of it . Shortly after the limit was reduced to 25 and personally I along with several friends are fine with that .If I knew where the big perch were on the lake I sure wouldn't advertise because it would turn into a little village out there all over again . My grandkids have a lot of fun fishing for those little fish , I've had my fun and it's great to see them having a good time , sometimes it's not all about the numbers . One day the lake may get straightened around with good management but for now I guess it is what it is .

[Floatman]

Perch...Yeah, I got checked by Art off and on myself.  Nice guy.  I used to take my 1 burner coleman out there to cook up some venison steaks and he would pull up to my tent with his skidoo and say "sure smells good out here!"  Of course I always gave him a steak sandwich.  I, too, remember the hoards off Marble Rd raping the perch population.  Lots of variables affecting the population now but I think most everyone would agree the lake is too small to sustain that type of pressure.  As to lifting the limit for a few years, hardly anyone, including myself, is interested in keeping 25 6-7" perch let alone 50.  Hence, no pressure to speak of anymore.  I drive by now and it sort of reminds me of the early 80's when I first started ice fishing there.   

[Pantucci]

It's a shame-- that was my favorite lake about 10 years ago-- now I switched to Oneida, as you have more of a chance of getting something big out of there.  Although, if it's a warm late-season ice fishing day and you have young kids, you can always walk out 50 feet, set up some chairs and have fun pulling dinks out the hole for a few hours.

[Krocodile]

I fished near Hyder a few times last year before I discovered the lakers at Otsego and I managed to get limits of 8-10 inchers. I did have to sort through 100-150 fish to do it but the day went by quickly.