Author Topic: cowbanks (Read 2127 times)

quackshack · « **on:** Feb 22, 2011, 02:26 PM »

anyone know if the die off on alewives has slowed down? Last time I was out there they were flouting up in the holes

RipSomeLips22 · « **Reply #1 on:** Feb 22, 2011, 03:02 PM »

i hear they still are, not one shanty out there this year, looks like the cowbanks, are cow flop this year!

mroy44 · « **Reply #2 on:** Feb 23, 2011, 01:08 PM »

went by today not a shanty out there, its a ghost town!

cbice · « **Reply #3 on:** Feb 23, 2011, 07:48 PM »

It's a spooky site out there this year. I didn't grow up in this area but we used to come up to go ice fishing and I always remember seeing a classic shanty town out there. Now it's a ghost town.

RipSomeLips22 · « **Reply #4 on:** Feb 23, 2011, 07:54 PM »

maybe cowflop is whats needed for a rejuvenation next year of some nice fish!

mudchuck · « **Reply #5 on:** Feb 23, 2011, 08:16 PM »

I have no idea where the cowbanks are.
Anyone want to clue me in on how to ge there. I'd be willing to try fishing it just to see if I get skunked or not.
What gets fished for there?

tench · « **Reply #6 on:** Feb 23, 2011, 08:42 PM »

North side of the Sandbar causeway, South Hero side... Watch out for the channel under the bridge

same new guy · « **Reply #7 on:** Feb 23, 2011, 09:14 PM »

Quote from: mudchuck on Feb 23, 2011, 08:16 PM

I have no idea where the cowbanks are.
Anyone want to clue me in on how to ge there. I'd be willing to try fishing it just to see if I get skunked or not.
What gets fished for there?

wouldnt waste your time dude,went there several times last winter during a baitfish die-off....needless to say,not a flag or a nibble.and we covered that whole zone over 3 days altogether of fishing.not a fish to be had

TRT · « **Reply #8 on:** Feb 24, 2011, 07:13 AM »

Worth a shot after the inland season ends. Can produce some
really nice BT & LLS

RipSomeLips22 · « **Reply #9 on:** Feb 24, 2011, 07:48 AM »

if you drill a hole and alwives float up might as well look for a new spot

Lavman · « **Reply #10 on:** Feb 24, 2011, 07:51 AM »

So what's the scoop: since there are so many dead alewives for the game fish to eat they don't take live bait?

We used to fish the Cowbanks and the two nearby islands (Fish Bladder and Cedar) with lots of success for perch and the shanty town was made of of smelters, good old days.

vermonner · « **Reply #11 on:** Feb 24, 2011, 07:55 AM »

Quote from: Lavman on Feb 24, 2011, 07:51 AM

So what's the scoop: since there are so many dead alewives for the game fish to eat they don't take live bait?

Yup. And if you do manage a fish, it will have a belly full of alewife. Those good old days are gone. Thanks for nothing, alewifers.

RipSomeLips22 · « **Reply #12 on:** Feb 24, 2011, 07:55 AM »

yup pretty much, have an abundance of food to eat

vermonner · « **Reply #13 on:** Feb 24, 2011, 08:04 AM »

Quote from: RipSomeLips22 on Feb 24, 2011, 07:55 AM

yup pretty much, have an abundance of food to eat

Not even good food at that. Alewife is nutritionally poor, a suboptimal forage fish.

RipSomeLips22 · « **Reply #14 on:** Feb 24, 2011, 08:20 AM »

yeah but fish dont know that, they are just hungry! lol

vermonner · « **Reply #15 on:** Feb 24, 2011, 08:23 AM »

We should go teach them about nutrition....
Maybe we could get a law about that written and passed...

shiveringjoe · « **Reply #16 on:** Feb 24, 2011, 08:35 AM »

Quote from: vermonner on Feb 24, 2011, 08:04 AM

Not even good food at that. Alewife is nutritionally poor, a suboptimal forage fish.

I couldn't find a great article to share but this gives some info on alewives and thiaminase:

http://www.glsc.usgs.gov/_print.php?content=research_initiatives_thiamine&title=Initiatives

some studies have shown that when fish eat alewives they can build up enough thiaminase to cause problems with reproduction. I think it only affects salmonids (which don't actually do much natural reproduction in Champlain) but it's definitely scary and won't help establish a naturally reproducing fishery for salmon and lake trout.

vermonner · « **Reply #17 on:** Feb 24, 2011, 10:28 AM »

http://www.anr.state.vt.us/dec/waterq/lakes/htm/ans/lp_alewife.htm
some good stuff in here about disruption of food chain/web when alewives dominate. They outcompete, but aren't that hearty a fish and don't survive temp fluctuations. All the food 'eggs' are in one crashable basket.

Lavman · « **Reply #18 on:** Feb 24, 2011, 11:56 AM »

Wow, thanks for the info. Learn something new every day

mudchuck · « **Reply #19 on:** Feb 24, 2011, 07:17 PM »

Quote from: tench on Feb 23, 2011, 08:42 PM

North side of the Sandbar causeway, South Hero side... Watch out for the channel under the bridge

So why is that the norht side of the sandbar is dead but the south side is alive and well? I don't understand

vermonner · « **Reply #20 on:** Feb 24, 2011, 08:37 PM »

Quote from: mudchuck on Feb 24, 2011, 07:17 PM

So why is that the norht side of the sandbar is dead but the south side is alive and well? I don't understand

Thecurrent tends to flow under the bridge toward the point northeast of the cowbanks and circle around in there, somewhat bypassing the shallower (or backwater) southern side, sandbar. Ever think of Sandbar State Park as a bit of a shelf, just south of the bridge? Water drops off quickly when you hit the current flowing in from the outer lake as you move toward the Cowbanks from Sandbar. My guess is that the current keeps plenty of feed coming in for the alewives and they don't have to venture far to eat. Sandbar is good habitat for perch and holds a population. Cowbanks has alewives glaore, alive and dead, so those fish don't have to move. Two separate habitats in the same section of the lake is my thought.

Percheye101 · « **Reply #21 on:** Feb 25, 2011, 03:53 PM »

I can remember hammering the salmon there not too many years ago.

pokholes · « **Reply #22 on:** Mar 01, 2011, 11:48 AM »

I can remember slammin salmon there as well!!!

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Author Topic: cowbanks (Read 2127 times)