Freshwater Fishing, Fisheries Management, and Fishing Access News In This Issue: - February 6th Comment Period Deadline for Proposed Fishing Regulation Changes
- Save the Date - 2022 Free Fishing Days
- New Ice Fishing Videos Released
- Lake Erie Tributary Angler Survey - December Update
- Staff Spotlight - Dave Gordon, Fish & Wildlife Technician 2
February 6th Comment Period Deadline for Proposed Fishing Regulation Changes  DEC is proposing to amend sportfishing regulations that include a multitude of changes to clarify, simplify and clean up fisheries regulations based on public feedback and fishery expert review of the regulations associated with management of the State's fisheries.
Highlights of the proposals include: Changing opening dates for selected warmwater and coolwater species fishing seasons from Saturdays to hard numerical dates. Regulation adjustments, deletions and additions for individual water bodies are also included. Visit DEC's website for more information on all of the proposals. DEC is seeking public input on the proposed changes. Comments on the proposals should be submitted via e-mail to regulations.fish@dec.ny.gov or via mail to the Inland Fisheries Section, NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4753; subject line "Fishing Regulations Proposal Comments." Comments will be accepted through February 6, 2022.
Save the Date - 2022 Free Fishing Days  Mark your calendars for this year's free fishing days. On these days anyone can fish in New York without a fishing license, so it's the perfect opportunity for you to introduce fishing to a friend or family member.
This year's free fishing days: February 19-20
June 25-26
September 24
November 11
New Ice Fishing Videos Released  The first two videos in the I FISH NY Guide to Beginning Ice Fishing have made their way to DEC's YouTube channel. Click the links below to watch and stay tuned for the next videos in our series - how to drill a hole and how to jig.
Ice Fishing in New York
Ice Fishing Gear Essentials
Lake Erie Tributary Angler Survey - December Update  December is usually a month of transition on the Lake Erie tributaries. The earlier fall running steelhead leave and are replaced with "traditional" steelhead that spawn during the winter and early spring months. Weather patterns also tend to vary with heavy snow and cold just as likely as days in the 40s. This year anglers were treated to favorable fishing, weather, and stream conditions for most of the month. Cattaraugus Creek (PDF) continues to be the exception with above average flows and murky conditions due to runoff events. Much of the angler effort continued to focus on Eighteen Mile (PDF) and Chautauqua Creeks (PDF). Fishing quality remained high and steady at about 0.5 fish-per-hour and was similar to previous surveys. As is typical, fishing quality varied between streams with the highest catch rates in the western-most tributaries: Chautauqua (0.84 fish/hr) and Canadaway (0.62 fish/hr) creeks. A few coho salmon were reported again in December, most likely transients from Lake Huron. For those anglers hearty enough to brave the elements, January and February usually offer some of the best steelhead fishing of the year. Always remember to be careful when steelhead fishing in the winter - don't go out on stream ice, wear boots with spikes, and use the buddy system.
Staff Spotlight - Dave Gordon, Fish & Wildlife Technician 2 We're always trying to come up with fresh, interesting content to keep our readers engaged in The Fishing Line, so this year we'll be highlighting one Bureau of Fisheries staff person each month. You'll have an opportunity to learn more about what they do on a day-to-day basis, why they love their job, and what they enjoy doing in their spare time (spoiler alert- it may involve fishing!) So without further ado, we bring to you our first Staff Spotlight of 2022.  I am a Fish and Wildlife (F&W) Technician 2 in DEC Region 6 out of the Brownville Field Office in Jefferson County. I started my career with DEC as a Fish Culturist 1 at the Chateauguay Fish Hatchery in 2002. In 2007, I accepted a position as a F&W Tech 2 back where I grew up in Region 6, and I have been here ever since. I enjoy the many opportunities for outdoor pursuits that NY has to offer and spend all the time I can in the outdoors with my wife, Jen, and our two teenage daughters. We spend winters ice fishing and small game hunting, spring chasing turkeys, summer camping and fishing, and fall pursuing waterfowl and deer. We invest our "spare" time raising livestock and tending a huge garden which takes us through the year on homegrown food.
 I enjoy working in Region 6 because of the diversity of resources. On any given day of the field season I could be working on the Eastern Basin of Lake Ontario, the small mountain ponds of the western Adirondacks, the waters of the St. Lawrence River, or the trout streams of the Mohawk Valley. I spend most of the field season outdoors collecting biological data on the fisheries resources of our region. Winter finds me mostly at my desk interpreting age data from several thousand fish scale samples collected in the field each year. I pass this critical information on to our biologists so they can report on the health and population trends of our fish stocks.
I have been involved with more surveys and projects than I can remember at this point, but my fondest memories revolve around the work I have done studying lake sturgeon in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. I cherish the memory of that first sturgeon coming over the side of the boat on a cold April day in 2008, along with the thousands I've handled since. The recovery story of lake sturgeon in NY over the last 15 years is nothing short of remarkable, and I am proud to have played a small part in it. My advice to those around me these days is to get out and enjoy life. Cherish each day you are given. Take advantage of the opportunities the outdoors offer us to get out and make memories with those we love. | 
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