problem

b

I would not doubt there's some kind of stress related disease or harmful organism springing up. This low water, as we've all said, blows chunks.  I righted 2 the other day and told some guy it was because of rock massages. The release methods are truly horrific . Nancy fumbled with the camera the other day and I put the fish back in the water after counting 3. F' it the pic wasn't worth hurting the steel.  It swam away like it's tail was on fire. The others never left the water.  I see people releasing steel like they were tunoids off a high gunwhaled boat.  Take them by the tail and head and torpedo them after a 2 minute pic and vid session with 3 phones. .  People are acting like Goldman-Sachs before the crash of '08. Plunder the stocks now!!!!!  And just like them, they'll expect the govt. to bail them out. It's all the DEC's fault. I hope Lucky, in his usual fashion, finds some stuff out for us. For now, I'll keep going, but no more hero shots and I'll be only using the 8 with 2x and living with a fewer fish fooled.

really wacked the erie steelies over the last few years
 

they get it in the lake...and are loaded by the time they hit the streams
 

Lucky... Is it sea lice that you're referring to with west coast steel?

DEC has collected samples and submitted them to the Lab at Cornell.  They are not convinced that it would just be the lice, there are other ideas but they are just speculation until the lab results come back.  But the lice are a natural phenomenon, both in fresh and saltwater.
 
L13

Yup, not claiming that gill lice is the ultimate problem... But its prevalent in many dead or dying fish. Yet many very healthy fish have come through the system and big...... Odd year... But below average flows and heavy mid fall pressure definitely doesn't help. The lice deprive them of oxygen absorption... I remember two years ago seeing and even catching a few with the gill lice. 2012 was a low water slaughter fest for steelhead... Crazy pressure all season long with a warm winter... Many of this years fish are returns from that crop...Let's see what the Cornell biologists say. I'm game for a decrease in fish... Less fish=less people and BIGGER fish!!! :)

 
There's Pineveille since  September 1. pretty much long term average through mid October, then low since, but, of course, WE HAVE NO HAD ANY RAIN  TO SPEAK OF.
 
Ya needs water to dump water.
 
Oh, and I've only caught 3 steelhead this year in the Genesee, so that must mean that there has been a catastrophic failure of the entire run, even though I can only get down there for a couple of hours on Saturday or Sunday, and generally it has been on higher water and dropping temperatures.
 
L13

Thanks for the chart lucky... Yes they have not run water over 375 until just now... Don't understand why youre trying to say anything about an entire collapse of the fishery??? Did anyone say that? I must've of missed it if someone did.

c
 
 

Contact a local legislator jack :)

So what I've been able to find out about the lice, they find a spot on the gill or support structures and burrow in and spend the rest of their days there.  They produce a lot of eggs, and the larva have an easier time finding another structure to attach to (another host fish) when the velocity of the water is lower.  As Copepods, they also grow faster in warmer water.  They interfere with gas transfer by reducing the amount of tissue that can accomplish it, and this is a stress on the fish.  As parasites, they should not destroy their host, but the additional stress of being played repeatedly may tip the fish.  The parasite spreads more rapidly in confined fish or areas where the fish are concentrated, like maybe the upper river where they have to stack up or go back downstream. And we've just gone through the perfect storm of prolonged lower water and higher temperatures with the late fall.  So, yes, more water earlier may have helped.  In Wisconsin, where there were problems with brook trout populations, they encouraged anglers to take their fish, to reduce the density of hosts until the "bloom" of lice died back into control, and trout populations started to be less infested.  At any rate, DEC is investigating, both one of their pathology teams and Cornell are looking at possible causes.  The fish that were sampled were described as moribund, alive but obviously having a lot of trouble, which allows for checking for VHS and Type E botulism, I believe. 
 
L13 

n
 

My comments about the Genny run derive from the judgement of some that this was a non run year, based on observations that are intermittent at best.  Based on my own intermittent observations, it was a banner run in the SR, but other than moldy Kings, the Genny is next to fishless.  As to C+R and closure to protect the fish, the DEC program is based on getting adequate returns to the hatchery for egg take, after that get the fish out of the river.  The fish are getting beat to death in the Fly zones, lice or no lice, partially because a lot of "fly anglers" are actually stealth snaggers, so a fatigued fish that would not be a player for a dead drifter or a swinger is now "force fed" into action over and over.  My concern now is what impact the infestation will have on ability to get eggs for the steelhead program, as the literature out there indicates that the combined stress of the lice and sexual maturation can be fatal for hens.
 
As to less fish, I'm one hundred percent in favor of eliminating the King completely from the mix, that would get rid of a big bunch of people from the river, alleviate stench problems, make lots of the local residents who are not in the fisher fleecing business happy, etc.  Make the whole lake C+R, that will weed out a bunch of yellow rope types from the steelhead mix, maybe just chuck the whole program and get back to the restoration business, Lake Trout and Atlantic Salmon..... Gabba gabba gabba.....
 
L13 

I was not in anyway thinking that what I could fantasize as a "program" was anything that would be entertained in reality, hence gabba.... 
 
From what I saw, anything that removes the lice removes the fish.  But fish can survive with the lice with no additional stresses.  It will be interesting to see what comes from DEC when they get the lab reports.
 
L13