Lake Erie - State of the Lake Meeting Info

[J. Sparrow]

I'd seen a flyer for a "State of the Lake" type meeting that was to be held at the Southtowns Walleye Association Club House last night.......... 

The meeting location was too far to travel, but I'd be interested in reading the information if anyone has a link to the presentations, or has a name at the New York Sea Grant to contact to get the presentation info......

Anybody go the the meeting? Any big "take aways" from the meeting?

[Tightline356]

I went last night, alot of good information. Walleye should be good again this year, if not better than last year if you can believe that. Perch fishing should be better this year with 3 good fish classes in the lake not. Overall the lake is doing very good.

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[Tightline356]

Now*

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[J. Sparrow]

The flyer mentioned a "barotrauma on perch" discussion. 

TL356, were there any memorable points made in that presentation?  Specifically, I'm interested in the barotrauma impact on perch, with respect to water temperature.  Do they have a better chance of surviving if caught in cold (<45F) water or through the ice?

Thanks.

[jimski2]

For more information google up “ perch gill netting “.


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[mostlymuskies]

Also all the fishermen that take 50 perch to the truck and go back out for 50 more.Then there are those who toss back anything under 3/4 lb as seagull food,until they get 50 jumbos! Should be 25,first 25 you catch!

For more information google up “ perch gill netting “.


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[jimski2]

The angling catch of yellow perch is less than 25% of the total catch between commercial and angling efforts. Yellow Perch numbers should be under controls as they are a predator of all reproduction of fish in Lake Erie. The fifty perch daily limit is angler processing of the perch catch is estimated. We still need more perch harvested and cutting the limit should be a personal determination. Just take only what you can clean and process when you get home. There are too many laws on the books in New York State that are a knee jerk reaction to a perceived and unstudied  issues. I fished the Wiscoy Creek April 1st and counted three automobiles while the East Koy Creek had hundreds of vehicles. The Wiscoy is managed for natural reproduction while the East Koy is stocked with hatchery fish. Now things here will not change, a small user group had their way and now it will not change.

[J. Sparrow]

The intent of my original post was not to complain about the behavior of anglers, or solicit those types of comments. Please open another thread for that.

I'm interested in data concerning the release of perch and the effects of barotrauma on perch caught in deep water, and the effects of temperature on their survival. 

[jimski2]

The released perch are not wasted. If the gulls eat them or they sink to the bottom they become forage for the bottom life that consume them. The main considerations are controlled harvest to prevent starvation of the biomass presence in the lake. Stunting down of perch growth and survival is having a balanced harvest. You can only feed a few cows in a pasture till they must be moved. The same management is necessary for fish in the lake.


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[mr 580]

I did not attend last weeks meeting, however I have sat in on several DEC sessions where barotrauma was discussed.  The “takeaway” that I have is that there is very little an angler can do with perch and walleye to reverse barotrauma.  Their data suggests that using release tools, reeling slowly, or fizzing the bladder are not effective in a meaningful way to increase survival.  As this is an air pressure situation I don’t believe water temperature makes a big difference in survival.  Once the internal organs are damaged that is pretty much it.  So an angler should consider keeping those fish or look to move to another area where fish could be larger.  My belief is that the DEC is discussing it to raise angler awareness not that they have a solution to the problem.  Perhaps you might find additional info on DEC website.  Hope this is helpful.

[J. Sparrow]

Thanks Mr.

We recently caught some perch in a lake Ontario bay in 50 FOW at 40F. When small ones are released, you can see them (on the graph) go straight to the bottom. They never appear back on the surface over the course of the 2 hours that we are there. So I don't know if they live 5 minutes, or 5 hours, or a normal lifetime, and I was wondering if there was any data out there at colder temps. Perhaps temp has no effect, perhaps it does. Very few of these "cold water caught" fish suffer from bleeding gills, that I see on perch harvested from similar depths at warmer temperatures, and that also may or may not be temperature related. 

Edited April 15, 2019 by J. Sparrow

[mr 580]

It is my understanding that when you see the bulging eyes or insides in the throat area that the damage is done.  The fish might swim down in a lively fashion but there is no reversal of the process.  If you aren’t seeing signs of pressure change damage, you maybe releasing fish that have a good chance of living.  To me the DEC is trying to raise angler awareness so folks can adjust their tactics so the resource is not wasted.

[jimski2]

40 degree water is part of the "turnover" when the surface and bottom water are almost even. There is almost no difference in temperatures from top to bottom. 

[Dennyboy]

Back to the State of the Lake Erie topic. Here is a link to the report in PDF format.

Here you can find them all from 2018 back to 2014:

https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/32286.html  

[J. Sparrow]

Not barotrauma info, but good stuff.

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by J. Sparrow

[J. Sparrow]

http://www.glfc.org/2019-lake-committee-videos.php

lots of very good stuff here............