Syracuse.com - CNY trout fisherman's dilemma: What kind of trout do you target on the season opener?

[HuntingNY-News]

There are several choices, and that’s what makes fishing streams and rivers in this area so attractive.

Peter Chen/The Post-StandardRobert Risley, of North Syracuse, takes advantage of the beautiful spring weather last week to fly fish on Butternut Creek, which is among the few trout streams open year-round..

FRED FARWELL, of Syracuse, places trout into Nine Mile Creek as part of the annual stocking efforts of the Carpenter’s Brook Fish Hatchery.

Dick Blume / The Post-Standard

TROUT are rounded up for stocking in streams at the Carpenter’s Brook Fish Hatchery.

More on trout stocking

š For information on streams in Onondaga County, call the Carpenter’s Brook Fish Hatchery hotline at 689-0003.

š For information outside of Onondaga County, call the DEC stocking hotline at 607-753-1551, or go to dec.ny.gov/outdoor/9218.html .

Overall label for double truck:

TROUT FISHING PREVIEW

Main hed:

Choices Aplenty

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The trout of CNY include stockies, wild ones and big ones from the Finger Lakes

By David Figura

Outdoors editor

Every spring Central New York trout fishermen prepping for opening day are faced with a question: What kind of fish do I want to catch?

There are several choices, and that’s what makes fishing streams and rivers in this area so attractive.

First, local waterways offer three types of trout — brown, rainbow and brook (not forgetting lake trout). Second, anglers can choose to stocked trout, wild trout or large, spawning rainbows in Finger Lakes tributaries.

Going after the big guy

It’s no secret that year after year the majority of big trout caught on opening day are lake-run rainbows from Finger Lake tributaries.

Anglers hoping for the big ‘bow on opening day line the banks of Grout Brook (Skaneateles Lake); the Owasco Inlet (Owasco Lake); the Yawger, Fall and Salmon creeks and the Cayuga Inlet (Cayuga Lake); and Catharine Creek (Seneca Lake).

There’s a small group of determined anglers who walk these streams days before, scouting out holes and stretches, hoping to catch glimpses of the lunkers. Armed with that knowledge, some arrive well before dawn opening day and set themselves up in lawn chairs, waiting for the day’s first light before dipping their egg sacks or night crawlers in the water.

The majority of anglers, though, just show up and fish whatever stretch of stream is available.

This year’s unseasonably warm spring could impact the number of spawning fish in the stream. DEC staff at the Cayuga Lake Fishway on the Cayuga Inlet, and those electro-shocking rainbows on Catharine Creek on Seneca Lake, reported sizable numbers of fish earlier in the month.

Could many of those fish be back in their respective lakes by the times anglers arrive April 1?

It’s possible, particularly the females, according to David Lemon, regional fisheries manager at the DEC’s Cortland office. However, not every fish is going to spawn before April 1, he said, adding there will be fish in the Finger Lake tributaries come opening day — with the big question being how many.

John Warakomski, of Skaneateles, a longtime trout angler and guide, said an early spawn could be a blessing, particularly if an angler happens upon a trout that’s returning to the lake.

“Once the fish spawn, they will go on the feed to bulk up,” he said.

Dick Blume/The Post-Standardxxxxxxxxx

Going after the stockies

Knowing where to go is key. Central New York streams that get stocked receive their fish from two sources: the state DEC hatcheries and the Carpenter’s Brook Fish Hatchery in Elbridge.

Hands down, most anglers agree, the best-stocked streams locally on opening day are in Onondaga County, courtesy of the county-run Carpenter’s Brook Fish Hatchery.

“I’d fish Nine Mile (between Camillus and Marcellus), Butternut (near Jamestown), Chittenango (between Cazenovia and Chittenango) and Limestone creeks (near Manlius,” said Jake DeCapio, veteran angler and owner of the Wayfarer Co., a spin and fly fishing outfitters shop located along Nine Mile Creek in Camillus.

The main reason to check those waterways out, he said, is that they all have easy access and are well-stocked prior to opening day by Carpenter’s Brook hatchery staff and volunteers with yearlings (8-10 inchers) and two-year-old trout (12-14 inchers).

The DEC, however, does not complete all its stocking of local trout streams outside of Onondaga County by opening day.

Lemon said the stocking schedule is driven by the hatcheries’ schedules, which each year takes into consideration the varying weather in areas stretching from Binghamton to Oswego. In addition, the state’s hatchery staff, which recently was brought up to full staffing levels, have other responsibilities this time of year, including walleye egg collection at the Constantia hatchery and steelhead egg collection at the Salmon River hatchery.

Dick Blume/The Post-Standardxxxxxxxxx

The bottom line, Lemon said, is the trout streams in the southern area of Region 7 (Broome and Chenango counties) and the Otselic River (as it flows through Madison, Cortland, Tioga and Chenango counties), will get stocked prior to opening day.

Other streams in Cayuga and Madison counties usually don’t get stocked until mid- or late April, and Oswego streams traditionally don’t get their trout until late April.

“That’s because there’s usually about 3 to 4 feet of snow up there this time of year,” Lemon said about Oswego County. He added, though, that unseasonably warm weather could result in hatchery staff ending their egg-collection duties earlier than usual, and as result the stocking of the remainder of the streams may end up getting pushed up a week or two.

It all depends on the weather, he said.

Going on the wild side

The idea of a wild trout is appealing, but first a little perspective.

The brook trout is the only native trout in local streams. The browns were initially brought here from Europe, and the rainbows were relocated from the West Coast.

Regardless, a wild trout is essentially one that was hatched and grew up in a stream, not a hatchery. In most cases, the wild ones caught today are offspring of trout that were previously stocked but have since taken to reproducing naturally.

In addition, wild fish often exist side by side in a stream with stocked trout, often unnoticed because they’re more skittish and wary of anglers’ antics. One example is Skaneateles Creek, which has a lengthy catch-and-release area between Skaneateles and Jordan. The Carpenter’s Brook Fish Hatchery each spring stocks the streams with rainbows, but knowing anglers have learned that the stream also holds its share of big, wild brown trout.

“About five years ago, a ton of wild rainbow trout, varying in size from fingerlings to more than 20 inches began appearing in Nine Mile Creek,” according to DeCapio. “I’ve got a picture of one in my shop that’s 27 inches.”

How do you tell a wild from a stocked trout?

In year’s past, the difference was clear when you gutted the fish. The stocked ones, fed on pellets at the hatchery, had white-ish meat. The wild fish had a bright red/pinkish hue due to its steady diet of insects and crustaceans. That’s since changed, Lemon said, as hatchery staff have started adding supplements to the feed, giving the hatchery fish a similar meat color.

DeCapio said he often can tell a hatchery fish from a wild one by just looking at it. He said the fins on the stockies are often split and ragged, and their noses are sometimes blunted from running into the concrete walls at the hatchery, or into other fish there.

Where does one catch wild trout — particularly brookies? For most anglers in the know, that’s a closely guarded secret.

“Sometimes you just have to get in the truck and drive and hit a number of areas, and don’t be afraid to get lost or to bushwhack and walk several miles away from the crowd,” said Robert Riseley, of North Syracuse, who likes to focus on catching wild brookies with his fly rod.

It often won’t be easy fishing, with all the brush, prickers and over-hanging branches.

“Bring your patience with you,” DeCapio said. “You’ll often end up cursing a blue streak when you’re in that stuff.”

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog