Capt Vince Pierleoni

Everyones entitled to their opinion, but there is some serious overstating of knowledge of the Lake O game going on here. With all the traveling the world and "reading the riffles right", the amount of lake trolling for the pelagics has been minimal at best. You guys should stick to talking Atlantics. I am certain I have more true hours of on the water observation on Lake O than any other poster on this thread. To make fun of of claims of "too much bait" just shows that you truly don't care about the lake fishery. My posts on this subject were in the best interests of all. You guys should already know that it is the excessive alewife diet that hurts Atlantic reproduction. It was more of a concern for the entire Lake O system than it was for a personal gain. Its no secret that I prefer King Salmon , and don't kid yourselves the fishing for them is not like it was in the mid to late 80's when properly trolled spoons got swallowed into their gullets. These days it has all the elements you fellas enjoy about fly tying/ fly presentation but anywhere from 30 to 300 feet down. It is not a game for simpletons as you imply. If the Atlantic dream you have is to ever have one iota of success the King Salmon is the reason, the solution, PERIOD. Like it or not, MAN is part of the evoluton of the planet and sometimes they do dumb things like build the seaway or use monofilament gill nets or dump ballast water from faraway lands into the precious Great Lakes. Sometimes they do great things like introduce one of the top gamefish in the world into these same Great Lakes. The late, great, Bill Pearce brought the Pacific Salmon to Lake Ontario. It wasnt just to control Alewives or monitor lamprey control measures, he predicted and welcomed the southshore economic explosion. He knew it would change lives and improve the quality of life in this region. I know many, many young people who have "banged a right" into the sportfishing world instead of banging a left into a world of trouble. I understand the desire to see the Atlantic resting in your favorite riffle, but with the lack of law enforcement in our tribs the will be "disrespected" just like the Browns and Kings currently are. The Kings are not to blame, in fact, they provide a buffer for all this lawlessness that goes on. The one word that comes to mind when sensing your glee of having people leave the sport and fishery is selfish. Once again, Kings are never the problem, they are the solution to all of the lakes issues. UT falcon and baitrigger, I don't know if I know you guys yet but your posts are spot on.Even though you are from two different countries you see things as they are. There is definitely an underlying hope at least, that this fishery we now have could be slowly replaced by the "native species". It truly does provide an "inconvenient truth" that to achieve any kind of restoration of the beloved natives, the nuisance Pacific must be tolerated. You'd have to be blind not to see it. More and more hatchery space dedicated to the ATLs, and less to the Pacifics. Look no further than the new "I LOVE NY fishing" TV ads. Celebrating flyfishing and bass fishing with no mention of Lake Ontario or its Salmon. There was one flash of a guy holding a King. This scenario is repeated all the time. The number one drawing card gets down played and not celebrated, even though it puts the money in the coffers and sells the non resident licenses. It was no accident that the Pacific Salmon did so well in Lake O, it was meant to happen--we got another chance to enjoy the LAKE. Long live the TROLLED, pelagic, King Salmon !

The ultimate gamefish, one minute as shy and spooky as any small stream native trout, the next as crazed as ocean tuna. Yeah, I'd still fish this lake, but it would never be the same. I've lived through this lakes rise from the ashes, and the Pacific Salmon is the single biggest factor why this is a world class fishing destination . In each and every case, the King Salmon is the solution, never a problem. As for asian carp--I'm out. If they proliferated the lake I couldnt stand to look at it again.

Congrats Matt, all the work will be worth it, a boat like that new today would be at least 130K.

They have contact info above, but I think it's July 3rd. Sure to be fun with the old format.

No comment to the last post. When I joined I was warned about incognito posters. This will be my last post on this thread. Take it for what its worth to you. Contrary to what many think, if you like 30 lbers excessive bait isn't what grows them. Bait in balance grows more of them because excessive bait causes a much higher percentage of Chinooks to mature early. Thanks to the hard work of the DEC and the clipping study(please don't insinuate that this thread was an attack on the field staff, they are some of the best in the biz and very dedicated), we have learned that the pen fish get a faster start than the naturals--leading to a higher percentage of them maturing in their 3rd year than what would normally. In contrast, Kings that scrounge their first year(wild fish) or Kings that have prey in balance and actually have to seek them out, often don't mature until their 4th year. The vast majority of the bigger Kings last season were 4 yr olds. It is best in todays fishery to have both, as the intelligent pressure on Kings is at an all time high. There are fleets on the North shore where only a few years ago there were none. Gone are the days when most trollers ambled around hoping to catch anything. Today, even the tinnys are lethal King fishing machines, targeting them everyday. It's just a simple fact that if you are counting on the Chinook Salmon to control the Alewife, giving us better Yellow perch hatches, better Walleye hatches, better Lake trout hatches , increased viability for Atlantic Salmon and a HEALTHIER Alewife population(one that isnt so large that it stresses its food source)--you have to take into account that they are being cropped out of the system. Not to mention, what may have got the job done before stocking number-wise today faces increased predation from birds and warm water predators that were not there 30 yrs ago. On the bright side, the 2016 Chinook class looks to be a strong one. Oh, and I had alewives fouling our lines out in 520 fow today. That has never happened to me before. Good luck to all.

Don't misunderstand, Has been. We are catching Kings. Just being proactive and trying to PREVENT the scenario you have been sold. I've been listening to that doom and gloom about Lakes Michigan and Huron for 2 decades. Last year Lake Michigan had some of the largest fish in years--BEFORE any cut affected anything. Lake Huron is experiencing a resurgence but keep in mind it never was the Chinook lake Ontario or Michigan are. Historically, Lake Ontario produced heavy tonnage per acre for the netters. Apples and Oranges. The message here is control the Alewives better so they DONT over populate, starve and collapse. To properly control may mean a slight decrease in Chinook size but a healthier ecosystem overall. Many factors affect the size of the maturing Chinook, and this year they are still playing catch up for just subsisting this past winter. Glad the cold water this Spring sent you some more Chinnys this Spring. It was like the 80's when I was out of the Oak. Have a great rest of the season and stay safe.

The last few weeks have served to clarify this situation even more. The alewives have taken over the lake again. I'm not sure if tripling the Lake trout stocking was an attempt to address this, but the predator to prey ratio is out of whack and the alewives are winning. Besides added sportfishing and economic opportunity, putting additional heat on the alewives via the efficient Chinook (aka King) Salmon will result in a healthier alewife population. The way things are going, the "fatness" will decrease and a huge die off is being risked. Counting on "boom years" of wild Kings just isn't enough. We love the natural fish but with todays intense King targeting they need help.

Thx for all the work Matt, good job. Should be a fun week.

Very common to have those low hrs on this type of layout. They are literally "on the water cottages". A big run is across the bay to dinner. I looked at this model quite closely, it could serve a family who wanted accomodations and to fish some very well, but for serious fishing or chartering the porch is a bit short. The express models that so many are running make better trolling boats. I think this model in the 11 meter or 12 meter has the right cockpit.

Great pics. Takes you back there in an instant.

Thx Tom !

Great place, great people, great event !

If they are type 1's I will take them.