Each year the New York State (NYS) Department of Environmental Conservation offers four opportunities to fish Adirondack waters without a fishing license. The free opportunities throughout the calendar year provide a sampling of fishing experiences.
The days are meant to allow people to test new waters or introduce someone to a new sport. Since 1991 these reoccurring events have allowed visitors and residents alike the opportunity to get outside and cast a line. » Continue Reading.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the winners of the angling segment of the WomenHuntFishNY photo contest, held this summer. After sifting through almost 4,000 photo entries, DEC staff chose 14 winners and runners-up. » Continue Reading.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation (ALSC) have announced the confirmation of brook trout in Lake Colden in the Adirondack High Peaks.
Considered fishless for decades due to the negative effects of acid rain, the discovery of the brook trout population in Lake Colden is being attributed to improved water quality directly resulting from state and national standards to prevent the airborne pollutants that cause acid rain, notably sulfur dioxide. » Continue Reading.
The Whallonsburg Grange Lyceum has announced “Beneath the Surface: Salmon in the Boquet River,” a program on the return of landlocked Atlantic salmon to the Boquet River, set for Tuesday, October 15th, at 7:30 pm. This program is part of the Grange’s fall series “Hidden in Plain Sight.” » Continue Reading.
The 2019 Salmon Festival has been set for Saturday, October 5th, at multiple locations in Richmond, Vermont. Family friendly, salmon based events will take place throughout the community from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. » Continue Reading.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is developing a new plan for inland trout stream management based on updated scientific information and public meetings held across the state in 2017.
Prior to completing the draft plan, DEC fisheries managers would like to meet with trout stream anglers to explain the proposed approach, answer questions, and solicit feedback. » Continue Reading.
Consider for a second a fish that can live in turbid, low-oxygen water. Can breathe through its skin. Eats almost anything. Has a wickedly effective defense mechanism. And is a really focused parent. Plus, it’s good to eat.
We’re talking about the humble hornpout. Or “horned pout,” if you prefer. Or “mud cat.” Taxonomically, Ameiurus nebulosus. The brown bullhead. » Continue Reading.
The Ticonderoga Historical Society has opened the exhibit “Salmon and People,” set to run through June 21, with a free public program on Friday, June 21 at the Hancock House, 6 Moses Circle, Ticonderoga. Provided by the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership, the exhibit celebrates 2019 as the “International Year of the Salmon.” » Continue Reading.
The annual Hendrickson Hatch Fly Fishing Tournament has been set for Saturday and Sunday, June 1-2 in Malone.
Tournament registration will run from 8 to 9:45 am at North Country Community College in Malone. Fishing will begin at 10 am on Saturday, and ends at 1 pm on Sunday. » Continue Reading.
It’s tempting to simply view fish scales as armor, but there’s more to them than that. They provide camouflage; they also play a role in locomotion. For scientists working on the recovery of American Shad in the Connecticut River, scales provide a record of a fish’s life history and a way to measure the success of restoration efforts.
American shad is our largest river herring. The males, called bucks, run up to six pounds. The females, or row shad, up to four. Like their cousins alewife and blue-backed herring, shad are anadromous, spending most of the year in the ocean, then running up fresh water rivers like the Connecticut in spring to spawn. » Continue Reading.
When I’m skiing or skating across a pond, I observe the shoreline, surrounding hills, islands, maybe a woodpecker or blue jay winging its way to the opposite shore. I look up at the sky, the clouds, swirling snowflakes. But there is a world beneath my feet that I don’t see, in what Henry David Thoreau called “the quiet parlor of the fishes.”
Beneath a layer of ice up to three feet thick, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and tiny invertebrates are going about their winter business. For most of these creatures, this means slowing their metabolism down to survive with reduced light and oxygen. They move less, eat less, and breathe more slowly than in warmer months. » Continue Reading.
Lake Trout are designated species of Greatest Conservation Need in NY, based on the reduction of cold, well oxygenated waters in lakes due to climate change.
Lake Trout, Salvelinus namaycush are one of two native salmonines to the interior Adirondacks, Brook Trout, S. fontinalis being the other.
However, unlike Brook Trout, which can be found from small headwater streams to deeper lakes, Lake Trout reside in the hypolimnion (bottom) of lakes during the majority of the year, where water temperatures are most suitable. The depth of the hypolimnion depends on many factors, including latitude, size of the lake, and the height of surrounding land that offers protection from the wind. » Continue Reading.
A severe storm Friday, May 4, cut power to the Adirondack Fish Hatchery at Lake Clear, east of Saranac Lake, killing most of the salmon stock.
Power lines to the hatchery were downed during the storm according to DEC, causing the facility’s backup generator to activate. When power was restored from the grid, it caused the backup generator to go off-line, and a transfer switch failed. That failure prevented the flow of well water into the raceways, depriving the salmon of oxygenated water.
The New York State Conservation Council estimates more than 85% of the salmon that remained in the raceways following the spring stocking operations were lost – or more than 250,000 fish. » Continue Reading.
Two new state fishing records were set over the course of one weekend in New York recently.
Brian Hartman of Alexandria Bay eclipsed the 2009 state record walleye by more than 1.5 pounds when he caught an 18-pound-2-ounce walleye from the St. Lawrence River on May 5 using a swimbait.
On May 6, William Wightman of South Dayton used a black marabou jig to reel in a 4-pound-1-ounce crappie from Lake Flavia in Cattaraugus County, exceeding the 1998 state record by five ounces. » Continue Reading.
Though trout and salmon season may have opened on April 1st, the fluctuating temperatures have not made anyone in my family interested in early season angling. Though fishing may not be on my children’s agenda, a visit to the Adirondack Hatchery is always a springtime tradition. Each of the 12 DEC operated fish hatcheries raise specific species of fish, with the Lake Clear hatchery’s specialty being landlocked Atlantic salmon. » Continue Reading.
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