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New Proposal for the
Canal System
1. Carmella R. Mantello
is the new Director of the New York State
Canal Corporation, she comes from The Hudson
River Greenway where she was very successful
in the organization and implementation of
the Greenway Plan. She is a very energetic
leader yet makes the time to listen. She
is the Director of the canal not just the
Greenway.
2. Governor Pataki created
the Erie Canal Greenway Project in a speech
at Little Falls May 27,
2005, the Erie Greenway will go from Whitehall
to Buffalo including Albany. Syracuse, Oswego,
Ithaca, Watkins Glen and Rochester.
Some of the far reaching
proposals include:
· Make the
Canal Corporation separate from the Thruway
Authority. The Thruway now controls the
Canal Corporation.
· Do away with all tolls and fees on the canal system.
· Establish an Oswego River Basin Commission.
· One of the big things this commission will try to do is
to work on better control of water levels. This proposed commission would control
water levels from Constableville to Canandaigua, Sylvan Beach to Lock 30 near
Macedon including the Finger Lakes. These are not the exact boundaries, but should
give you a very close idea that it will control a very large area.
· Create a lottery to help pay the cost of operations.
· Have the balance of funds supplied by the State General
Fund.
The OLA is especially interested
in the water level control aspect of
these proposals. Any further lowering
of water levels would have negative environmental
impact on the lake. We do not oppose
better control. No more comment here
regarding water level because it is such
a huge topic.
As you can see this is
a very large project, which is supposed to
promote tourism, canal use and also fix some
problems along the way. It appears to me,
if anyone can pull this off it might be Carmella.
Walleye
Fishing Update
This past fall 2005,
was a mixed bag for walleyes. The north shore
anglers (including myself) did not do very
well fishing off shore from Godfrey Point
to Constantia. There were very few nights
when fish were available. However, the south
shore of the lake from Sylvan Beach to Bridgeport
was a different story. The walleye bite was
consistent most of the fall.
Perch
Fishing Update
Fall perch fishing was
not up to Oneida Lake standards on most trips.
Fish were available at times but you hard
to work them.
Bass
Fishing Update
Bass fishing throughout
the summer (2005) and into the fall was excellent.
Ice
Fishing Update
As of the first week
in January 2006, there are few spots where
people are ice fishing but most anglers are
taking the cautious approach and not venturing
forth on to the ice at his point. Ice fishing
success is dependant upon the availability
of food. When there is an abundance of forage
the fish bite less often. So the ice fishing
is at its best when there is not an abundance
of forage in the lake. So we’ll just
have to wait and see.
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