The Cayuga Fisher

The Twenty Species Challenge

New for 2008:  The Twenty Species Challenge

A new goal is in order.  Last year I successfully caught over one ton of fish- most of it was on a single hook and line, with a small percentage of trolled trout and Atlantic salmon.  My estimated final catch was in the neighborhood of 2075 pounds, of which over 2000 went back in the lakes.  Having met that goal, I'm setting a new one- twenty species of fish this year. 

It'll be fun- I always enjoy pushing myself into new areas of learning.  I've never caught half of these species before, so without a doubt I'll be learning some new waters and techniques this year.  Some fish will be tricky, such as the bowfin and gar, and I'll just hope to luck into a sturgeon- fishing for them on purpose is against the law.  I'll try for as many on the fly as I can but that will be trickier, I reserve the right to use as much bait as necessary to complete the challenge!

The list:  31 of the larger fish species in the lake.  (Also see the complete list of fish species in Cayuga Lake.)  As I catch each species I'll cross it off the list and post a photo if available.

• Atlantic salmon
• black crappie
• bluegill
• bowfin
• brown bullhead
• brown trout
• chain pickerel
• channel catfish
• common carp
• freshwater drum
• goldfish
• grass carp (sterile)
• sea lamprey
• lake sturgeon
• lake trout
• largemouth bass
• longnose gar
• northern hog sucker
• northern pike
• pumpkinseed
• rainbow smelt
• rainbow trout
• redhorse
• rock bass
• smallmouth bass
• walleye
• white bass
• white crappie
• white perch
• white sucker
• yellow perch