By Spider Rybaak
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| Carl Rathje, a fish culturist at the DEC's Oneida Lake hatchery, holding one of the facility's resident lake sturgeon. |
The funniest thing happened to me while fishing below the
Caughedenoy dam for bullheads last Sunday. Something powerful took my slice of
gizzard shad, sending my drag into a fit. Figuring it was a catfish, I set the
hook and waited for the drag to stop.
It never did. Whatever hit stripped almost 200 yards of 6-lb
test line off my reel like it was taking a walk in the park. I’ve caught
20-something-pound carp, a 12-pound cat, even a 7-pound sheepehead on the same
rig. But this thing spooled me; for the first time in my life!
After hours of struggling to figure out what species was
powerful enough to do that, I’ve come to the conclusion it was a sturgeon. They’re
in Lake Ontario and Oneida Lake; and the Oneida River at Caughedenoy is between
the two… which kind’a doubles my chances of hooking one… don’t ya think?
Last year several were reported caught in the city of
Oswego. In addition, rumor had it that several were also caught in the Erie
Canal at Sylvan Beach and Brewerton. So chances are good that the fish that
made a fool out of me a few days ago was one of the primitive beasts.
Sturgeon go back a long way in Oswego County. They were here
before the Indians. In fact, they swam with the dinosaurs. Up until the middle
of the 19th century, the Great Lakes had so
many of them, they were netted commercially, dried and sold to the railroad for
fuel.
That kind of abuse, combined with habitat destruction, dams
blocking migratory routes and pollution just about wiped them out in the 20th
century. Fortunately, a few survived. Larry Muroski, owner of Larry’s Oswego
Salmon Shop, remembers seeing a 10-footer come to the surface (jumping out of
the water to make a big splash is part of their courting ritual) when he was a
boy fishing for silver bass in the Oswego River, behind the Canal Commons in
the Port City.
DEC at work
Still, it would have taken centuries – if ever – for the
survivors to repopulate their former range in any significant way. The NYS
Department of Environmental Conservation stepped in to help them out in 1993 by
stocking 35 sturgeon into the Oswego
River
According to Carl Rathje, fish culturist at the Constantia
facility, the stocking program came to a screeching halt in 2004. Viral
Hemorrhagic Septicemia, the virus responsible for massive fish kills in the
Great Lakes in the late 1990s and early 2000s, was discovered and the sturgeon
rearing program was suspended to prevent infecting Oneida lake.
Mother nature smiled on the program; however, you see, Oneida Lake is very sturgeon-friendly.
“They’re the fastest growing lake sturgeon in the entire
U.S.,” claims Rathje. “This year Cornell has netted several pushing 100 pounds.
They’ve collected fish that had mature eggs and they believe sturgeon are
spawning in Fish Creek.”
Your chances of seeing or hooking one are growing greater
all the time. If you should be using a heavier line than I was last Sunday, or
simply hook a smaller, more manageable fish, please remember sturgeon are
listed as a threatened species in New York and must be released
immediately. To ensure you inflict no
further damage, the DEC advises the following:
· - Avoid bringing the fish into the boat if
possible.
- Use pliers to remove the hook; sturgeon are
almost always hooked in the mouth.
l -Always support the fish horizontally. Do not
hold sturgeon in a vertical position by their head, gills or tails, even for
taking pictures.
- -Never touch their eyes or gills.
· - Minimize their time out of the water.
For more information on this native son, check out “DEC
Advises Anglers to be on the Lookout for Lake Sturgeon in the Great Lakes and
Oneida Lake,” at www.dec.ny.gov/press/82097.html; and the “Lake Sturgeon Fact Sheet” at www.dec.ny.gov/animals/26035.html.
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| Lake sturgeon up close and personal. |
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