Sweet Caroline

Want to upgrade my triples. Have big Jon’s. Thinking Cisco. Anybody have any suggestions?

I believe that Kings are the only salmonids that can successfully  naturally reproduce in LO to any great extent due to the warm trib temps in the summer. Young kings migrate out in May and June before trib temps become too high. Much of the salmon river can get in the low 70s in the Summer which is lethal for young salmonids. Even Irondequoit Creek here in Roch gets good runs of kings every year and they haven’t been stocked in that creek in over 20 years. Getting a handle on natural reproduction is a good idea IMO to effectively manage the fishery. 

Genetic selection is a good point, but that would mean that the DEC would consistently be choosing smaller fish over larger fish. I believe they just take from fish as they come down the line. Doesn’t explain higher catch rates either, unless we all are becoming that much better of fisherman year after year:)

Again, never mind what has happened with natural reproduction, bait trawls, the weather, etc over the past 5 years, the long term trends are very indicative of a growing predator to prey ratio. 

Forget the science if you want. Higher catch rates and declining size equals less forage. I don’t know any other way to interpret that. Not over 1 year, or 2 years, or even 5 years. This has been a trend for at least 15 years. Yes, Lake Ontario is more productive than other Great Lakes, but there still needs to be a balance. If I’m reading the DEC report correct the biggest alewife hatch in 2016 that we talk about is not so big anymore. Most likely because they have been decimated by heavy predation. Hoping for a warm winter to pull of another great bait hatch is not a great strategy to manage a fishery.

There were many mornings this season when we caught upwards of 20 salmon. If I caught 20% less or even 50% less that still is a catch of 10-15 salmon in a morning...and the chance of the fish being larger. All is well in my book.

Couldn’t you just adjust the following years stocking based on the spring trawls? Would always be a year behind but it is better than stocking the same number year after year regardless of conditions. 

Couldn’t you just adjust the following years stocking based on the spring trawls? Would always be a year behind but it is better than stocking the same number year after year regardless of conditions. 

Makes sense Gambler. Time will tell, but the trend of declining salmon size and increasing catch rates has been in the making for a long time now going back to the early 2000s. As somebody pointed out look at the history of the LOC leaderboards and the DEC published catch rates in the past 15 years. Not sure how sustainable the salmon numbers we have now are without something giving. I haven’t heard any news about the latest bait trawls but it seems like this many salmon would be putting a lot of pressure on any bait that is out there. I know it’s a different lake (LO being more productive,etc) but I can’t help thinking of Lake Michigan that had similar catch rates and sizes a few years ago. They ended up having to cut stocking in half. I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining or being a naysayer, I’m just being cautious. I’ve seen enough great fisheries crash and burn to know that things can change quickly for the worse to the point of no return. I love this fishery as much as anybody and have a 2 and a 4 year that I hope will too.

Clearly the predator/prey ratio seems to be a little skewed this year. Bait is getting absolutely pounded with this many salmon in the lake right now. Every bait school I’ve marked has had 2-3 fish on it.  Although these high catch rates are nice, they are so high it is a little concerning. I have caught well over 100 salmon this year with only one or two being over 20lbs. Record high catch rates with record low salmon weight is a strong sign of a predator/prey imbalance. High catch rates, smaller fish, people complain. Big fish, lower catch, people complain. DEC has a tough job for sure. 

Interesting. I thought browns pretty much stayed within a few miles  of where they were stocked too. I’ve seen stream browns stay in the same hole spring through fall. Could be they just look for good structure and bait. Probably just wandered down the shoreline chasing bait. Doubt they are like salmon and steelhead that cris-cross the entire lake all summer but who knows.

Spoke with Ron at the hatchery. Only lost about    200 browns. Not that bad

Good stuff. There was a fishing show I remember watching not too long ago were they were jigging up coho in Lake Michigan. Should google it and see what you find. I remember they used a lot of black jigs. 

Thanks. Will you take $300?

Jeff. Is this still available?

I’m in if this includes Rochester waters. Being the lack of gas, docks , etc at Sandy again this year I think it would be a good idea to open it up like last year.....just saying:)

I have a 2001 with same engines. 305s troll nice with one engine on. No need for bags. Converts  easily from fishing to pleasure boat. Back bench seat is easily

removed and stored. I removed live bait well as there is no need for it in LO and took up a lot of deck space. Anybody that gets boat and has questions on rigging for LO feel free to reach out. 

Fished all week out of Rochester and probably boated 50 plus salmon. Biggest was only 17.5lbs though. Is there just a ton of 2yr olds this year or is the size way down? Other then size how do you determine if a salmon is a 2 or 3 yr old?  Normally catching this many salmon would yield at least a few 18plus lbs even in May. 

Any preliminary feedback on this? 

Hopefully not indicative of the possible survival of last years YOY alewfie

Anybody ever check the stomach contents of these winter browns? Curious as to what they are eating this time of year. Some look pretty hefty.

Any preliminary data yet on the 2017 alewife hatch. I believe they do some trawling in the fall but not sure. 

NP. Thanks for checking

Great. Thanks. I'm in Irondequoit BTW 

Looking add some more to my set but I believe these two models have been discontinued. If anybody has any I'd be interested. 

Cannon Downrigger Rod Model BLC862M 8.6 Medium Line wt 10-17lbs

Master Downrigger Rod Graphite C Model GC88PTG Length 8 1/2 ft Line 8-20

Curious to know how often you should replace bellows? 

Any news at all on this years YOY Alewife? When do they start trawling to look for the most recent hatch?