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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.

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.

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)

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.

On Thursday July 7th at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be sponsoring a Seminar LOTSA Tournament Winning Techniques with Captain Kyle Hovak and Captain Doug Parker. Kyle and his team Mean Machine won the amature division in this years Niagra Pro Am and last years Curt Tournament and Lotsa 323 tournament. Doug and his Team Streaker won last years amature division in the Niagra Pro Am and also won last years Lotsa Tournament while also placing 2ND in the 323 tournament.They will be going over their winning techniques and also taking questions. With the Lotsa tournament just 2 weeks away you do not want to miss this one. 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. Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

On Thursday June 2nd at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be sponsoring a Seminar by Captain Brandon White of Rochester Sport Fishing Charters on Summer LOC Derby Tactics. Brandon has been chartering since 2001 after mentoring with Captain Kip Mammano also of Rochester Sport Fishing Charters. Over just the last 5 years Rochester Sport Fishing is responsible for putting over 30 fish on the LOC leader board, including 3 first place finishes and the Grand Prize Winner in the 2021 Spring LOC. Fishing in the local tournaments around their home port the team has placed 4 times in the top 5 in the last 3 years including a 1st place in the 2019 Sandy Creek Shootout. As an added bonus Captain Kip will be joining Brandon for this seminar. The duo will be going over fishing techniques that has helped them become successful Charter Captains on Lake Ontario. They will also be taking and answering your questions using their over 50 years combined experience to help you put more fish in the boat and hopefully on the LOC Leader Board. You won’t want to miss this one with the Summer LOC just around the corner. 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.

On Thursday June 2nd at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be sponsoring a Seminar by Captain Brandon White of Rochester Sport Fishing Charters on Summer LOC Derby Tactics. Brandon has been chartering since 2001 after mentoring with Captain Kip Mammano also of Rochester Sport Fishing Charters. Over just the last 5 years Rochester Sport Fishing is responsible for putting over 30 fish on the LOC leader board, including 3 first place finishes and the Grand Prize Winner in the 2021 Spring LOC. Fishing in the local tournaments around their home port the team has placed 4 times in the top 5 in the last 3 years including a 1st place in the 2019 Sandy Creek Shootout. As an added bonus Captain Kip will be joining Brandon for this seminar. The duo will be going over fishing techniques that has helped them become successful Charter Captains on Lake Ontario. They will also be taking and answering your questions using their over 50 years combined experience to help you put more fish in the boat and hopefully on the LOC Leader Board. You won’t want to miss this one with the Summer LOC just around the corner. 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.

On Thursday April 14 at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be holding our first meeting of the 2022 fishing season. There will be multiple LOTSA Captains speaking and answering your questions on Spring King Fishing Tactics. LOTSA will also be holding a Flea Market on the same evening from 5:30pm to 7:00pm. Tables are available to LOTSA members free of charge. Members will be selling some used and unused tackle, so this would be a great time to come and pick up some items for the upcoming fishing season. LOTSA members interested in reserving a table or have any questions please contact John Suttell @ (585) 813-4066 before April 1. Tables are limited and are on a first come first serve basis. If leaving a message be sure to leave a contact number in your message. Hope to see everyone there as we look forward to another great 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 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.

I'm sure that everyone is aware of this already and I'm told that almost all refunds have been issued. Thanks for everyone's patients and understanding. Thank you for signing up for the 2022 Salmon School and for supporting LOTSA. If you haven’t already heard, The Greater Niagara Fishing & Outdoor Expo which the Salmon School is a component of has announced that the Show is canceled due to Covid (full announcement below). So therefore, our Salmon School is also canceled. We are extremely disappointed given all of the work that was already put into the school and the fact that everyone of us attending would have been a better fisherman this year because of what we would have learned from Captains Vince, Brian and Russell. We are already looking forward to our 2023 Salmon School that will be happening as part of the Greater Niagara Fishing & Outdoor Expo February 16-19, 2023. We will be refunding your full $85 payment shortly thru the way you paid for it. Please note the $85 included your 2022 LOTSA membership ($10). So, if you want to be a LOTSA member for 2022, you will need to sign up again and pay $10. Your membership is very important to us and we hope that you see the value in LOTSA and will choose to become a member this year. Click this link to signup for your 2022 membership: Sign Up – LOTSA Membership | Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (lotsa1.org) Press Release: “Greater Niagara Fishing & Outdoor Expo Canceled for February Niagara Falls, NY – The Greater Niagara Fishing & Outdoor Expo, scheduled for February 17-20, 2022 at the Conference & Event Center Niagara Falls has been canceled. In addition to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the region, it would be extremely difficult to maintain COVID-19 protocols due to the nature of this event. The health and safety of the exhibitors, speakers, attendees and staff are of the utmost priority at this time. Mark your calendars for February 16-19, 2023 when this event will return bigger and better than ever! For additional information, please visit www.niagarafishingexpo.com.” Looking forward to a return to “normal” this spring and being able to enjoy our Pen Rearing, Meetings, Seminars, Tournaments & Picnic events again. LOTSA President – Joe Yaeger

9 seats left. Get em while you can! Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

There are only 15 seats left for this salmon school. Don't wait, they will fill fast. Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Given the current mask mandate and record high numbers of COVID cases in WNY, we have decided to cancel our Christmas Party meeting scheduled for Thursday December 9th at the North Amherst Fire Company. We were all looking forward to holding the meeting and are very disappointed that we had to cancel it. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes you and hope to be able to return to our normal meetings/seminars in 2022. LOTSA President – Joe Yaeger Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Don't miss the opportunity to learn from one of the most knowledgeable Salmon fisherman ever on Lake Ontario at the LOTSA Salmon School this coming February. The School will be held during the Greater Niagara Fishing & Outdoor Expo February 17 - 20. 2022. Registration for the School is now open and already 50% of the seats are sold! Click here to signup for the School and learn from Vince, Brian and Russell how to up your game for Kings in 2022! https://niagarafishingexpo.com/lotsa-2022-salmon-school Salmon School Registration link: https://lotsa1.org/sign-up-lotsa/

On Thursday September 9th at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be sponsoring a Seminar on Fall Stream Salmon and Trout Techniques with club members Scott Rohe and Wade Rowcliffe. They will be discussing techniques that they use to be successful in the fall and winter season fishing the tributaries on the western end of Lake Ontario. Wade grew up fishing Oatka Creek with his brother Vic as kids. He has been trib fishing for the last 15 years and has refined some of his fishing techniques he learned as a young adult and applies them to the fall and winter fishing season. He starts steam fishing in late October and goes through April until it is time to get the boat out and getting back on the lake. So if you already fish the steams or are thinking about starting to, you won’t want to miss this seminar that is sure to be very informative. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE BACK TO MEETING AT THE NORTH AMHERST FIRE COMPANY ON TONAWANDA CREEK ROAD AFTER BEING UNABLE TO BECAUSE OF COVID FOR THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF. 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. Submitted by John Suttell

On Thursday July 8 at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be holding their June meeting at the Town of Newfane Marina in Olcott. PLEASE NOTE THE MEETING LOCATION CHANGE FOR OUR JULY MEETING. The meeting will feature Capt. Chris Petrucci on Fall LOC Derby Winning Techniques. Chris fishes out of Bootleggers Cove Marine at the port of Wilson aboard D Day his 27 ft Tiara. Chris has been quite successful the past few years placing in all of the late summer tournaments. Last year his teams finishes included LOC 16th& 19th in the Salmon division, Big fish of the day twice and LOTSA big fish award. The Fish Odyssey Salmon division 2nd & 3rd, Big fish of the day twice also the LOTSA big fish award. NYS Summer Classic the Salmon division and the LOTSA big fish award. Chris will be sharing his techniques and answering questions on what has made him successful fishing the western end of Lake Ontario during the late summer tournaments. Be sure to follow all CDC and N.Y. State Covid guidelines to help keep everyone safe. Hope to see everyone there. 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! Written by John Suttell

On Thursday June 3rd at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be holding their June meeting at the Town of Newfane Marina in Olcott. PLEASE NOTE THE MEETING LOCATION CHANGE FOR OUR JUNE MEETING. The meeting will feature a roundtable discussion of LOTSA captains featuring Marty Polovick, Steve Olay and Joe Yaeger. They will be speaking and answering questions on July Salmon Tournament Techniques. All three of them have consistently placed in our LOTSA and local tournaments throughout the years. Between them they have a lot of years and knowledge of fishing the western end of Lake Ontario. It’s a great time to pick up some helpful tips as we get ready for what should be another great year on the lake. Be sure to follow all CDC and N.Y. State Covid guidelines to help keep everyone safe. Hope to see everyone there. 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! Submitted by John Suttell

2021 LOTSA Pen Rearing Wrap Up This year LOTSA’s Pen Rearing Project expanded again. For 21 days we held 111,000 Chinook salmon and 17,000 Steelhead in nine fish pens located at the Town of Newfane Marina in Olcott NY. The pens were assembled on March 27th LOTSA members and a few volunteers from Lake Erie Chapter of Fly Fishers. The fish were received on April 6th and moved in pens to their temporary homes on “A” dock in Eighteen Mile Creek. At receipt, the Chinook salmon weighed 126 fish/lb and the Steelhead were 24 fish/lb. During their stay, they were fed continuously via belt feeders that were loaded every morning by Dennis Stabler, Capt. Vince Pierleoni and Marina Director Scott Scheffler. The warmer water temperatures and continuous feeding led to impressive growth during their stay and some of the best product that we have seen. On April 25th the Steelhead and April 28th the Chinook salmon were released into the harbor just before dusk to minimize risk of predation from birds and other fish. At release the Chinook averaged 67.4 fish per pound and the Steelhead averaged 15.97 fish per pound. NYDEC had “Hazers” working in the harbor for 2 days after the fish release to deter predation from birds as well. This project would not be possible without an incredible amount of help from volunteers and generosity from local businesses. I would like to thank Scott Scheffler and The Town of Newfane for support throughout the project, also The Boat Doctor/Tackle Barn and The East Side Market in Olcott. Please support these businesses and show them your appreciation too.

On Thursday May 6 at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be sponsoring a Seminar by Capt Mike Johannes from the back of his boat at the Bootleggers Cove Marina at Wilson Harbor. Mike will be sharing his knowledge and techniques on fishing for spring King Salmon at the Niagara Bar and the port of Wilson. Mike will be doing his seminar from the back of his boat a 39 ft Sea Ray “On The Rocks IV with a hands on approach, going over boat set up and also proven techniques he has developed over his many years on the lake. Mike has been fishing Lake Ontario since the early 1970s. Mike started chartering in 1991as a first mate with his father then in 2000 he got his captain license and has continued on with the family tradition ever since. Some of his accomplishments include winning the 2000 Niagara Pro Am and 2nd place in 2018 Wilson Invitational plus many top 10s in other tournaments. Mike has also helped many of his customers place in the top 10 in the lakes different tournaments. As an added bonus Bay Rat Lures will be there to do a short presentation on their new Salmon and Trout product offerings for this year.The seminar is the day before the start of the spring LOC so you might be able to get some useful tips you could use to better your chances in the derby. Remember to wear your mask and practicing social distancing to help keep everyone safe. We hope to see you there to kick off the 2021 fishing season. 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 Seminar is open to the public and free to attend. See WWW.LOTSA1.ORG for any questions. Written by: John Suttell

2021 LOTSA Pen Rearing 2020 presented challenges for everyone, especially with Covid19 thrown into the mix. With the regulations set by the state and the uncertainty of how the virus would affect us and the process that we use to build and maintain the pen project, LOTSA decided not to put our members at risk of infection. Some local charter captains stepped up and decided to make sure that the project still took place. There were a total of 6 pens and 111,000 chinook salmon that were held for 4 weeks before being released. In 2021, LOTSA will be running the project again. The pens will be assembled on Saturday March 27th at 9:30am at the Town of Newfane Marina. We will be assembling a total of 9 pens as the project is expanding. 5 pens will hold the 111,392 chinook salmon, the other 4 pens will hold 17,000 steelhead. This is the first year that 100% of the chinook salmon and steelhead stocked in 18 mile creek will go through the pen project. This will give all of them the best start possible and hopefully provide a stronger staging salmon fishery in 2024 and into the future. Easter is early this year which complicates the timeline a bit, so we aren’t sure when the fish will arrive. This information will be circulated at a later date. As always when building the pens, dress warm and bring your side cutters to clip zip ties. This year however with the virus still hanging around, we ask that you wear a face covering/mask at all times and do your best to keep socially distant from one another. Hot coffee/chocolate and pastries will be available to help keep you warm.

2021 LOTSA EVENTS WWW.LOTSA1.ORG SEMINARS & GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS: The dates of our meetings are listed below. They begin at 7pm at the North Amherst Fire Company, 2200 Tonawanda Creek Rd, Amherst, NY 14228. Please note May 6th meeting is in Wilson at Bootleggers Cove Marina. SEMINAR SERIES: Thursday April 8th - Canceled due to COVID Thursday May 6th - “At the Dock’ talking Kings With Captain Mike Johannes Thursday June 3rd - July Salmon Tournament Techniques Roundtable of LOTSA Captains Thursday July 8th - Fall LOC Derby Winning Techniques With Captain Chris Petrucci Thursday September 9th - Fall Stream Salmon Techniques With Scott Rohe and Wade Rowcl Thursday December 9th - Annual Christmas Party 18th Annual LOTSA King Salmon Tournaments & Free Picnic July 17th 11th Annual Curt Meddaugh Memorial Free Tournament Friday July 16th See LOTSA1.ORG to sign up and for the details on these 4 events LOTSA “Tournaments within a Tournament, free for LOTSA Members” Spring LOC Derby $1000 Cash Largest Salmon 5/7 – 5/16 Summer LOC Derby $750 Cash Largest Salmon 6/25 – 7/25 Fish Odyssey $700 Cash Largest Salmon 8/21 – 8/29 Fall LOC Derby Wk #1 $500 Cash Largest Salmon 8/20 – 8/28 Fall LOC Derby Wk #2 $500 Cash Largest Salmon 8/29 – 9/06 Salmon Pen Rearing Program: April at Olcott (Newfane Marina). See LOTSA1.ORG for the specifics.

That is a link to a press release that originally pushed the show into February. If you refresh it, the date changes to 2022. The show and the 2021 Salmon School have been cancelled. Sent from my VS995 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

We regret to announce that due to virus concerns, we are canceling our April club meeting and Flea Market. Sorry for the inconvenience, hopefully this will be cleared up prior to the May meeting. Sent from my VS995 using Lake Ontario United mobile app