fishing on canadarago lake

[lil_coondog]

Looked like a nice day. Anyone have any luck on Cando today?

[kowboyup]

Don't think there was many people out as I went all the way around the lake and there was 2 shantys out at bakers nobody but a guy wind sailing at the boat launch, then one guy on the east side out, probably from his camp. I went around the lake at around 1pm or so

[RTF]

Friday night I saw a guy off of the boat launch.

[JoshE18]

A lot of people out here today nailing the perch nothing of size tho

[lil_coondog]

Fished west side today with the wife, set up in 27 FOW. Got 43 YP with the biggest being 10". C&R all.

[bahfishing]

Fished west side yesterday afternoon with my son. In the 2 hrs we were there we caught a lot of perch, but the biggest was 10" and 1 was 9", the rest were smaller. All were released. Is anyone getting any bigger ones? It was nice to be out there but would like to get one a little bigger once in a while.

[frozen fingers]

Need to reintroduce some tigers to thin out the small perch

[TheSystem]

NYS had been stocking 12000 tiger fry each year, but have stopped two years ago due to lack of angler interest/evidence of success.  I see young tigers every year though.  We need to write letters.

[MBrown4]

If you ask me they should stick more walleye fingerlings.they will target the alewives and yoy perch more throughout their entire life. As soon as those tigers hit 2 or 3 ft lookout 12 inch jacks and young eye. Your bait

[TheSystem]

We put in 30-40k walleye fry each year.  Unfortunately, due to predation, few of those survive.  They are bass and pickerel bait! 

[MBrown4]

The fry are 1.5 to 2.5 inches aren't they? Sounds like full 5 inch perch to me.whats the deal with the fingerling  stocking program? It ended in 13 didn't it? I forgot

[TheSystem]

Walleye fry are 4-5".  Walleye stocking ends in 15 I believe, I'll check.  EIther way, the state is pretty committed to that program because they know it is the only answer to our alewive problem (as evidenced in Otsego).

[o2rmk800]

maybe instead of 30,000 fry maybe 15,000 10-12"ers would be the answer

[TheSystem]

O2r, haven't seen you since last year! Heard you had some good fishing the other day.  I've been asking the state to do just that for a few years, but it all comes down to $ of course.  It is very cheap and easy to raise walleye up to 4", after that, they get aggressive and require more space, and start killing eachother supposedly, so they give us the most cost effective option, regardless of its success.  I"m thankful to get what we get, but I believe even 1000 10" walleye would do more good that 30,000 4".

[MBrown4]

I'd have to agree with that. The small fish are just a buffet for the perch.maybe they should be stocking baitfish?

[beamer010]

I grew up on this lake. It is so disappointing how mismanaged it has become.

[kowboyup]

x2

[Floatman]

X3

[TheSystem]

BS.  It was the irresponsibility of the 80s and 90s that have put the lake in this state.  People thought that there was no limit to the fish that could be taken out, heck, remember the days with increased Walleye limits and commercial perch selling?  People think that the lake always was and always will be...no matter what they dump into it.  Nobody bothered to clean their boats when going from lake to lake, so now we have problems like Eurasian Milfoil, Curly Leaf Pondweed, Starry Stonewort, Zebra Mussels, Alewives, etc.  Most people do not believe that their actions have massive effects on the lake.  The lake is JUST NOW beginning to be managed correctly.  We have posted a Lake Steward at the boat launch to check incoming boats for invasive weeds (this year he pulled a highly invasive water chestnut from a boat BEFORE it got into the lake), we do weekly nutrient, O2, and temperature monitoring, yearly fish surveys, water level monitoring, streambed mapping, and are using all this info to develop a long term Lake Management plan to avoid the mistakes of the past.  If you value the lake, please help me, get involved with CLIA, we're having a meeting on Feb 26th, at the Vet's club at 6pm to learn about the lake's invasive species.  Presentations will be from Oneonta Professors as well as my Lake Management Team from Soil&Water, Biological Field Station, and CLIA.

[lil_coondog]

Well said System

[perchtrapper]

Well said for sure,
 Ive seen the commercial BS  and it sucks for us who go to fish for fun and to bring home a meal ,I sat on a lake last year up north and watched  4guys get their limit of perch then left, two hours later they were back and slinging fish again. 4 guys 50 fish times twice a day just say 2 times a week. Mean time I fished for about eight hrs came home with 15-20 fish threw an unknown amount back.

Like to try to make that meeting, if you could post a reminder when it gets closer   

[Floatman]

System...I take back my X3.  I guess I wasn't thinking about the term mismanagement.  You hit the nail on the head with the problems.  I also remember the commercial guys out there off Marble Road that used to take buckets of perch.  Its seems like we're right back where we were in the old days of the early 80's (probably before you were born) when you could catch all the dinks you wanted, but that was it.  I'm not optimistic that we'll ever see a time when you can go out & catch a mess of keepers (I never keep more than a dozen).  If & when that happens it will be a zoo out there.       

[TheSystem]

No offense taken Floatman.   I don't care what lake you're talking about, Oneida, even Ontario.   if you get the amount of guys who fish Cando taking 25 12+" perch out each weekend, your population is gone in a few weeks.  Many people don't realize it takes 4 years to grow a 12" perch.  I will tell you that there are still lots of 12-14" perch there, but they can be real hard to find.  One other thing compounding the problem is that the vast majority of the lake's predators are no longer targeting perch - that's why the smallest perch are so numerous and brazen.  The alewives are now the target food for the lake's predators, leaving the perch population unchecked.  This may be a controversial statement, but I've been thinking that we fishermen should start keeping limits of perch smaller than 6" every weekend.  Ever notice that those ones are often so aggressive that you have to play keep away with your bait just to give the bigger ones a chance?  That might take some burden off the food chain and give those 8" perch a chance to become 10 next year, and 12 the year after. 

[MBrown4]

I agree with that statement system.if we took piles of small perch out it would open up more food for the rest.

[perchpopper]

When Floatman wrote x3 he was thinking of his Winchester SX3 .

[lil_coondog]

Fished west side today south of Hyder with papacoondog. Had about 5-6" of ice out there. Took the wheeler out with us. Moved around a bunch and marked fished at about every hole, but the bite was a little slow. Only got 7 YP all under 10", C&R all.

[TheSystem]

Geez this year is tough.  I'm going to do a nite shift today, hopefully something turns up.

[BIGJim223]

Geez this year is tough.  I'm going to do a nite shift today, hopefully something turns up.

Play hookie and fish with me and Paulie tomorrow. You know where...

BIGJim223

[TheSystem]

You can't say stuff like that to me!  The prinicpal really frowns upon it when you take a day off 3 days after a two week vacation!

[BIGJim223]

You can't say stuff like that to me!  The prinicpal really frowns upon it when you take a day off 3 days after a two week vacation!

Plus had a snow day yesterday when it was too cold and windy to fish on 'Rago...... Don't worry, I won't ruin your day tomorrow with pictures!


UNLESS I put more minutes on my phone!

BIGJim223