any smelt yet

[tucker]

Anyone have any smelt reports yet?  Seems to be they are getting off to a late start.  Usually I hear about a few being taken on cayuga lake by now

[mostlyice]

Anyone have any smelt reports yet?  Seems to be they are getting off to a late start.  Usually I hear about a few being taken on cayuga lake by now

I did not know smelt still existed in Cayuga. I haven't seen any in the tribs in 5 years .

MI

[allenca]

Ussally over here in Minnisota They run in the middle april give it a few more weeks and I,ll tell you If I get anything tell me how you do [/move

[tucker]

i usually get a few smelt, a dozen or 2 in salmon creek.  enough for a few snacks and some bait

[fingerlakesfisher]

In the past (and I mean years ago)  I could remember getting the smelt this time of year on Cayuga.  I have not had a good smelting year since the late 80's early 90's.  Most of the creeks are posted that I used to smelt.  Etiquette of the people that still smelt is aweful.  So I do not go much anymore.  I usually take about 5-8 rides this time of year through end of April with the gear in the truck withh the hopes of getting a few, but mostly it end up just being a nice drive.  Eventually I find some, where i get about 60 - 80 smelt .  Just enough to put into freezer bags and use as snack through out the summer prior to eating some steaks off of the grill.   I think over fishing and something ecological has dropped the population.

[fishshack]

I also used to smelt Cayuga and do quite well. About 5 or 6 years ago things really slowed up. We would get some but the big runs we used to see were not there. Then there was 2 or 3 years when I could not get a single smelt. I would try 5 or 6 times a year. I have not even tried it the past 2 years. I used to go to Milikan and the smelt would come in. It would look like a black wave and you could get 50 in one scoop. Back then limit catches were common.

[fingerlakesfisher]

that is exactly what i am talking about. 

[chrisk]

Lanterns and Zebra mussles ruined the smelt fishery thou u could still scrape a few up.

[tucker]

I understand the zebra mussels consuming the forage base of the smelt, but lanterns? 

[chrisk]

Lanterns cause popular creeks are as bright as Times Square and smelt run after dark and in the dark.

[fingerlakesfisher]

That is what I was reffering to about ediquette.  I see guys sit at the mouth of the creek with the lantern on and they wait for the smelt.  I see guys walk the wrong way.  I have been in a creek with a few of my freinds and no one else is in it.  We see a few smelt so we go to the  mouth with the lights off wait a while and start to wlk up stream.  Then what happens, someone watching from a car sees us net a few and then they jump in the middle of the creek and walk towards us.  ***censored****   That is the sht that psss me off.  Some where down the line they should have been taught about sportsmanship.  I agree with the zebra muscles but not the lanterns.  Some of the best smelting I have ever had was during the day (early morning) when it was light out.  Of course many yeras ago

[susquayuga fisher]

I used to fish at milliken at night when everyone else was chasing smelt, I stood out about 25 yds offshore and just hammered lakers with a chartreuse rapala. noone even knew I was out there, they were too busy chasing smelt. Often, I'd put on a cleo in the morning and snag (errr....I mean accidently  catch) smelt for bait.  d**n I MISS THOSE DAYS!!!  Too many hogs taking bucketfuls  home, mistakenly thinking that because there are (were) so many, the bucketfuls wouldn't make a difference. Zebras didn't help any, eating phytoplankton. I sliced my foot open on one of those little bast@rds on the North end! I got no use for em. People who dont fish think the Zebra Mussels are a good thing, because the water is so clear now. Ignorance is bliss!  Gotta get up in 2 hrs, trolling Cayuga at Myers. Say hi if you see me. 16 ft Sylvan boat. Mine still has a block of ice in it that I have to break out. Good luck all!                 



Andy

[fishshack]

It is not just Cayuga where they are disappearing. When I was a kid my neighbor used to go to Lake Ontario and crush them. He would tell stories of guys filling garbage pails with them. I never hear of anybody getting into them up there anymore either. I really do not think that overfishing has anything to do with them disappearing.  Zebra mussels are the cause.

[chrisk]

Fingers lanterns don't decrease the overall number of smelt in the lake just the number that run upstream.

[fishryc]

It is not just Cayuga where they are disappearing. When I was a kid my neighbor used to go to Lake Ontario and crush them. He would tell stories of guys filling garbage pails with them. I never hear of anybody getting into them up there anymore either. I really do not think that overfishing has anything to do with them disappearing.  Zebra mussels are the cause.

 Does anyone have any definitive info. / data regarding the impact of zebras on the smelt population? I have dipped smelt in Lewiston NY on the Lower Niagara River for 30 years and their numbers are probably down 90% from as recent as 10 years ago. With ABSOLUTELY no exaggerating, you used to get 2/3 full nets!  3 dips and done with a 5 gallon pail over half full! Now, 6 fish in a dip is considered good. You do sometimes see spurts of good numbers, but nowhere near as in the passed. I always thought the decline was due to the massive trout and salmon stocking of Lake Ontario, which you didn't have 30 years ago. However the biggest decline has been in passed few years. If it's the zebras, I wonder why smelt seem so abundant in Lake Erie, which is heavily encrusted with zebras? I ice fish on the Buffalo Small Boat Harbor which is situated at the mouth of the Upper Niagara River. Mostly every year, smelt are so thick, they can sometimes black out the picture from your Aqua Vue. I fish for them with a maggot on a #14 gold egg hook and can take them at rates of 100 or more per hour. Last year and this I put enough in my freezer that I didn't have to bother dipping 3 to 4 hours to end up with 100 fish. This fact seems to indicate the impact of salmonoids: Lake Ontario>Lots of salmonoids>Few smelt.       Lake Erie>Fewer salmonoids>Lots of smelt.  Anyway, I miss the smelt and thought someone may have some solid data / info.
    
 Many thanks and keep yer lines wet-

Fishryc