ONEIDA LAKE DIEHARDS THREAD 2012

[wiredstone]

  wow that is strange

[fishhooksul]

       I made it out there from 545 til 10am on my buddy ryans boat, early on sort of sucked I picked a couple loser spots then around 9am we found some good action on our third spot til the storm started making one of my rods start vibrating and humming, through it on the bottom of the boat and took off, didn't quite beat it, got a little wet.  fished the east end, didn't feel like fighting an early morning east wind on the west end.. I ended up with 6 eyes and ryan got his limit, plus dumped some ..... a few other things like whities and sunfish, Ryan got a monster 13 inch jumbo, we hit a bass spot quick too and had some fun with some enormous smallmouth.  wish the storm held off, was having alot of fun fishing a few places I've never tried before.

had that happen to my wife, and I. we were perch fishing, and we were slammin em just before a storm. I told my wife we had to go, she said just one more fish, when lighting hit the water about 1/4 mile from us, and she could feel it through the pole !! needless to say, she was done fishing !! the pole hit the floor, and she headed for the cabin for the ride in. had to go by compass for a little bit, because evrything turned white. we hid behind short point until the storm passed. to this day my wife won't go with me if there's storms in the air !!   sully...

[SNAGGER]

  Has anyone else noticed all the adult shad everywhere you look on the surface of Oneida?, it doesn't matter if your in 5 feet or 40 feet, they are everywhere.. Man theres gonna be the shad hatch of the century in another month or so... walleyes could be pretty full going into this upcoming ice season.

[filetandrelease]

  

Has anyone else noticed all the adult shad everywhere you look on the surface of Oneida?, it doesn't matter if your in 5 feet or 40 feet, they are everywhere.. Man theres gonna be the shad hatch of the century in another month or so... walleyes could be pretty full going into this upcoming ice season.

everywhere i have been there they are [shad], so snag what are you thinking that maybe it won't be a cake walk for eyes this winter like the past 2 seasons ?

[Hookinup]

  Has anyone else noticed all the adult shad everywhere you look on the surface of Oneida?, it doesn't matter if your in 5 feet or 40 feet, they are everywhere.. Man theres gonna be the shad hatch of the century in another month or so... walleyes could be pretty full going into this upcoming ice season.

Yeah. Last week I saw a ton of 'em. What kind of shad are they though? I'm pretty sure they aren't gizzard shad, which is what I thought were predominant forage in Oneida. American Shad??  

I can remember fishing in the Seneca river almost 20 years ago near Onondaga Lake park and seeing them piled up dead on the shoreline by the hundreds. A game warden told me it was totally normal.

I've seen a ton of them when I was working on the Oswego River.

[SNAGGER]

Yeah. Last week I saw a ton of 'em. What kind of shad are they though? I'm pretty sure they aren't gizzard shad, which is what I thought were predominant forage in Oneida. American Shad??  

I can remember fishing in the Seneca river almost 20 years ago near Onondaga Lake park and seeing them piled up dead on the shoreline by the hundreds. A game warden told me it was totally normal.

I've seen a ton of them when I was working on the Oswego River.

  From my understanding those are your breeder gizzards.  Some hickory's too.


  found this.


Gizzard Shad Species Profile
Compiled by Dan O'Keefe, May 2008


Etymology:
This shad is named for its muscular, gizzard-like stomach. It is also known as a sawbelly because of the keeled scales found between the anal fin and gills.

Life History:
A Lake Erie study found that shad reach 5.5 inches at the end of their first year and 10 inches by the end of their second year. Most individuals spawn first during their third
year of life. By this time, they have grown large enough to avoid most predators. In Lake Erie, shad can live for up to six years.

Diet:
Early in life, the gizzard shad feeds on microscopic zooplankton. Large shad consume detritus (decomposing organic matter) and algae in addition to zooplankton. Shad also ingest sand, which probably serves to grind up detritus and algae in their gizzard-like stomach and aid in digestion. The ability of shad to use low-quality food sources in addition to high-quality zooplankton contributes to its abundance. When high shad abundance leads to a decline in zooplankton, shad switch to eating detritus, bringing nutrients from the bottom sediments back into suspension. This leads to increased algae, and therefore zooplankton, production in open water. In can also lead to muddy water and decreased growth rate of bluegill.

Size & Master Angler Entries:
Gizzard shad are not commonly caught due to their preference for microscopic prey. They do occasionally strike small spinners, spoons, flies, or live bait. The Michigan State Record is 4 pounds, 2 ounces. Recordclass shad can exceed 20 inches in length.



Overwinter mortality of gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum has been attributed to starvation, cold stress, and predation; however, the interactions among these factors are not well understood and can change across winter. We evaluated possible causes for overwinter mortality of age-0 gizzard shad through a combination of experiments and field sampling during the winters of 2005–2006 and 2006–2007. In the first experiment, gizzard shad were placed into cages in Oneida Lake, New York, during three time periods prior to ice formation. The fish exhibited low mortality at temperatures above 8°C but high mortality (>75%) in all cages as temperature dropped below 8°C. We observed no consistent patterns of length-dependent mortality or changes in total percent dry weight (DW). However, the viscerosomatic index (VSI) decreased during all time periods, indicating disproportionate use of visceral tissues. In the second experiment, gizzard shad were exposed to temperature treatments of 1, 2, and 4°C in experimental cold rooms. Little mortality occurred as temperature dropped from 8°C to 4°C, but mortality increased after temperature reached 4°C and was highest in the two coldest treatments. Within a temperature treatment, small fish died faster, and mortality exhibited a weak negative correlation with VSI and percent DW. Average size of fish in field collections increased through the winter, indicating higher mortality of smaller individuals and proportional changes in somatic DW and visceral DW. Results from both experiments and the field collections suggest that cold stress and an inability to acclimate—rather than starvation—are driving gizzard shad mortality at low temperatures.

Received December 2, 2010; accepted May 26, 2011


Young gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum can have dramatic effects on ecosystem structure because their high consumptive demand can eliminate crustacean zooplankton populations. The objective of this study was to examine diel feeding chronology of age-0 gizzard shad (25–89 mm total length), as well as their daily ration and consumption of Daphnia spp., in Oneida Lake during 1991 and 1992. Gastric evacuation titres, treasured experimentally, were faster for fish fed continuously (0.8–1.8 h) than for fish fed single meals of zooplankton (4.0–7.2 h) and were influenced by fish size. In Oneida Lake, young gizzard shad exhibited a diel feeding cycle; gut fullness gradually increased to a maximum during 1100–1900 hours and declined during the night. Juvenile gizzard shad shifted from a diet of exclusively zooplankton in July to a combination of zooplankton, algae, and detritus in August. Estimates of total daily ration ranged from 1.2 to 21.3% of wet body weight, and total daily ration of young gizzard shad increased with fish size. Our estimates of daily ration, based on fish feeding continuously during the day and digesting a single meal at night, closely approximated the maximum daily field ration of age-0 gizzard shad in Oneida Lake. The Daphnia population in Oneida Lake collapsed during July 1991, and Daphnia consumption by gizzard shad dropped sharply with it; from dietary considerations, the collapse could have been caused by a density of approximately 300,000 age-0 gizzard shad per hectare. In 1992, Daphnia production remained strong during July and August, and Daphnia consumption by gizzard shad did not decline. Because young gizzard shad can switch from zooplankton to phytoplankton as an alternative food source, we hypothesize that gizzard shad have a greater influence on growth and survival of age-0 yellow perch Perca flavescens than yellow perch have on gizzard shad, because yellow perch rely more on Daphnia as a primary food

[SNAGGER]

  found a better write up.


 http://www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/OLI/gizzardshad.pdf


Gizzard shad have a distinct appearance with a blunt, rounded snout hanging over a small mouth. They have a long filament on the back end of the dorsal (back) fin, and a row of pointed scales called “scutes” down the belly. Gizzard shad have a deep body that is silver with bluish upper sides and back. A small purple dot appears behind the gill flap, but this disappears during midlife.

 

Gizzard shad are quiet water fish that live in lakes, bays, and sluggish rivers. They prefer clear water, though they can tolerate high turbidity areas. Gizzard shad are filter feeders, and are one of New York's few freshwater fish that eat mostly plant material, phytoplankton, and algae. To eat, gizzard shad take water or mud into their mouths and then strain it though a set of rakes on their gills. Water and sediment are removed, and the food is captured and eaten. To grind and break up this plant matter, gizzard shad possess a unique muscular stomach called the gizzard.

 

Gizzard shad spawn during the summer (April-June) in streams and shallow water. Females produce 200,000-400,000 eggs, which sink to the bottom where they stick to anything they come in contact with. Eggs hatch in 2-4 days and the hatchlings feed on zooplankton.

 

Gizzard shad are not native to Oneida Lake. They were first documented here in the 1950’s, and probably invaded via the canal system that connects Oneida Lake with Lake Ontario. They disappeared shortly after their initial introduction, but were reintroduced through the flooding events that came with Hurricane Agnes. Today, gizzard shad are an important food source for many gamefish and are vital to the walleye here in Oneida Lake. However, gizzard shad are only vulnerable to predation during their early life stages because adults are too large for freshwater predators. If not kept under control, populations can grow rapidly and may become a problem. Along with the unchecked adult population, gizzard shad are not exciting to catch and are not good to eat, leading most anglers to consider them a nuisance species.

 

[OTIS]

Hit the water for the first time since mothers day.  They weren't where I left them!  Fished the flat in 20ish feet and never got a hit.  Headed out to 109 area and picked up two and lost my third at the boat.  Then they shut down.  Made it to shore before the rain hit.  Seems early to be in the deeper water.   Seen a couple large schools of buckeyes, but no fish under them.

[skunkedbywalleye]

Dark Cloud....me and a buddy had the same experience  a few years back with the line keeping the shape of a rainbow as the lure sank and the line would stay in the air. We both casted as far upwards as possible to see what would happen and the line just made a bigger rainbow. ...were smart ones hey. We got freaked out and got in just before the storm hit....pretty cool stuff

[fishhooksul]

  Has anyone else noticed all the adult shad everywhere you look on the surface of Oneida?, it doesn't matter if your in 5 feet or 40 feet, they are everywhere.. Man theres gonna be the shad hatch of the century in another month or so... walleyes could be pretty full going into this upcoming ice season.

haven't seen that on the west end. alot of buckeye clouds. if there is a big hatch on the east end the walleye bite will be slim to none for a couple months. get em while you can !!   sully...

[fishhooksul]

speaking of slim to none, where the #%*& is FM    later...

[jlucky]

http://i826.photobucket.com/albums/zz185/jlucky/image1.jpg


Fixed it for ya.

Thanks  Fish ON  still have not mastered getting pics on here

[slamboney]

You guys are killing me I haven't got out much at all this year and it sounds like it has been game on.  I completely disassembled my electric motor because nobody would work on it. The guy at Aero Marine said they used to service them but Minn Kota requires service shops to spend $2000.00 on parts/year or they won't allow them to be an authorized serivce center, they don't the manuals etc... Thanks for the great service Minn Kota, I won't buy another one.  I figured I might as well take it apart and either fix it or completely break it and buy a new one. Turns out the neg wire that runs throught the shaft had worn away and needed to be replaced.  Now I just have to put it together, I am pretty good at taking stuff apart, not quite as good at putting it together. If it works out I'm heading out tommorow afternoon, can't wait to get out.   

[SNAGGER]

You guys are killing me I haven't got out much at all this year and it sounds like it has been game on.  I completely disassembled my electric motor because nobody would work on it. The guy at Aero Marine said they used to service them but Minn Kota requires service shops to spend $2000.00 on parts/year or they won't allow them to be an authorized serivce center, they don't the manuals etc... Thanks for the great service Minn Kota, I won't buy another one.  I figured I might as well take it apart and either fix it or completely break it and buy a new one. Turns out the neg wire that runs throught the shaft had worn away and needed to be replaced.  Now I just have to put it together, I am pretty good at taking stuff apart, not quite as good at putting it together. If it works out I'm heading out tommorow afternoon, can't wait to get out.  

  you don't need a trolling motor for eyes, just a wind sock. Stay away from those bass!!!  

[KingPerch]

 you don't need a trolling motor for eyes, just a wind sock. Stay away from those bass!!!  

Good call Shane....beat me to it!!! Is there bass in this lake?? LOL!