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The herring from the Atlantic are different than Alewife in Lake Ontario, and I agree that Atlantic Herring pickled are great tasting, but you have to have a taste for pickled fish, and they are oilier than the perch and sunfish. I've only had Whitefish once and it was not far from haddock in flavor, a kind of bland to sweet white flaky fish. Since it was in a restaurant, it could have come from anywhere, but I have heard that Cisco is similar.
Through out a 4 hour period my partner and I encountered (19) such interventions varying in size from 12 inches all the way up to 20 inches. The average was over 16 inches, so I doubt they were the stocked Cisco's you mentioned in your other post, more likely native. Is that a good assumption? Lastly, as you mentioned I did bring 2 of the Cisco's with the very intent of smoking them . I used a common salt brown sugar and cider brine to soak them over night, unfortunately, my smoker got more hot than generated smoke. They were too crispy (cooked) and i really didn't get to enjoy the flavor or consistency of the species. I would note they are very boney. I will try again next season. Thank you for all your information on the Cisco fish populations in Lake Ontario and elsewhere. I hope this is the type of information you were looking for.Boggey
Hi CommanderCisco...was wondering if there are any plans to stock these cisco in some finger lakes , like maybe Keuka, or other inland lakes where many of the lake trout seem to be very thin, from i'm guessing low baitfish numbers ... Seems some of these lakes baitfish and trout numbers might be in trouble due to changing water conditions, or invasive mussels or other factors... just curious if you think the cisco could thrive there and help these other lakes, and their trout fisheries too.
Not trying to hijack this thread, but i am interested in catching cisco. I read mention of millsite a couple times, i have been interested in fishing this lake and lake of the woods for several years now. Any suggestions? Thanks
Tully lake is small but the Cisco can be pretty big. Deep water straight north off the parking area or to the left on the west side. There is a big hole over there that they hang in. I've never caught one in less than 20 fow. I've seen some caught in less. But it's rare.
Hi choo choo - Many of the Finger Lakes originally had cisco in them until the early/mid 1900's - Keuka included. I know the DEC is planning on surveying some of the Finger Lakes starting this year to see if there are still some cisco hanging around. I'm not sure if they plan to stock cisco there, but I do think they would have a chance of surviving depending on the lake. Although some of the shallower lakes they used to be in (Oneida for example) are now too warm during the summer, the deeper and colder Finger Lakes would still be cold enough for them during the hot months. The nice thing about cisco is that they are native, so they are used to our cold and unpredictable winters that the alewife are more sensitive to. They also don't have the thiaminase problem that smelt and alewife do, so lake trout and other predators are healthier when they eat cisco instead of alewife.
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Topic: Cisco/Lake Herring in Upstate NY (Read 7154 times)
