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Report 05/20 & 05/21.... Tough fishing right now.... Ran out to our Numbers from Sunday to find a ghost town .. I should have known better.... Went into shallower water and competed with the gigantic clouds of bait. Caught some cohos small kings and a couple steelhead. I've never had my fish finder screen be totally blocked out by bait clouds Yesterday we had a short day, so we fished the bait again. Super tough to compete with the real McCoy! Laker, cohos, and a 2 year old ... This is exactly why they call it fishing and not catching...stinger Black and Silvers on Freeslyders, DW super slims acid Rain, DW Superslims in magic Man were all producers the last two days. It's funny how it goes from rockem sockem robots to a total grind. But that's the Transition for you. Let's hope some stable weather comes in.

Sunday was insane. We still couldn't see crap when we got off the lake at ten AM. Here's a picture of a visitor from years ago jigging lakers on the Bar.

Very good three days out of Niagara County...

I recall looking at a bunch of data on naturalization last year and finding that the size of saltwater species introduced to freshwater generally declines as they adapt, through epigenetics or whatever transgenerational influence holds sway over growth rates. They also tend toward earlier reproductive maturity. I don't think this is limited to kings. And I don't think that there's anything fisheries managers can do to mitigate the process, even if they wanted, although I'd be the last one to say that data doesn't matter lol. Information is power, but sometimes the outcome is just in God's hands. So long as the fish are healthy and drags are screaming, I'm going to enjoy what we have.

I would have taken it as a sign to run a yellow NBK.

Fog was spooky! Had a hitch hiker too!

Then why don't the lake managers age these fish when they run up into the hatchery? And who says it's a large group. I guess you fish the Salmon river area of the lake all fall every fall? There has definitely been a steady increase of these 2 yr old fish maturing over the last 10 years.

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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.

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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