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You can find a lot of the data you are looking for in the annual DEC Lake Ontario Report. It is usually about a year behind because the data is still being collected and analyzed. Look for the “Population Characteristics of Pacific Salmonids Collected at the Salmon River Hatchery” section. It gives an overview of the size and age of chinook collected every year. https://dec.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2024-01/2022lakeontarioannualreport.pdf

I think the lake managers would want to know if this large group of 12-14 lb fish are 2 vs 3 yrs old. The few I have cut open have developing gonads so my guess is naturalized three year olds.

duplicate post.

You seem to make a lot of assumptions. After 25 yrs of happily fishing the lake I would refer to a teenager just like my kids when they were growing up. 13 to 17 pounds was a teenager and always a two year old fish. !8 to 26 lbs was a 3 yr old and of course depends on whether we are talking spring or fall. You could argue the point all day without scientific proof of the age but why? Enjoy what you got because you will not change anything on a message board. In my experience fishing the east end, over the last 10 yrs the number of 2 yr old fish maturing has been on a steady increase. Whats a two year old fish? 12 to 15 lbs in the fall.

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Just as a reference point I was told that the 29 lb laker that won the Canandaigua derby a few years ago was evaluated by the DEC (scale sample was mentioned) and it was 24 years old. Nothing official though as it was another fisherman that told me that as it beat out my previous record fish.

thank you so much @Yankee Troller

Any screenshots or pictures of how the bait shows up on a screen? I’m assuming it kinda just looks like a ball of color but would be appreciated to have a point of reference

Great Report, Hope this weekend is good fishing.

I consider a teenager a 2 year fish . Now what is the avg weight of that 2 year old ? If returning to hatchery fish are avg 17 to 23 # , they must be 3 year olds for the most part . Especially if there are no or very few 26 to 33 # fish . When I say I have a teens king I mean is 10 to 19 # . Not a 2 year old . I see a lot of speculation on here about how old a mid teens king is . Does anyone know for sure ? We are assuming a returning fish of that weight is a 2 year old . We might be wrong on that .

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So I'm guessing 30 or 38.. leaning on the 38 they say an inch per year. Thanks for the great insight!

When you look at Lake Michigan you are seeing the opposite, a drastic increase in overall size and larger big than we have seen in quite some time.

Probably 12-17lbers