A Forty-Year Perspective Cayuga Lake Fisheries A Forty-Year Perspective NYS DEC’s fish data and management strategies, a forty-year perspective.
Fisheries Community - Cayuga Lake Coldwater Fishery: rainbow, brown, and lake trout and landlocked (Atlantic) salmon Warmwater Fishery: black bass, northern pike, chain pickerel, yellow perch, sunfish, rock bass, and crappie Forage Base: alewives and rainbow smelt, cisco Challenges: sea lamprey control, lake trout over- abundance, centrarchid mortality, “Early Mortality Syndrome”, spiny water flea and zebra mussels Other Species: lake sturgeon, walleye
Fish Stocking - 2012 Water Date Species Strain Size Number Cayuga Lake April Brown Trout DOMESTIC 9"Y 10000 May Atlantic Salmon LIT CLR SY 13000 15000 Nov Lake Trout FL FF 40000 Enfield Creek Spring Rainbow Trout FL WILD 12500 Salmon Creek Oct 20000 Cayuga Inlet
Cayuga Lake Stocking History
Cayuga Lake Stocking History
Cayuga Inlet Fishway Spring Runs of Sea Lamprey and Rainbow Trout
Cayuga Lake wild/stocked fish Reduced yearling LT stocking in 2013- 20K to 15K Track wild LT reproduction during FL netting Track wild RT reproduction fall stream electrofishing and returns at fishway
Open Water Trout and Salmon Species Goal length Regulation Mean length Lake Trout 22 in 15 in 23.0 in Brown Trout 18 in 19.7 in Rainbow Trout 19.3 in Landlocked Salmon 20 in 20.3 in
Cayuga Lake Angler Diary Data-Catch of Legal Salmonids
Cayuga Lake fishing cont. Total # Legal Salmonids # Hours to Angler % Trips Ave Hours/ Kept2 (Released)3 Catch 1 legal # of Year Trips Successful1 Angler Trip LT RT BT LLS Salmonid Coop. 2002 1164 79 5.9 978 (556) 96 (14) 161 (40) 333 (75) 3.0 55 2003 724 72 4.5 368 (293) 9 (6) 73 (56) 113 (137) 3.1 58 2004 749 69 5.0 808 (384) 20 (13) 50 (17) 44 (10) 2.8 57 2005 1199 73 4.8 953 (682) 20 (12) 51 (23) 77 (20) 63 2006 1013 74 722 (821) 23 (12) 34 (24) 35 (13) 61 2007 745 4.7 350 (540) 20 (22) 69 (83) 26 (31) 49 2008 905 76 700 (411) 43 (11) 126 (50) 122 (33) 2.9 43 2009 580 78 4.9 269 (358) 11 (6) 78 (29) 39 (15) 3.5 34 2010 791 460 (379) 35 (8) 54 (34) 95 (18) 46 2011 83 611 (762) 22 (16) 26 (45) 118 (63) 2.7 47 2012 677 292 (605) 7 (7) 36 (30) 102 (87) 2.6 35 2013 672 64 391 (314) 38 (24) 23 (5) 71 (16) 3.4 41 2014 466 4.2 308 (590) 18 (9) 37 (30) 23 (6) 1.9 27 2015 679 4.4 428 (987) 14 (11) 21 (28) 47 (30) 36 2016 774 89 405 (1015) 49 (23) 28 (26) 89 (57) 2.1 25
Cayuga Lake Warmwater Species Goal length Regulation Mean length Smallmouth Bass 14.5 in 12 in 14.9 in Largemouth Bass 14.6 in Yellow Perch Chain Pickerel 15 in 20.6 in Northern Pike 22 in 22.8 in
Invasive Species Hydrilla Asian Clam Sea lamprey Round goby
Attached Sea Lamprey
Sea Lamprey Wounds
These are not eels.
Sea Lamprey Life Cycle
Sea Lamprey Ammocoetes & “Transformers”
Ithaca Fishway
Sea Lamprey Fishery Objectives SEA LAMPREY ATTACKS: Manage the fishery while maintaining sea lamprey attacks below the following rates: Lake Trout: 25.5 – 27.5 inches – 0.2 adult sea lamprey attacks per fish Lake Trout: 23.5 - 25.5 inches – 0.2 adult sea lamprey attacks per fish Rainbow Trout: 20 – 22 inches– 0.3 adult sea lamprey attacks per fish
Cayuga Inlet Sea Lamprey Control Monitoring 1979-2012
Treat with TFM as needed
Applying Lampricide
Lampricide (TFM) Application
Lake Sturgeon Restoration
Lake Sturgeon Restoration
Thank You Emily Zollweg-Horan Aquatic Biologist NYS DEC- Cortland emily.zollweg-horan@dec.ny.gov (607) 753-3095 x 201 Connect with us: Facebook: www.facebook.com/NYSDEC Twitter: twitter.com/NYSDEC Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/nysdec