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#1678236 - 04/25/16 07:49 PM Re: Walleye stocking [Re: PDona]
DeadBird Offline

Member

Registered: 02/28/14
Posts: 447
Loc: Old Saybrook
Originally Posted By: PDona
Originally Posted By: JohnS
Has anyone even seen a live walleye out of cedar lake?

I have personally been on the shocking boat spring and fall last year, and we didn't shock a single one. frown That's not to say they were other areas than our loop. The deepest we shocked was about 8 feet. All of the bass fishing, and trolling for trout, I would think we'd get something? NOTHING! I think Deadbird found the needle in the haystack.


It's good to feel special! laugh I just can't understand why there aren't more fish being caught. No way there's only two that made it a year, maybe they're hanging deep under the alewives. wtf
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#1678237 - 04/25/16 07:53 PM Re: Walleye stocking [Re: O-BASS]
DeadBird Offline

Member

Registered: 02/28/14
Posts: 447
Loc: Old Saybrook
Originally Posted By: O-BASS
Are you kidding me?

9000 walleye fingerlings being stock into Lake Zoar?

Doesn't lake zoar have a public consumption on every fish species, to the extent that you're not allowed to eat any fish species from lakes or? And that's where we dump the fingerlings for the walleye program, which by the way is a put-and-take fishery we can eat delicious walleye?

Retarted.



I wonder the same, put one of the best eating freshwater fish in basically a catch and release lake. Maybe it's a plot to poison the asian, Polish or whomever poaching gangs. walleye
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#1678261 - 04/25/16 09:46 PM Re: Walleye stocking [Re: Tom59]
ecurB Offline

Can you eat that ?

Registered: 06/06/10
Posts: 1645
I've been relatively successful on walleye over the years , one thing I've noticed is that I rarely catch any under about 16" . that seems to be the size where they get catchable . I can't say why , because you'll catch everything in the lake while targeting walleye . If the 6" perch are mauling you why wouldn't the small walleye ? Ice fishing seems to be when I catch any under 16" , smallest I've ever caught was maybe 12" . Haven't tried Cedar for them yet .

Those fish going into Zoar could definitely be better distributed in lakes without consumption advisories .



.

"Politically correct" was initially coined by Leon Trotsky to refer favorably to those whose views remained in sync with the ever-shifting Bolshevik Party line. This was important, as "not PC" people risked prison or death.
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#1678326 - 04/26/16 10:37 AM Re: Walleye stocking [Re: Tom59]
Jon Pski Offline

Member

Registered: 04/15/02
Posts: 5742
Loc: Winsted, CT
Though you may not want to eat many of the walleye from Zoar, it's quite possible that Zoar could grow some trophy size walleye.


Edited by Jon Pski (04/26/16 10:37 AM)
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#1678377 - 04/26/16 03:35 PM Re: Walleye stocking [Re: Tom59]
Buck Offline

Member

Registered: 01/17/03
Posts: 11203
Some thoughts on the walleye issues.
Zoar is actually the only freshwater body in Ct. that has a verified population of reproducing walleye going back to walleye stocking in Lake Lillinonah during the 1940s. Our own RichZ has caught them in Zoar before the stocking program started. Zoar is a good candidate because it has cold water releases from Lilli and natural areas to spawn up river by the Lilli dam and down by the Pootatuck River mouth among some other spots. On a surface acre comparison, Zoar gets the same stocking rate as Squantz Pond and in any lake with herring, the herring will be the primary food source which is actually a problem for natural reproduction due to the herring's thiamin deficiency.
Regarding Cedar Lake, which I have never been to, there have been lakes that have been poor candidates for walleye stocking. Lake Housatonic was a failure. I have been on electro-shocking trips there where we only got a few walleye and a lot were stocked in there. I think the fact it is really a river system, not a true lake, had the walleye fingerlings going over the Derby dam into the lower Housatonic. In any case, it was taken off of the stocking list. Cedar Lake may have some kind of problem too but what is probably happening is that the walleye are feeding on herring in there and if there are a lot of herring then it does not take much for a walleye to fill up. Ten minutes in the morning, ten more at dusk and ten between the hours of 11pm and 2am and that is it for their daily feeding efforts. In the winter they just eat dead ones that are floating down to the bottom.
Electro-shocking is not a good indicator for walleye surveys except in the two week period in the early spring with water temps in the mid 40s when walleye are in shallow during their spawning activities. That is when you electro-shock for walleye. The rest of the year in a herring lake the walleye are on the bottom in 30' of water, or on the deeper side of drop-offs during the day and at dark they rise up into the thermocline to feed on herring schools or move shallow to get herring and juvenile perch, bluegill, small trout, etc. If they are shallow then they can be gotten by electro-shocking but in herring lakes they are often suspended or on the outside limits of a shocking boat.
As Ecur said, you rarely get small walleye. One reason is they are scarce. Squantz gets about 4,000 walleye a year whereas there are over 8,000 trout put in and there are probably tens of thousands of juvenile perch and bluegill in Squantz. So it is a numbers game. Like Ecur, when I have caught small walleye it usually was through the ice.
Finally, I have fished for walleye all over the U.S. and Canada and no matter the venue, you have to fish specifically for walleye to catch walleye. They don't tend to be an incidental catch much and when they are it is usually a bass fisherman throwing a big white spinner bait or a deep diving crank bait, something that might catch not only bass but also pike, big trout, or walleye.
For Cedar Lake, there is no significant structure to target like an offshore hump so I would target areas that are showing huge balls of herring or troll along the shore breaks in about 20' of water down 10' or out deeper and down 15' or more to stay in the thermocline after it sets up in late spring. I would troll jointed, lipped swimmers giving the rod tip some motion so the lure pulsates as it moves along. I like black tops with orange bottoms and sides about 4" long.
My personal choice though is to fish at dusk with live herring staying out with lights like a floating crappie light to draw in herring and fish my baits to the outside of the light cone. I fish until about mid-night to get one after dark flurry in along with the dusk bite that goes hard until the false sunset finally goes dark and then after about an hour that bite is over until a night bite starts. In the eastern district no bait shops carry live alewife herring so large Arkansas shiners, big killies/mummies, big golden shiners or any kind of big chub will work. In the spring the north end where Pattaconk Brook comes in would be a good place to try. From 10' into the brook mouth throw a slip bobber rig to get your baits away from the boat and up towards the brook mouth. Set the bobber-stop so your bait is about 2' off of the bottom and use two buckshot split shot to keep the live bait near the bottom so they don't swim up too high in the water column and out of the stike range of the cruising walleye. If there are herring out deeper, say 15' to 20', fish your baits down from half way to the bottom to all the way just off the bottom. You are in enough water to draw in herring with the crappie light and have enough vertical depth to keep the walleye from getting spooky unless you are banging things around. Walleye hate bright lights and noise.
There are other spots that would play out better in the summer. The walleye will move south to the deep section and spend their summer in that 30 to 40 foot area living on the bottom during the day and then suspending on herring balls during feeding hours. The mid-western shore has a ridge that drops down to 30' and the same contour exists in the southeastern corner dropping into 40' at the deepest point of the lake. The mid eastern section has some promising water also. In these two spots I would anchor up in 15' of water, cast one slip bobber in shallow or to the weed edge and the other straight down for deeper cruising walleye.
I would run sonar to find the herring concentrations. Cedar Lake is only 70 acres so the bait concentrations will not be hard to find. Walleye wander so in any given week an individual walleye could inhabit literally every good spot in the lake so finding the walleye will depend on finding the herring. Sonar is absolutely critical to either the stationary bait fishing or the trolling to keep on the same depth contour as you go around the lake. Speaking of lake size, walleye like large lakes which have pelagic bait fish like alewife herring, where they can wander, feed and have multiple stopping spots that appeal to them. Small lakes like Cedar Lake, Mt.Tom Pond, and Batterson Park Pond are not really good walleye stocking candidates. The best lake of all in Ct. would be Candlewood Lake but it would take nearly 100,000 walleye fry to cover the lake at the same density as Zoar or Squantz and we do not have the funds to do that.
Sorry for the long post, I get thinking and typing and the next thing I know I am over my bandwidth allowance. Good luck trying to find the walleye. If you have a successful trip let us know with a trip report.
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#1678383 - 04/26/16 03:49 PM Re: Walleye stocking [Re: Tom59]
KillTaker Offline

Member

Registered: 04/17/06
Posts: 11811
Loc: Southbury, CT
Thanks Buck. I tried to tell someone this before, but it fell on deaf ears....
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#1678455 - 04/27/16 07:56 AM Re: Walleye stocking [Re: Tom59]
SteveY Offline

Member

Registered: 08/07/06
Posts: 2093
Buck...excellent post, informative and on point! applause
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#1678459 - 04/27/16 08:49 AM Re: Walleye stocking [Re: Tom59]
PDona Offline

P.Donna at one time

Registered: 07/31/02
Posts: 15558
Loc: Southern Ct
Buck, I always learn something when you join in the conversations! I've done a ton of trolling for trout around the 15-20 ft range this year so far and haven't caught one, yet. I'll definitely try the night time gig. Maybe we can get some boats together and end the war on this elusive creature?

><((((º> `•.¸¸.•´¯`•...¸><((((º>


Hug your mom more ! !


Paul Dona

A "not neat" knot is a knot not needed

><((((º> `•.¸¸.•´¯`•...¸><((((º>



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#1678474 - 04/27/16 11:59 AM Re: Walleye stocking [Re: Tom59]
bk Offline

Member

Registered: 06/06/01
Posts: 4228
Loc: Newtown
Lake Zoar?

Am I wrong but isn't that Lake Housatonic? Derby does not border Lake Zoar as far as I know.
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#1678476 - 04/27/16 12:07 PM Re: Walleye stocking [Re: bk]
KillTaker Offline

Member

Registered: 04/17/06
Posts: 11811
Loc: Southbury, CT
Originally Posted By: bk
Lake Zoar?

Am I wrong but isn't that Lake Housatonic? Derby does not border Lake Zoar as far as I know.
\\\


They need to get their seasons right, that's for sure.....
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