Tag Archives: plattsburgh

Officials Advise on Spiny Water Fleas

Officials Advise on Spiny Water Fleas

Spiny Water Fleas Spur Reminder to Anglers and Boaters on Preventing Spread of Invasive Species

Spiny Water Fleas Spur Reminder to Anglers and Boaters on Preventing Spread of Invasive Species

 

Officials advise anglers and boaters to clean, drain and dry

Recent reports of spiny water fleas becoming snagged on fishing gear used on Lake Champlain have prompted officials to urge anglers and boaters to take appropriate steps to prevent the spread of this and other harmful aquatic invasive species.

“Lake Champlain boat launch stewards have been hearing about spiny water flea sightings by anglers over the last month, and last week we removed the first sample off a downrigger cable during a routine courtesy boat inspection at the Shelburne Bay fishing access area,” said Meg Modley, aquatic invasive species management coordinator with the Lake Champlain Basin Program. “The best method for preventing the spread of spiny water fleas is simply letting them dry out, which of course applies to any fishing or boating equipment that they might attach to.”

Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department fisheries biologist Shawn Good added it’s critical that anglers thoroughly inspect their boats and gear after a day of fishing.

“Spiny water flea can cling to downrigger cables, fishing line, anchor rope and other things, so the first step is to inspect all your equipment and remove any visible globs of spiny water flea,” said Good. “Letting gear dry completely for several days will also kill all life stages of spiny water flea.”

The spiny water flea, which was first confirmed in Lake Champlain in 2014, is a non-native zooplankton roughly one-half inch in length. Spiny water fleas do not bite and pose no risk to swimmers in Lake Champlain. They prey directly on native zooplankton, and compete with other species for food resources disrupting the native aquatic food chains and changing the native aquatic community.

This invasive species originally appeared in North America in Lake Huron in 1984 and has since spread throughout the Great Lakes and beyond. It was found in both the Lake Champlain Canal near Whitehall, New York and in New York’s Lake George in 2012. It is unknown how spiny water flea entered Lake Champlain, though it may have hitchhiked overland on fishing equipment, a boat or trailer, or come through the Lake Champlain Barge Canal or Lake George’s outlet – the La Chute River – which flows into Lake Champlain in Ticonderoga, New York.

“The main key for anglers and boaters is to remember to clean, drain and dry all boats and equipment after each use,” said Eric Palmer, director of fisheries with Vermont Fish & Wildlife. “Making sure that your boat and gear is cleaned and dried before launching at another access area is critical to helping to prevent the further spread of any aquatic invasive species, including the spiny water flea.”

Rinsing with 140°F degree water is also believed to be effective in killing spiny water fleas and reducing the risk of spread.

The long tail of the spiny water flea has a number of hook-like barbs which causes it to stick to fishing line and cables trolled through the water when fishing. To reduce the risk of this happening, anglers can use specialty lines designed with specific shape and material characteristics that prevent them from latching onto the line.

For trolling, anglers can spool fishing reels with a heavier weight (larger diameter) main line, and then use a short thin leader to the lure. A heavier main line helps to keep the spiny water fleas from catching the line between their barbs and accumulating, while the smaller diameter leader allows anglers to effectively target line-shy species like trout and salmon.

For more information on preventing the spread of invasive species, visit http://www.lcbp.org/water-environment/aquatic-invasive-species/ or http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/cms/one.aspx?portalid=73163&pageid=195775.

Lake Champlain

This 128-page softcover book features stunning historical images from the archives of Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and other regional collections, and includes chapters on Patriotic Sites and Celebrations; Commerce in the Canal Era; The Age of Steam; Crossing Lake Champlain; Recreational Boating; Summer and Summer Folk; Hunting and Fishing; and Winter. ‘Lake Champlain’ tells the story of this historic, busy commercial corridor and recreational destination.

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49th Annual Mayor’s Cup Festival Events

Officials Outline 2016 Mayor’s Cup Festival Events

Mayor's Cup featival logo on tee-shirt

Plattsburgh officials have outlined the schedule for this summer’s Mayor’s Cup, one of the city’s largest annual events.

The 39th Annual Mayor’s Cup Festival will combine the largest sailboat race on Lake Champlain with numerous on-shore events over four days from July 7-10th.

The Sunrise Rotary coordinates the festival and regatta with the City of Plattsburgh. Sunrise Rotary President Elect and Festival Chair Joanne Dahlen calls the race, which features 80 to 90 sailboats,  the keystone of the festival.  “The regatta has been going on for so long. There’s such a loyal following of boaters. They tend to register year after year and I believe that the race structure before Burlington and Plattsburgh is based around the dates of the Mayor’s Cup because it’s that important to the racing community.”

Dahlen says the popularity of the Mayor’s Cup has grown over its 39 years.  “It started out as really just a single race through the Valcour Sailing Club before Sunrise Rotary took it over and then it became part of the four day regatta and festival. That collectively elevates all events and adding the parade of lights as sort of the kickoff to the four day festivities I think has been huge, I think for the regatta as well, because it’s just fun.”

Parade of Lights Competition

The Mayor’s Cup Festival kicks off the evening of July 7th with the 10th annual Parade of Lights Competition: a floating procession of decorated and lighted boats along the Plattsburgh shoreline.

There will be traditional events such as music, carnivals, movies, garden tours and fireworks.

Nova Bus bus pull

New events this year engage the region’s burgeoning transportation manufacturing sector.  Promotions and Special Events Coordinator Sandra Geddes approached Nova Bus for help to create a new competition.  “It’s the Nova Bus bus pull. There are going to be six man teams and we’ll have a woman’s, a men’s and a coed category. So okay. They do strongmen competitions. So we just thought it would be something fun to do. And you have to go a hundred feet. Whoever gets a hundred feet in the quickest amount of time.”

Downtown Rising

Another new feature invites visitors to step back in time. “Downtown Rising,” is a weekly summer series of food, music and farm market festivals.

“We’re going to be doing a horse drawn trolley ride which is going to run from Trinity Park down to the waterfront. So you can hop on the trolley, ride it through town, go down to the waterfront. You can hop off there if you choose or you can ride it back.  And I think they’re actually willing to stop and let people on and off. Kind of like an old fashioned trolley from the waterfront up to the city.”

Plattsburgh Mayor James Calnon notes that while the city budgets about $60,000 for celebrations throughout the year, events like the Mayor’s Cup are auspicious investments.  “The economics of it are at least two fold. It puts a lot of people downtown and we hope that in the course of the day that brings a lot of business downtown. The other piece of this that I think is really important is and I talk about this a lot, you know, you want your cities to be good places to live, to visit and to work. And having a vibrant downtown with lots of activities is really important in recruiting particularly young and highly skilled workers. We want to really send that message that that’s what Plattsburgh is: a real four seasons community. And in the summertime having events like this and the Fourth of July fireworks, the Battle of Plattsburgh, that there’s so much going on that people get to make choices. And so the more choices we can have in activities generally that raises the economy of the region.”

Registration packets for various competitions are being prepared and will be available on theMayor’s Cup website.

 

 

Ghosts and Legends of Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is located between New York’s majestic Adirondacks and Vermont’s famed Green Mountains. Yet despite the beauty of this region, it has been the site of dark and mysterious events; it is not surprising that some spirits linger in this otherwise tranquil place. Fort Ticonderoga saw some of early America’s bloodiest battles, and American, French and British ghosts still stand guard.
Champlain’s islands–Stave, Crab, Valcour and Garden–all host otherworldly inhabitants, and unidentified creatures and objects have made appearances on the water, in the sky and in the forests surrounding the lake.
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Walmart FLW Tour Regular Season Final Tournament Set for Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain to host Walmart FLW Tour regular season final Tournament

2015 Rayovac FLW Series

2015 FLW Series

The 6th and final regular season event of the 21st season of the Walmart FLW Tour, the most competitive circuit in professional bass-fishing, kicks off June 23-26 with the Walmart FLW Tour at Lake Champlain presented by General Tire. Hosted by the City of Plattsburgh and the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau, the tournament will feature a full field of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals and co-anglers casting for top awards of up to $125,000 cash in the pro division and up to $25,000 cash in the co-angler division.

This will be the Walmart FLW Tour’s seventh visit to Lake Champlain in its 21-year history. The closely contested Angler of the Year and Rookie of the Year races will be decided, as will the final qualifications for the world championship of bass fishing, the Forrest Wood Cup.

2012 was the last time theTour visited Lake Champlain, and Walmart pro David Dudley of Lynchburg, Virginia, recorded the seventh victory of his career, clinching his third Angler of the Year title and pushing his career earnings in FLW competition to more than $3 million.

“This is going to be an extremely fun tournament,” said Dudley, the all-time FLW leading money winner. “Lake Champlain is one of the best fisheries in the world and we’re hitting it at the prime time. I predict that the winner is going to have to average at least 20 pounds each day and that we’re going to see a four-day winning total of at least 80 pounds.

“You pretty much have two options when you’re going to Champlain – you can dedicate yourself to fishing for smallmouth or largemouth,” Dudley continued. “It seems like the last few times that we have been there, the largemouth has played more of a factor with the top finishers than the smallmouth has, and I think that will likely be the case this year. Champlain is a heckuva smallmouth fishery, but I think the winner is going to have to key on the largemouth.”

Smallmouth bass

Smallmouth bass

Dudley said that a good portion of the anglers competing would make the 70-mile run south to the Ticonderoga-area of the lake to target largemouth in the plentiful grass.

“There is a lot of good grass in both the northern and the southern ends of the lake, but more of the population of big largemouth are down south. I think that’s where the tournament is going to be won.

“I think three baits will likely be the key – a ChatterBait, a frog, and flipping creature baits,” Dudley continued. “Those three baits seem to win everything there and I assume they’ll be strong players in this event as well. The weights are going to be big and you can bet that we’re going to see a lot of fish caught – no surprise for Champlain.”

northern bass

 

Lake Champlain Walmart FLW Tour location

Anglers will take off from the Plattsburgh City Marina located at 5 Dock St. in Plattsburgh at 6:30 a.m. EDT each day of competition. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will be held at the City Marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s final weigh-ins will be held at the Crete Memorial Civic Center, located at 4 Beach Road, but will begin at 4 p.m.

Fans will also be treated to the FLW Expo Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. at the Civic Center before the final weigh-ins. The Expo includes a 100-yard Lew’s Casting Lane, the opportunity to interact with professional anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public.

As part of the FLW Tour’s community outreach initiative, FLW Tour anglers will visit patients at Meadowbrook Healthcare Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, located at 154 Prospect Avenue in Plattsburgh on Wednesday, June 22 from 10-11:30 a.m. Anglers will visit with guests, pose for selfies, sign autographs and share fishing stories in a rewarding experience for both the patients and the anglers.

FLW Foundation’s Unified Youth Fishing Derby

The  FLW Foundation’s Unified Youth Fishing Derby will be held at the Wilcox Dock located at 90 Cumberland Ave., in Plattsburgh Saturday, June 25, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. The event is hosted by FLW Foundation pro Cody Kelley along with other FLW Tour anglers, and is free and open to area youth 18 years of age and younger and Special Olympics athletes. Event goodie bags will be awarded to the first 50 participants who sign up. Rods and reels are available for use, but youth are encouraged to bring their own if they own one. All bait is donated by the DMF Bait Company.

Coverage of the Lake Champlain tournament will premiere in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) Oct. 12 from 1 p.m.-2 p.m. EDT. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs on NBCSN, the Pursuit Channel and the World Fishing Network and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.

In FLW Tour competition, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing. The 2016 Forrest Wood Cup will be on Wheeler Lake in Huntsville, Alabama, Aug. 4-7 and is hosted by the Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com.

 

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Plattsburgh works to reimagine waterfront

The town of Plattsburgh is looking at ways to revitalize its 26 miles of waterfront along Lake Champlain and the Saranac River in hopes of boosting the local economy.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.wcax.com

The town of Plattsburgh has around 13 miles of waterfront along the Saranac River. The beach in Cadyville is just one example of an access point where people can get in the water, but the town is hoping they can have more places where people can enjoy the river.

See on Scoop.it – Canoeing & Kayaking

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City of Plattsburgh loses suit over moorings law

Plattsburgh loses suit over moorings

City of Plattsburgh loses suit over moorings law

Plattsburgh loses suit over moorings law

A state court has ruled that the City of Plattsburgh’s law regulating boat moorings on Lake Champlain waters is invalid.

The decision is the result of a case brought against the city by Plattsburgh Boat Basin, which operates a marina next to the city’s brand new marina at the end of Dock Street.

“We don’t agree with this decision, but we will talk about it and decide if we want to appeal,” Mayor James Calnon said.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: news.google.com

See on Scoop.it – Lake Champlain Life


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