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    Instigator

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  1. If you weren't at the LOTSA meeting last night, along with a lot of other really good information that the DEC put out, They announced that in 2024 Lake Ontario will be receiving an additional 137,660 chinook salmon bringing the total New York stocking of chinook to 1,122,840. This finally exceeds the 1,000,000 fish mark for the first time in quite a few years. LET'S GO FISHIN!
  2. LOTSA End of Year Meeting 12/14/23 On Thursday December 14th at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be having our annual end of year meeting. Special guests for this meeting will be Steve Hurst, DECs Chief of the Bureau of Fisheries and Christopher Legard, Lake Ontario Unit Leader and Aquatic Biologist. One of the ways that the DEC is managing the Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Fishery is by participating in meetings where a significant number of Lake Ontario anglers will be in attendance. They want to hear directly from those anglers who heavily use the Fishery and their input about the 2023 season along with answering any questions they might have. This is the only meeting with the DEC on the west end of the lake this year. Some of the topics they will be covering include, 1. 2023 Lake Ontario creel survey results 2.Age structure and weight of Chinook Salmon 3.2023 prey fish survey results 4.Status of sea lamprey control We highly encourage those anglers who are interested in the constant improvement of the fishery to attend and provide their input. Pizza and drinks will be available starting at 6:30pm compliments of LOTSA. Hope to see everyone there as it should be a very informative meeting to end the year out. Article written by John Suttell LOTSA LOTSA is a group of mainly weekend recreational fishermen who are dedicated to the enhancement of the Lake Ontario Sport-Fishery including the pen rearing project at Olcott. Each meeting also features a sharing of information the current fishing conditions. So come join us and become more successful at fishing Lake Ontario! The meeting will be held at the new location for our LOTSA meetings, The North Amherst Fire Company, 2200 Tonawanda Creek Rd. Amherst, N.Y. The Seminar is open to the public and free to attend. See WWW.LOTSA1.ORG for any questions.
  3. On Thursday October 12th at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be having our end of the 2023 fishing season wrap-up meeting. The meeting will be a round table format with LOTSA members discussing the 2023 season on Lake Ontario. The meeting will also cover the results of the Lake Ontario Fisheries Advisory Panel that was held on October 4th. One of the main topics will be the 2023 Lake Onterio spring prey fish assessment report that was recently released. This report is what the DEC uses to come up with the stocking numbers for the next year. LOTSA is a group of mainly weekend recreational fishermen who are dedicated to the enhancement of the Lake Ontario Sport-Fishery including the pen rearing project at Olcott. Each meeting also features a sharing of information on the current fishing conditions. So come join us and become more successful at fishing on Lake Ontario. The meeting will be held at the new location for our LOTSA meetings, The North Amherst Fire Company, 2200 Tonawanda Creek Rd. Amherst, N.Y. The Seminar is open to the public and free to attend. See WWW.LOTSA1.ORG for any questions. Article written by John Suttell LOTSA
  4. On Thursday July 6th at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be sponsoring a Seminar on Summer Tournament Winning Techniques with Captain Jonathan Ross of Tomahawk Sport Fishing. Jonathan has 40 years experience on Lake Ontario. He will be talking about and taking questions on techniques he has developed through the years that has made him a successful Lake Ontario Charter Captain With the LOTSA Tournament and Summer LOC just around the corner you will want to attend this seminar. Hopefully you’ll be able to pick up some great pointers to help you become a more successful angler. LOTSA is a group of mainly weekend recreational fishermen who are dedicated to the enhancement of the Lake Ontario Sport-Fishery including the pen rearing project at Olcott. Each meeting also features a sharing of information on the current fishing conditions. So come join us and become more successful at fishing Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The meeting will be held at the new location for our LOTSA meetings, The North Amherst Fire Company, 2200 Tonawanda Creek Rd. Amherst, N.Y. The Seminar is open to the public and free to attend. See WWW.LOTSA1.ORG for any questions. Article written by John Suttell LOTSA
  5. On Thursday June 8th at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be sponsoring a Seminar on Lake Erie Walleye Trolling Techniques with Captains Gary Katta of Kongo Sportfishing Charters and John Forbes of Times Two Charters. Captain John Forbes has over 38 years of Great Lakes fishing experience. In 2004 he started his charter business Times Two Charters fishing on Lake Erie. Through the years he has developed many successful techniques to consistently put many Walleyes in the box for his happy clients. His successful philosophy has been ’We are fishing with you, not for you.” Captain Gary Katta has over 35 years of Lake Erie Walleye fishing experience with over 15 years running Kongo Sportfishing Charters. Captain Gary over the years has developed the skills necessary to be a very productive Charter Captain on Lake Erie with many happy and returning customers. Both Captains will be discussing their proven techniques and taking questions that have put them at the top of their profession. If you are currently a Walleye fisherman looking to improve your skills or are thinking of getting into fishing for Walleyes this is one information seminar that you don’t want to miss. LOTSA is a group of mainly weekend recreational fishermen who are dedicated to the enhancement of the Lake Ontario Sport-Fishery including the pen rearing project at Olcott. Each meeting also features a sharing of information on the current fishing conditions. So come join us and become more successful at fishing Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The meeting will be held at the new location for our LOTSA meetings, The North Amherst Fire Company, 2200 Tonawanda Creek Rd. Amherst, N.Y. The Seminar is open to the public and free to attend. See WWW.LOTSA1.ORG for any questions. Article written by John Suttell LOTSA
  6. It has been another successful Pen Rearing project with completion of the final major task being the removal and cleaning of the Pens this past Saturday. As written in previous updates, the chinook salmon and steelhead were received on April 4th at a size of 104/lb. for the chinook and 30/lb. for steelhead. On April 25th when released the steelhead averaged 16/lb. and on the 26th the chinook averaged 52 to 54/lb. This project, and many others, has been consistently putting out quality product since they started nearly 20 years ago. The success of these projects along the Lake Ontario coast of NY is due to the many volunteers and cooperation with NYDEC. The DEC knows the value of the pen rearing projects and has been extremely helpful with the supplies that are needed to keep these projects running. The future of these projects relies on the cooperation between anglers and DEC whether its ECON Officers, Biologists or the Fish and Wildlife Technicians conducting the Angler Surveys. So, when you see someone from the DEC, please thank them for the job that they are doing and help them do their job by cooperating with them. The key to managing this incredible fishery starts with you. The biggest thing that you can do to help other than volunteering is to provide accurate information to the Creel survey teams when you see them. The new DNA tracing that DEC is using is crucial to manage the fishery more effectively in the future. Cooperation is key. Back to Pen Rearing, these projects take a tremendous amount of work, effort, and money. I would like to thank all the volunteers who donated time and money to the project this year, the weather forecasts were terrible for the days that we picked but somehow, we had perfect days for almost all the evolutions. Thanks to NYSDEC, Town of Newfane and the Town of Newfane Marina, The Greater Niagara Fishing Expo, Eastside Market, the Boat operators (Capt. Vince Pierleoni, Capt. Andrew Bartlett and Joe Derda) and the individuals who load the automatic feeders every day (Vince Pierleoni, Dennis Stabler, Jim Hoffman and Anthony Ellis). We also had some monetary donations that will remain nameless, you know who you are, Thank you! With some luck and a whole lot of hard work, these projects will continue to provide quality King Salmon and Steelhead for us all to enjoy well into the future! Thanks again to all that have made this project a success. Alan Sauerland LOTSA Pen Rearing Coordinator & VP.
  7. On Thursday May 4th at 7pm the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be sponsoring a Seminar titled “At the Dock Talking Kings” with Captain Pete Alex of Vision Quest Sport Fishing. The seminar will be held at Bootleggers Cove at the Port of Wilson N.Y. Captain Pete will be giving the seminar from the back of his boat Vision Quest VI. As an added bonus for those who arrive early you will be treated to hot dogs and drinks prepared by LOTSA’s one and only Capt. Marty beginning at 6:00 pm. The food and drinks are compliments of the Greater Niagara Fishing Expo in appreciation for all of the support LOTSA provides to the Expo each year. Pete has logged over 36 years of open trolling on the Great Lakes and has been chartering customers since 1988. He has also been very successful on the tournament trail with his Team Vision Quest. Since 2006 Team Vision Quest has placed in the top 10 in over 120 events with 40 being either 1st or 2nd place finishes. Pete will be talking about and also taking questions on his techniques that has made him successful fishing for King Salmon on Lake Ontario. Pete is associated with many of the top companies in the Great Lakes fishing industry, Dreamweaver Lures, A-TOM-MIK Trolling Flies, Fish Hawk Electronics, Shimano Fishing Products and Fish USA just to name a few. Pete’s motto is “Leave No Fish Behind”. With the LOC Derby starting May 5th this is a good time to pick up a few tips and techniques that could help you out on the lake. This will be a very informative seminar that you will not want to miss. LOTSA is a group of mainly weekend recreational fishermen who are dedicated to the enhancement of the Lake Ontario Sport Fishery including the pen rearing project at Olcott. Each meeting also features a sharing of information about the current fishing conditions. So come join us and become more successful at fishing Lake Ontario! Just a reminder this special meeting and seminar will be held at the Bootleggers Cove Marina at the Port of Wilson from the back of Vision Quest VI and not at the Amherst Fire Company in Amherst. The Seminar is open to the public and free to attend. See WWW.LOTSA1.ORG for any questions. Article written by John Suttell LOTSA
  8. The fish are in the pens and feeding aggressively. We received the baby chinook salmon from DEC on April 4th at a weight of 104 fish to the pound which is larger than we typically receive them. We should have no problem reaching the goal weight of 90 fish to the pound and will probably crush that number. With the chocolate milk colored water from all of the rain they weren’t very active and didn’t noticeably feed till the water cleared and hit 48 degrees F, but now at 50+ degrees in the harbor, they are getting pretty active and they are hungry. We feed the fish every morning by filling automatic feeders that sprinkle feed into the pens continuously through the day. The next step is releasing the fish. Our 15,000 steelhead will be released at sundown on April 25th and the chinooks will be released at sundown on the 26th. The pens will then be moved back to the north launch ramp and removed Saturday April 29th around 9am. As the pens are removed from the water we will be pressure washing them and preparing them for storage till next year. We will need a lot of help on the 29th to make this work. We need 2 more pressure washers and lots of people with side cutters to remove the almighty zip ties. If you can help out, please let me know and plan to be at the Town of Newfane Marina at 9am April 29th. Email [email protected] or text/call 716-504-7789. Thank you, Alan Sauerland Pen Rearing Coordinator
  9. On Thursday April 20 at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be sponsoring a Seminar by Capt. Joe Oakes on spring King Salmon fishing on the west end of Lake Ontario. Joe has been fishing the lake for 30 plus years with the last 6 years chartering clients aboard his 29ft Blackfin named Salmon Boy out of the Port of Wilson. Joe has competed in many tournaments through the years. Some of his wins are first place in the amateur division in the Niagara Pro Am and winning the 2021 Reeling For A Cure Tournament. He has also placed numerous times in the LOC winning first place in the Salmon division and also winning the Fish Odyssey. Joe will be sharing his knowledge and techniques while also taking your questions on what has made him successful fishing the west end of the lake in the spring season. This should be a great meeting to kick off the 2023 fishing season on Lake Ontario. LOTSA is a group of mainly weekend recreational fishermen who are dedicated to the enhancement of the Lake Ontario Sport-Fishery including the pen rearing project at Olcott. Each meeting also features a sharing of information on the current fishing conditions. So come join us and become more successful at fishing Lake Ontario! The meeting will be held at the new location for our LOTSA meetings, The North Amherst Fire Company, 2200 Tonawanda Creek Rd. Amherst, N.Y. The Seminar is open to the public and free to attend. See WWW.LOTSA1.ORG for any questions. Article written by John Suttell LOTSA
  10. Pen Rearing Update Today we were notified that our fish in Olcott will be delivered next Tuesday, April 4th at 1:30pm. Once the fish are in the pens, we need to move the pens to their regular docks upstream of the boat launch. We were able to secure a second boat (Thank you Andrew) to work with Captain Vince making the move easier. We will need 10 or 12 people to help with this evolution so if you have some time Tuesday afternoon, please come out and lend a hand. Remember that Penn Assembly Day is this Saturday, April 1st at 9:30am at The Town of Newfane Marina. The pens will be placed in the water after assembly, so stick around and help with that if you can. Please dress according to the weather and bring your side cutters. Hot coffee, tea and hot chocolate will be provided as well as packaged pastries.
  11. Spring is almost here! With that brings the LOTSA Pen Rearing events. This years Pen assembly day is Saturday, April 1st. We will be meeting at the Town of Newfane Marina at 9:30am to begin assembling the net/pens. Refreshments will be provided from East Side Market in Olcott. Good news, we will be getting about 13,000 more Chinook salmon which takes the total to 126,000 Chinook and 15,000 Steelhead. Come out and see old friends or make new friends and support this fishery that we all love. Please remember to dress warm and bring side cutters to trim zip ties. LOTSA places a heavy emphasis on Education including recruiting new Anglers to the Lake Ontario Fishery and providing continual Education opportunities for the experienced Anglers. If you haven’t renewed your membership this would be a great time to do that. At only $10 membership fee this is a great way to support the local fishery and learn from some of the most experienced fishermen and women on Lake Ontario. We will have membership sheets available.
  12. On Thursday December 8th at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be having our annual end of year meeting. Special guests for this meeting will be the New York State DEC including Steve Hurst DECs Chief of the Bureau of Fisheries. One of the ways that the DEC is managing the Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Fishery is by participating in meetings where a significant number of Lake Ontario anglers will be in attendance. They want to hear directly from those anglers who heavily use the Fishery and their input about the 2022 season along with answering any questions they might have. We highly encourage those anglers who are interested in the constant improvement of the fishery to attend and provide their input. Pizza and drinks will be available compliments of LOTSA. Rumor has it that Santa (our very own Marty Polovick) might make a special appearance; you sure don’t want to miss that. Hope to see everyone there as it should be a very informative meeting to end the year out. Article written by John Suttell LOTSA LOTSA is a group of mainly weekend recreational fishermen who are dedicated to the enhancement of the Lake Ontario Sport-Fishery including the pen rearing project at Olcott. Each meeting also features a sharing of information the current fishing conditions. So come join us and become more successful at fishing Lake Ontario! The meeting will be held at the new location for our LOTSA meetings, The North Amherst Fire Company, 2200 Tonawanda Creek Rd. Amherst, N.Y. The Seminar is open to the public and free to attend. See WWW.LOTSA1.ORG for any questions.
  13. Salmon School Registration is Open! Below is a message from Joe Yaeger, LOTSA President taken from the most recent News Flash #11. Click the link below to go to the registration page. It’s now that time of year again when we are putting our open lake Salmon boats and gear away for another season and starting to look forward to Spring Kings in 2024! While the season was going on we were working on the Salmon School. We’ve expanded the format again based upon input from the last School and have 3 excellent Salmon fishermen as instructors (Vince Pierleoni, Russell Gahagan and Rob Mallory) who are willing to share their knowledge on catching Kings with all of us. We are proud of the fact that it has become the premier Salmon School on the Great Lakes! The Salmon School will again be held at the Greater Niagara Fishing & Outdoor Expo this coming February 16-19, 2023. The School will again be a 3 day event with the kick off “Social” on Friday night, Saturday is the full day school and Sunday Q&A with the instructors on any remaining questions you might have. The price will be $100 and we have secured very reasonably priced hotel rooms for those traveling from out of town. You can see all of the details on the School and sign up at LOTSA Salmon School | Greater Niagara Fishing & Outdoor Expo If you are traveling to the show/school from out of town here is a link for lodging. Please note that these are pre Covid prices, so book soon before they are sold out. Lodging | Greater Niagara Fishing & Outdoor Expo (niagarafishingexpo.com)
  14. Don't forget that this Thursdays LOTSA meeting has been rescheduled to Thursday September 15th due to the Bills season opener. The discussion on the 15th will be a recap of the 2022 season with several club captains. Come on out and talk some fishing and tell us how YOUR season has been.
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