Keuka Lake Fishery Updates

I've had a chance to talk with some DEC personnel over the past week or two since both warm and cold water nettings were conducted in the lake back in late-July and early-August.  I get a lot of the same questions from anglers who live around and/or fish Keuka Lake.  Here's what the nettings suggest thus far (keep in mind that the numbers have not yet been analyzed.  We should see a technical brief on the DEC's website at some point next year, I'm guessing.)  Any errors below are mine and mine alone! Cold Water Netting:  Lake trout numbers appear to be lower than they were 3 years ago when the last netting took place.  Fish remain small, although some appear to be in decent condition.  Fish are surviving on eating perch fry.  Approximately one out of the roughly 300 lake trout netted did have some alewives in its stomach.  No other species (rainbows or browns) showed up in the gillnets.  Lakers are also thought to be feeding on mysids (freshwater shrimp) and daphnia, which I believe is a zooplankton.  No ciscoes showed up in any lake trout stomachs.  No large lake trout were netted either.  It is possible that lake trout numbers were lower in the nets due to fish suspending up higher in the water column feeding on perch, so keep that in mind.  (Nets are set along the bottom and would not capture many suspended fish.) Warm Water Netting:  I don't have many details on this.  I do know that zero bluegills were netted, which was odd.  Perch were found in good numbers and quite large.  Anglers have complained about a lack of small perch.  DEC did not find many small perch.  Rock bass and Pumpkinseeds appear to be doing well and the sunnies are large.  Best size on smallmouths was on the Penn Yan Arm above Keuka College.  Not many largemouths were netted.  Some pike were in the nets as well.  No word on the sizes of the pike and bass. Walleyes:  This is the one I was mainly interested in.  Last time that nettings took place, a few different classes of walleyes showed up.  This year, only one or two year classes were present.  Fish ran 18" to 21".  So it's very likely that walleyes are NOT having much success reproducing in Keuka Lake due to the lack of forage.  Around 4 or 5 walleyes showed up per netting.  I don't think any were taken in Hammondsport, but they did show up on the Penn Yan and Branchport Arms. Forage netting will take place in September.