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Great News! DEC has increased our stocking allotment in Olcott this year! Once again, we will have a total of nine fish pens—150,000 Chinook salmon in six pens and 15,000 steelhead in three pens. We need all the help we can get to assemble the pens and prepare for fish delivery in early April. 📍 Location: Town of Newfane Marina, Olcott 📅 Date: Saturday, March 28 🕘 Time: 9:00 AM The pens will be placed in the water immediately after assembly. This is a rain-or-shine event, so please dress accordingly and bring side cutters to remove zip ties. Come join us, make new friends, and reconnect with old ones—while helping sustain this fishery for years to come! ☕ Pastries and hot drinks will be provided.

Only 12 seats left for the 2026 Salmon School. Get them while you can.

If one of your goals for 2026 was to increase your catch of mature Kings on Lake Ontario, you will not find a better way in the off season to help accomplish this than by attending the LOTSA Salmon School this coming February. What you will learn from the instructors on how they each prepare for every trip, how they target mature Kings, mastering the “Art” of trolling and their on the water decision making process are just some of the key topics that will help you accomplish your goal. The Salmon School is more than 80% full which is historically the point where the remaining seats move quickly and it sells out. If you have not made your decision or are planning on it but have not signed up yet, now is the time to secure your seat to take advantage of the opportunity to help accomplish your goal this season. Click here for all of the details about the School and to secure your seat: LOTSA-2026-Salmon-School-LOTSA-WEB.pdf

If one of your goals for 2026 was to increase your catch of mature Kings on Lake Ontario, you will not find a better way in the off season to help accomplish this than by attending the LOTSA Salmon School this coming February. What you will learn from the instructors on how they each prepare for every trip, how they target mature Kings, mastering the “Art” of trolling and their on the water decision making process are just some of the key topics that will help you accomplish your goal. The Salmon School is more than 80% full which is historically the point where the remaining seats move quickly and it sells out. If you have not made your decision or are planning on it but have not signed up yet, now is the time to secure your seat to take advantage of the opportunity to help accomplish your goal this season. Click here for all of the details about the School and to secure your seat: LOTSA-2026-Salmon-School-LOTSA-WEB.pdf

The LOTSA Salmon School held at the Greater Niagara Fishing Expo this coming February 20th is less than 2 months away. If you have already signed up, Thank You! The School is a great way for you to gain some additional Lake Ontario Salmon Fishing knowledge that will allow you to significantly up your Salmon Trolling “game” in 2026! The School is almost 70% full. It has sold out every year since its inception 16 years ago we expect the same again to happen soon. If you are planning on attending but have put it off, please do not wait long as our history has shown that once the Hunting season is over the remaining seats usually go very fast. The School continues to sell out every year because it is enhanced every year with the input we receive for our attendees in their survey at the end of the School. From the 358 surveys turned in over the past 3 year, 100% told us they received good value for their admission fee and 90% said they planned to return again in the future! If you have not made your decision yet to attend or have not even considered attending, below are some things that you should know about the LOTSA Salmon School: What will I Learn? This is a custom class built from the questions/topics submitted by each of the attendees. The instruction level is geared for the experienced troller and will be kept that way throughout. It will not spend covering the basics of the tackle, gear, riggers, divers, junk lines, electronics, boat rigging etc. which experienced Anglers already know. There are plenty of seminars at the Expo on that including the LOTSA Basic Salmon School on Sunday morning. Some of the topics that each Instructor will provide their input on include: Fishing where the Mature Kings are Deep dive on how they use their Electronics Mastering the “Art” of Trolling Big King Tactics Efficiency on the Water Who are the Instructors? The team of Captains consists of Bob Songin, Brian Garrett and Nick Glosser. They all are not only great fishermen with thousands of hours of experience fishing for Lake Ontario Kings but experienced educators. They know what to expect and how to deliver it most effectively to the attendees. They know how to manage the questions and stay on schedule to deliver everything that they have prepared. When & Where is it? The school runs as part of the Greater Niagara Fishing Expo February 19 – 22, 2025 in Niagara Falls, NY. The school provides 11 hours of learning opportunity spread over 3 days with the main School on Saturday 2/20 from 8 – 4:30 pm. The event takes place in a large Ballroom with tables to sit at, a good sound system and a large screen that everyone can see the material. The Expo secures excellent Hotels within a very short walk from the show at show negotiated prices. These rates are also available to Salmon School attendees. What in addition to education will I get? Each attendee will receive a “Captains Bag” including some of the instructors “Go To” baits. The value of this bag for the 2025 School alone exceeded the cost of admission to the school. We expect the bag to be very impressive again for 2026. In addition to the “Captains Bags”, attendees of the 2025 school left with over $5,000 in “Lake Ontario Fishing” door prizes (each attendee gets a free door prize ticket in their Captains Bag). We expect similar for 2026. Do I need to attend the Friday evening and Sunday sessions? The “School” is on Saturday. The Friday night pre–School Social will feature a short presentation from the DEC Lake Ontario Managers showing their latest data including the DNA results that is used to manage the lake for Kings in 2026. The Social will also provide dinner thru food stations (by the Chef at the Convention Center) along with Beer, Wine, Soft Drinks and water throughout the event. There will be plenty of time to socialize also and build up your network of fellow anglers. The Sunday Q&A session has proven very popular as it gives attendees time to think about everything that they have heard and get one more chance to ask questions to clarify any of it. Both sessions are designed to enhance the learning process but are not necessary to attend the school. They are also free with your admission to the Salmon School. Are Food and Drinks included? A hot Turkey Buffet lunch prepared by the Chef will be provided on Saturday along with coffee and drinks throughout the day. Do I have access to the Greater Niagara Fishing Expo? Unlimited access to all 4 days of the Greater Niagara Fishing Expo is provided with your admission to the school. This provides the opportunity to attend any of the other seminars of your choosing besides the Salmon School. More Importantly it provides you access to all the 170+ Exhibitors including those most important to you for fishing Lake Ontario. The Exhibitor list isn’t finalized yet but here is a list of some attending that are relevant to what we do in the Lake: 3L Flies, Accutroll, Angling Industries, Atommik, Boss Fabrication, Chinook Divers, Church Tackle, Daiwa, Cisco, Dreamweaver, Fishhawk, FishUSA, Gambler Rigs, Garmin, Gibbs Delta, GRC Trolling Flies, Ice Strong Outdoors, Innovative Outdoors, Iron Decoy, ITO Flys, LOCBA, LOC Derbies, LOTSA, Moonshine Lures, Muddy Creek, Musslehead Tackle, NYSDEC, Okuma, Pirate Lures, Relentless Knives, Route 18 Tackle, Scotty, Silver Streak, Sirius XM, Soco Baits, Sonnys, Shark, Strike Assist, Summit Fishing Equipment, TLC Tackle, Torpedo Diver, Town of Newfane, Traxstech and Yeck Lures. Does this benefit LOTSA? One of the reasons the Salmon School was created is because LOTSA needed a stable source of funding for Pen Rearing, Education, and all the other things LOTSA does to support the Lake Ontario Fishery. This is even more important today as the school is the primary source of funding for LOTSA’s Pen Rearing project. In addition, every attendee receives a free 2026 membership to LOTSA which includes among many other things the opportunity to fish the “LOTSA Tournaments within a Tournament” events for the LOC Derbies along with the LOTSA Tournaments in July. Is the Cost of $120 for the Salmon School worth it? Only you can decide this. Previous attendees have told us that it’s the best value for their “Fishing” dollars that they make every year! Here is the Link to register for the School: Sign Up – LOTSA Membership | Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association

The LOTSA Salmon School held at the Greater Niagara Fishing Expo this coming February 20th is less than 2 months away. If you have already signed up, Thank You! The School is a great way for you to gain some additional Lake Ontario Salmon Fishing knowledge that will allow you to significantly up your Salmon Trolling “game” in 2026! The School is almost 70% full. It has sold out every year since its inception 16 years ago we expect the same again to happen soon. If you are planning on attending but have put it off, please do not wait long as our history has shown that once the Hunting season is over the remaining seats usually go very fast. The School continues to sell out every year because it is enhanced every year with the input we receive for our attendees in their survey at the end of the School. From the 358 surveys turned in over the past 3 year, 100% told us they received good value for their admission fee and 90% said they planned to return again in the future! If you have not made your decision yet to attend or have not even considered attending, below are some things that you should know about the LOTSA Salmon School: What will I Learn? This is a custom class built from the questions/topics submitted by each of the attendees. The instruction level is geared for the experienced troller and will be kept that way throughout. It will not spend covering the basics of the tackle, gear, riggers, divers, junk lines, electronics, boat rigging etc. which experienced Anglers already know. There are plenty of seminars at the Expo on that including the LOTSA Basic Salmon School on Sunday morning. Some of the topics that each Instructor will provide their input on include: Fishing where the Mature Kings are Deep dive on how they use their Electronics Mastering the “Art” of Trolling Big King Tactics Efficiency on the Water Who are the Instructors? The team of Captains consists of Bob Songin, Brian Garrett and Nick Glosser. They all are not only great fishermen with thousands of hours of experience fishing for Lake Ontario Kings but experienced educators. They know what to expect and how to deliver it most effectively to the attendees. They know how to manage the questions and stay on schedule to deliver everything that they have prepared. When & Where is it? The school runs as part of the Greater Niagara Fishing Expo February 19 – 22, 2025 in Niagara Falls, NY. The school provides 11 hours of learning opportunity spread over 3 days with the main School on Saturday 2/20 from 8 – 4:30 pm. The event takes place in a large Ballroom with tables to sit at, a good sound system and a large screen that everyone can see the material. The Expo secures excellent Hotels within a very short walk from the show at show negotiated prices. These rates are also available to Salmon School attendees. What in addition to education will I get? Each attendee will receive a “Captains Bag” including some of the instructors “Go To” baits. The value of this bag for the 2025 School alone exceeded the cost of admission to the school. We expect the bag to be very impressive again for 2026. In addition to the “Captains Bags”, attendees of the 2025 school left with over $5,000 in “Lake Ontario Fishing” door prizes (each attendee gets a free door prize ticket in their Captains Bag). We expect similar for 2026. Do I need to attend the Friday evening and Sunday sessions? The “School” is on Saturday. The Friday night pre–School Social will feature a short presentation from the DEC Lake Ontario Managers showing their latest data including the DNA results that is used to manage the lake for Kings in 2026. The Social will also provide dinner thru food stations (by the Chef at the Convention Center) along with Beer, Wine, Soft Drinks and water throughout the event. There will be plenty of time to socialize also and build up your network of fellow anglers. The Sunday Q&A session has proven very popular as it gives attendees time to think about everything that they have heard and get one more chance to ask questions to clarify any of it. Both sessions are designed to enhance the learning process but are not necessary to attend the school. They are also free with your admission to the Salmon School. Are Food and Drinks included? A hot Turkey Buffet lunch prepared by the Chef will be provided on Saturday along with coffee and drinks throughout the day. Do I have access to the Greater Niagara Fishing Expo? Unlimited access to all 4 days of the Greater Niagara Fishing Expo is provided with your admission to the school. This provides the opportunity to attend any of the other seminars of your choosing besides the Salmon School. More Importantly it provides you access to all the 170+ Exhibitors including those most important to you for fishing Lake Ontario. The Exhibitor list isn’t finalized yet but here is a list of some attending that are relevant to what we do in the Lake: 3L Flies, Accutroll, Angling Industries, Atommik, Boss Fabrication, Chinook Divers, Church Tackle, Daiwa, Cisco, Dreamweaver, Fishhawk, FishUSA, Gambler Rigs, Garmin, Gibbs Delta, GRC Trolling Flies, Ice Strong Outdoors, Innovative Outdoors, Iron Decoy, ITO Flys, LOCBA, LOC Derbies, LOTSA, Moonshine Lures, Muddy Creek, Musslehead Tackle, NYSDEC, Okuma, Pirate Lures, Relentless Knives, Route 18 Tackle, Scotty, Silver Streak, Sirius XM, Soco Baits, Sonnys, Shark, Strike Assist, Summit Fishing Equipment, TLC Tackle, Torpedo Diver, Town of Newfane, Traxstech and Yeck Lures. Does this benefit LOTSA? One of the reasons the Salmon School was created is because LOTSA needed a stable source of funding for Pen Rearing, Education, and all the other things LOTSA does to support the Lake Ontario Fishery. This is even more important today as the school is the primary source of funding for LOTSA’s Pen Rearing project. In addition, every attendee receives a free 2026 membership to LOTSA which includes among many other things the opportunity to fish the “LOTSA Tournaments within a Tournament” events for the LOC Derbies along with the LOTSA Tournaments in July. Is the Cost of $120 for the Salmon School worth it? Only you can decide this. Previous attendees have told us that it’s the best value for their “Fishing” dollars that they make every year! Here is the Link to register for the School: Sign Up – LOTSA Membership | Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association

2026 LOTSA EVENTS WWW.LOTSA1.ORG Find Us on Facebook – Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Association 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 April 30th meeting is in Wilson at Bootleggers Cove Marina. 🎣 Membership Meetings: Thursday April 4th ………….Increased Spoon Success with Calvin Vanderboon Thursday April 30th...........“At the Dock’ Talking Spring Kings with Captain Tom Pearse Thursday June 11th………Summer Transition Fishing with Captain Jonathan Forder Thursday July 9th ………..TBD with Captain TBD Thursday Aug 13th……….TBD with Captain TBD Thursday Dec 10th ………Annual Christmas Party 🏆 Member Tournaments and Family Picnic – July 24th & 25th v LOTSA King Salmon Tournament July 25th v Curt Meddaugh Memorial Free Tournament July 24th v LOTSA 323 (2-day) Tournament - July 24th and 25th v LOTSA Free Family Picnic (Compliments of LOTSA): July 25th Visit www.lotsa1.org to sign up and for details. 💰 LOTSA “Tournaments within a Tournament” FREE for LOTSA Members v Spring LOC Derby $1000 Cash Largest Salmon 5/1 - 5/10 v Summer LOC Derby $ 1000 Cash Largest Salmon 6/27 - 7/26 v Fall LOC Derby Wk #1 $ 500 Cash Largest Salmon 8/21 - 8/29 v Fall LOC Derby Wk #2 $ 500 Cash Largest Salmon 8/30 - 9/7 *see tournament websites for applicable rules & dates * Salmon Pen Rearing Program: April at Olcott (Newfane Marina). Details shared on our website and on Facebook. *Join the 5400+ followers of the Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Association page on Facebook*

Welcome to another 2025 LOTSA Newsflash targeted to keep everyone informed of Club happenings. We hope that you were able to join us the last weekend of July to enjoy a great time fishing the LOTSA Tournaments along with attending the LOTSA Picnic. This is the 22nd year of these events. The Fishing for Kings has continued to be slower than we experienced last year but we saw just about all the boats fishing our Tournaments catch a few kings in the upper teens to low 20s. Again, our members were well represented on the Summer LOC Board including the 3rd largest King at 29- pound, 12-ounces that also won our Tournament. A special thanks goes out to Paul DeAngelo (Great Lakes Fish Art Studio) for mounting this giant for free for the winner. This fish can be seen at the LOTSA Booth at the Greater Niagara Fishing Expo next February 19-22, 2026. We had 56 boats entered and over 220 people attended the Picnic. The DEC took measurements and DNA samples from over 75 Kings on Friday which should help them greatly in their future management of the Fishery. Our Tournament Director, Matt Dunn, and his team of volunteers did another great job this year. Year after year it just keeps getting better! When you see Matt, please take the time to thank him as without the year around effort he puts in, this event would not be possible. We run these events as FUN learning experience for us all and hope to become better anglers in the future from what we learned. A special thanks goes out to the 10 volunteers who filleted and packaged up every one of the Kings that our members donated for the Sister Helen's Food Pantry, a local pantry who was thrilled to get these fish and distribute them to those in need. Thanks also to Relentless Knives for their donation of 10 knives which were given to the volunteers to clean the fish and then keep! Below is more detail written by long time LOTSA member Bill Hilts Jr.: LOTSA Tournament Results The Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Association held its three in-club fishing contests last weekend – the Curt Meddaugh Memorial Tournament that was the best three fish for one day, the LOTSA King Salmon Tournament for the biggest fish overall on Saturday, and the 323 contest that allows teams to enter three fish over two days of fishing. A total of 56 teams competed in the events. For the “Curt” contest, the Mutiny team led by Capt. Jason Monkelbaan of Wheatfield won on Friday, weighing in over 62 pounds of salmon. Also on the team were Gary Monkelbaan of Tonawanda (Jason’s dad) and Jackson Monkelbaan of North Tonawanda (Jason’s nephew, fishing in his first tournament). They focused on the Niagara Bar in 120 to 200 feet of water using meat rigs, Pro Troll flashers, and A-Tom-Mik Pro-Am flies. Second place went to Capt. Craig Heitzenrater’s Crank That team with 59.44 pounds of salmon. Third place was Chris Petrucci of Beallsville, Pa. with the D-Day team that scored 59.22 pounds. Big Fish for the day went to Roy Leising of East Amherst with the Sportcraft 232 team, a 23.33-pound king salmon. In the LOTSA King Salmon contest, Gerald Bielicki, Jr. of Corfu hauled in a 29-pound, 12-ounce Wilson fish that gave them the win for his Bad Habit team. He was fishing with his father, Gerald, Sr. of Akron and Joe Yuhnke of Tonawanda and they caught the big fish on a Warrior yellowtail spoon behind 10 colors of lead core line in 170 feet of water. It was also the third largest salmon in the Lake Ontario Counties derby and the largest caught by a LOTSA member. The lucky salmon was big enough to give his team the win in the LOTSA 323 event, three fish that weighed in at 68.86 pounds. Second place in the King Salmon contest was Nate Stephenson of Wilson with the Triple J team, weighing in a 25.23-pound salmon. Third place went to Wildcat led by Arthur O’Mara, Jr. of Moravia with a 23.27-pound king. Second place in the 323 competition was Reel Blessing led by Scott Kelly of Kittanning, Pa. with 63.93 pounds of salmonids. O’Mara and his Wildcat squad came in third with 62.93 pounds of fish. After the contests were over, several hundred pounds of Pacific salmon, cleaned by LOTSA volunteers, were donated to Sister Helen’s Food Pantry in Lockport. From LOTSA Tournament Director – Matt Dunn: The LOTSA Picnic was held after the weigh in on Saturday Olcott Firehall. It was very well attended and the air conditioning a much-appreciated relief from the heat! The dinner, compliments of LOTSA, was catered by One Eye Jacks BBQ and we heard nothing but compliments on the food. Over $5,000 worth of “fishing” gear was raffled off as door prizes during the event. This tournament would not be possible without our great tournament sponsors!! The following are the sponsors for this tournament, Dreamweaver, ITO Flies, Traxstech, Town of Newfane, Musselhead Tackle, Scotty, Salmon Candy, GRC Trolling, Gibbs Delta, Fish USA, Great Lakes Fish Art Studios , Fish Hawk, Chinook Divers, Sonny's Fishing Center, Torpedo Divers, Finn Tackle, Fish Thief Snubbers, 3L Flies, Relentless Knives, Atommik, Wolverine Tackle, Route 18 Tackle, Fish Hunter/ Fish Grip, and NK Spoons. As you can see, it takes a lot of sponsor support to make this tournament happen. We are very thankful for all of them and I ask everyone to support these companies whenever possible! Check out the www.lotsa1.org or our Facebook page for more information and pictures of these events. The last two LOTSA Tournaments for the year are the Greater Niagara Fish Odyssey and the Fall LOC which has two LOTSA winners (1 for each week). Let’s see if a LOTSA member can win the Fall LOC and the Greater Niagara Fish Odyssey. If you have never fished the Greater Niagara Fish Odyssey, I encourage you to support this event by signing up and encouraging your friends to do the same. It is a fun tournament with some great competition among LOTSA members for the Salmon Division. You check it out and signup at https://bit.ly/fishodyssey2025. I hope we get to enjoy a great end of the Lake Ontario open water season and you can enjoy this world class fishery that Lake Ontario provides for us! LOTSA President – Joe Yaeger

On Thursday August 14th at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be sponsoring a Seminar on “Fishing August Staging Kings” with Captain Nick Glosser of Synergy Sportfishing. Captain Nick has been fishing on Lake Ontario for 19 years. For the first 8 years he was mating for Captain Vince Pierleoni of Thrillseeker Sportfishing Charters. Then for the last 10 years he was chartering for Captain Vince on Vinces 2 nd boat. With all those years of experience under his belt, he went out on his own this year chartering aboard his 40 ft Jersey Dawn named Synergy. Nick still fishes on Vinces Tournament Team as he has since 2007, which through the years has proven to be one of the top tournament teams on Lake Ontario. Nick will be going over and taking questions on the many techniques he has learned over the years to consistently catch staging Kings as they are getting ready to start their fall run-up stream. With the Fall LOC just around the corner this will be a great time to gain some very valuable information on improving your “Staging King Salmon” fishing skills. 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 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 Board Member

On Thursday August 14th at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be sponsoring a Seminar on “Fishing August Staging Kings” with Captain Nick Glosser of Synergy Sportfishing. Captain Nick has been fishing on Lake Ontario for 19 years. For the first 8 years he was mating for Captain Vince Pierleoni of Thrillseeker Sportfishing Charters. Then for the last 10 years he was chartering for Captain Vince on Vinces 2 nd boat. With all those years of experience under his belt, he went out on his own this year chartering aboard his 40 ft Jersey Dawn named Synergy. Nick still fishes on Vinces Tournament Team as he has since 2007, which through the years has proven to be one of the top tournament teams on Lake Ontario. Nick will be going over and taking questions on the many techniques he has learned over the years to consistently catch staging Kings as they are getting ready to start their fall run-up stream. With the Fall LOC just around the corner this will be a great time to gain some very valuable information on improving your “Staging King Salmon” fishing skills. 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 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 Board Member

On Thursday June 12th at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be sponsoring a Seminar on “Adapting to Changing Conditions on Lake Ontario” with Captain Larry Hammond of Bullseye Sportfishing Charters. Captain Larry has been fishing on Lake Ontario for over 30 years and has been chartering since 2017 aboard his 10-meter Trojan “Bullseye”. During the season he will be out chartering on the weekends but during the summer months, when he is not teaching, he is out every day as a full time charter. He will be discussing and taking questions on how the changing conditions on the lake affects the fishing and how you can adapt your fishing techniques not only day to day but also the morning to the afternoon to put more fish in your box. Some of the topics he will be covering are lure and bait choices during the day and how the changing water affects your presentation and what you can to do to be successful on a consistent basis. 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 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 Board Member

We are closing out another successful Pen Rearing Season. Monday evening, April 28th we released the salmon and steelhead to 18 Mile Creek in Olcott. Growth rates were good as expected, the salmon averaged 67 fish to the pound and the steelhead averaged 14 fish to the pound. Hazing efforts by USGS/APHIS and a couple of volunteers attributed very few cormorants in the area at the time of release and the following day. With any luck the wind and stained water will give these fish a great chance for survival. The pens were removed and cleaned on Wednesday morning and are ready for the 2026 season. Thank you to all the volunteers that showed up to make this project a success. Thanks to the Town of Newfane and the Town of Newfane Marina for hosting the project

On Thursday May 1st at 7pm the Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be sponsoring a Seminar titled “Talking Spring Kings” with Capt. Matt Yablonsky of Wet Net Charters at Bootleggers Cove Marina at the Port of Wilson. Capt. Matt fishes out of the Port of Wilson aboard his 29ft Blackfin Combi as well as his Lund Tyee Magnum. 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 Polovick beginning at 6:00 pm. The food and drinks are compliments of LOTSA. The meeting will be held rain or shine as we have a place to get out weather compliments of Bootleggers Marina. Capt. Matt is a full-time Charter Captain on Lake Ontario with this being his 20 th year. Some of his accomplishments include winning The Niagara Pro Am (Pro Division) in 2006, 2112, and 2018, plus placing 2 nd in 2023. He has won the Grand Prize in the LOC Spring Derby 2 times and has had 41 top 20 finishes overall in the Spring, Summer and Fall LOC Derbies. Capt. Matt will be going over his techniques that he uses to consistently put King Salmon in the box. For many years Capt. Matt has been known as the premier “Small Boat Charter” showing that you don’t need a big boat to be a successful angler on the lake. This is a great opportunity for those with any boat-size to learn and ask questions about what has made Capt. Matt a top charter captain on the west end of the lake. With the LOC Derby starting May 2nd 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 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 Board Member

It is that time of year again! LOTSA Pen Rearing Assembly Day is March 29th this year. We will be meeting at 9am on Saturday 3/29 at the Town of Newfane Marina in Olcott, NY. This year we are planning to assemble the pens and have them placed in the water all on the same day. Fish are expected to be delivered during the first or second week of April. That information will be passed along as soon as it is received. Please dress warm and bring side cutters to cut zip ties. We will provide hot coffee/chocolate and pastries from the East Side Market in Olcott. Come out and help support the incredible fishery that we all enjoy!

On Thursday December 12th 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 Christopher Legard, Lake Ontario Unit Leader, Mike Connerton, Aquatic Biologist, Jessica Goretzke, Aquatic Biologist, and Jim Markham, Region 9 Fisheries Manager. 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 2024 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. 2024 Lake Ontario creel survey results for both the Lake and the Tributaries 2. Age structure and weight of Chinook Salmon 3. 2024 prey fish survey results 4. DNA assessment of wild versus Hatchery raised Chinook Update 5. 2025 Stocking Plans 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. The meeting will be held at 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

Click here to register Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association | Lake Ontario (lotsa1.org) LOTSA 2025 Salmon School The Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) is proud to (once again) host its well-known in-depth Salmon School on Saturday, February 15, 2025. This highly acclaimed school, now in its 15th year, has become the premier Salmon School anywhere in the Great Lakes. What started out as a local event now attracts many diehard salmon anglers from around the Great Lakes and Canada to attend. The School, coupled with all the Trout and Salmon exhibitors at the Greater Niagara Fishing Expo (February 13 - 16), makes this a "must attend" winter event for many. Each year the intense class is enhanced based upon the input from those who attended the previous School. Based upon this input, we have decided to bring the same instructors back for the 2025 School. The attendees thought they did an excellent job and recommend that they return. The instructors wanted to return as they felt that they have so much more knowledge to provide. Over the fishing season this year, the decision to bring them back was reaffirmed by the fact that the 2024 Grand Prize Spring LOC Derby Salmon and the 2024 Grand Prize along with the first place Summer LOC Derby Salmon were caught by attendees of the 2024 Salmon School! Capt. Pete Alex (Lake Ontario west end and north shore), Capt. Rob Westcott (Lake Ontario central & west ends) and Capt. Casey Prisco (Lake Ontario east & west ends) are instructors for the 2025 School. New for this year will be a guest Instructor (Captain Roy Letcher). Roy will provide a presentation on his specialty and what he is well known around the lake for, catching some of the biggest Kings caught in the lake year after year. The school again will be targeted for the experienced Lake Ontario Salmon Angler. Pete, Rob and Casey will provide a thorough walkthrough of each of their most important skills including the mental component Before, During and After their time on the water; along with the specific tools and techniques they utilize to make them consistently successful chasing Kings. The focus will be on the 3 main (open lake) Lake Ontario Salmon fishing periods (May, June/July, and August) and dive into the more technical aspects for each of these months relating to location, the "right" water, deep-water King tactics, locating and catching offshore Kings and on fishing "meat" among many other tactics. A significant amount of time will be spent on how each of them maximize the use of their Electronics to consistently be successful. Included throughout the day will be detailed video footage that will facilitate the learning process. SALMON SCHOOL DETAILS The overall School consists of seven hours of detailed Salmon catching instruction on Saturday along with an additional two hours for the Salmon School Social on Friday and one hour of Q&A with the Instructors on Sunday. The registration price of $110 includes: Free admission to the Greater Niagara Fishing Expo for all 4 days Your 2025 LOTSA Membership A light Dinner and Drinks at the Salmon School Social on Friday A hot buffet lunch (or alternative for dietary needs) plus beverages on Saturday A significant "Captains Bag" consisting of the "go to" baits of the instructors A Door Prize ticket for thousands of dollars of Salmon Tackle/Gear given away The School begins on Friday Evening (5pm to 7:00 pm.) with the Salmon School Social. A unique casual environment featuring short presentation from the instructors highlighting their 2024 season and the DEC focusing on the State of Lake Ontario Salmon. DEC “Decision Makers” along with the instructors and key Lake Ontario oriented manufacturers will be available throughout the event to meet and talk with. This is also a great opportunity to meet fellow anglers with the same passion that you have for fishing for Lake Ontario Kings. This event provides attendees the opportunity to meet the instructors and network with fellow anglers. Food Stations and Drinks will be provided throughout the event. On Saturday, check in begins at 7 a.m. with the instruction starting at 8 a.m. and completing at 4:30 p.m. The School wraps up on Sunday morning (8:30 to 9:30 a.m.) with an hour-long open Q&A session with the Instructors covering any remaining questions that you may have. The class (and Expo) is held at the Niagara Falls Convention Center in a "state of the art" conference room with a large screen, stage, good seating with tables and a good sound system that all make for a comfortable venue throughout the day for everyone attending. Given the quality of what you will be taught, the hot buffet lunch, the Friday night "Social", Door Prizes, "Captains Bag", LOTSA 2025 Membership and free pass to the show for 4 days, it is a terrific value and a great way to start your 2025 season. The Salmon School is not meant for novices of the Lake Ontario fishery. It is a "hard core" salmon class targeted toward providing the "experienced weekend warrior" / Tournament Angler with additional insights and details to improve their catch in the limited time they have on the water. As the Great Lakes continue to change and become a much more challenging fishery, knowledge is often the difference between having a couple of bites or having steady bites throughout the day. This is a custom class built from the input from the attendees on what is most important to them to cover. It is not an "off the shelf" class for the masses. Each attendee will have the opportunity to submit their most important questions/topics that they want covered in the class. The instructors will then use this input to customize the curriculum to cover these areas. This will allow the instructors to limit the questions during the School and make sure that they cover all of the details that they have prepared. The instructors have a huge amount of on-the-water experience trolling for trout and salmon along with a proven tournament track record of high placement in the most prestigious tournaments over many years. They are a much-diversified set of instructors and will provide a class full of insights and details that no one single instructor would be able to provide. They are all skilled communicators and very well known for sharing their fishing knowledge and daily fishing trips with anglers to help them to be more successful fishing the lake. Each brings their own unique set of trolling skills, techniques, and knowledge to the class. Given the depth of the knowledge base of these instructors and their proven ability to educate anglers, we expect this school to be another high quality, comprehensive, in-depth, information-packed event that our attendees have come to expect year after year. The School has sold out every year as many of the attendees come back year after year - which is the ultimate testimony to the value of attending the school. CAPTAIN PETE ALEX Captain Pete Alex has been a charter captain since 1988 and began chartering on Lake Ontario in 1990. His home port is Wilson, NY but travels to various ports on Lake Ontario to fish tournaments. He loves to fish tournaments as well as entertain clients from all over the U.S. He has well over 150 top 10 finishes and numerous big fish and team tournament wins on both Lake Erie and Ontario. Pete started the 2024 tourney season off by winning 3 events (Big Boys May, Orleans Co Open, Salmon and Trout Slam, then a 2nd place at the Niagara Pro-AM) and concluded with winning the West End Cup and the G.L.S.E. Lake-wide series. He is a Pro-Staffer for several companies and loves to help educate anglers by doing seminars and posting educational videos on his YouTube site. He also believes we should never stop being willing to learn new techniques or patterns as fish habits and lakes evolve. Some of the topics he's going to deliver will be the mental processes he uses while on the water to make the right decisions for the constantly changing conditions and how to maximize the use of all of your electronics to be successful throughout your trip. Pete is looking forward to this year's school and feels it will be both entertaining and very educational. You will not want to miss this year's event in 2025! CAPTAIN ROB WESTCOTT Captain Rob Westcott is the owner of Legacy Sportfishing and fishes mainly from the port of Bald Eagle in Kendall, NY. However, throughout the year, he chases the bite and fishes the tournament scene in every port west of Rochester. Captain Rob grew up along the shores of Sandy Creek and Lake Ontario and was introduced to the Lake Ontario fishery at a very young age by his father. Captain Rob loves the spirit of competition and has been very active in the Lake Ontario tournament scene for almost 20 years. With numerous wins and tons of top 10 finishes, the captain has enjoyed success with not only Team Legacy but with multiple tournament teams on Lake Ontario. His proven tournament tactics, tournament mindset, and big fish strategy will certainly be something that he will be sharing at this year's salmon school. He will share his belief that adhering to often overlooked fundamentals, as well as having “on-the-water OCD,” simply puts more fish in the boat. At this year's Salmon School, a big topic will be the seasonal progression of the salmon bite, and he will share the tactics that will catch more kings throughout the entire lake season from April through September. Rob is known by his peers as “Mr. Consistency” which was reinforced again this year with several top 5 Tournament finishes. Consistently good is goal we all strive for each time we are on the water. The knowledge Rob will share at the School will help all of us achieve our goal. Captain Rob is a Pro-Staffer for Okuma, Blood Run Tackle, Dreamweaver Lures, Pro-Cure Scents, Fish Hawk Electronics, and Rigged Cut Bait. CAPTAIN CASEY PRISCO Casey has been fishing Lake Ontario since the age of 4. Over the years he has seen many of different ways to target king salmon come and go. One of his favorite ways is running cut bait. On an average Casey will use around 2500 pieces of herring a season. He believes that it is the absolute best way to target salmon. During this salmon school he will show you how, where, why and when he runs it. After leaving the school your meat game will be much improved. Casey follows the Salmon bite as it progresses down the lake, from Wilson Ny in May to Pulaski Ny in Sept. Casey owns multiple lake boats and has other captains running Charters on them every day. This gives him a unique perspective on what is happening in the lake as they all share detailed information to be as productive on their trips as possible. He also keeps one permanent boat Wilson / Olcott so he has that information also throughout the year. While many of the same tactics will work from end to end of the lake there are a few different things that change. What you will learn from Casey will help you become a better Angler from one end of the lake to the other. Casey enjoys helping other anglers catch fish as evidenced from the regular podcasts he does during the fishing season detailing everything about his trips and other information that he has. He is looking forward to seeing a sold out Salmon School and sharing his knowledge with each of you to put more fish in your cooler. Click here to register Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association | Lake Ontario (lotsa1.org) We encourage you to secure your seat early and enjoy a great start to your 2025 Salmon Season! LOTSA President – Joe Yaeger

On Thursday July 11th at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be sponsoring a Seminar by Captain John Oravec (Troutman) on Summer Tournament Winning Techniques and fishing for the “Big Ones”. Captain John has been chartering on Lake Ontario for 47 years. He is well known as one of the early pioneers fishing back in the days when not much was known of the lake’s vast fishery. Through the years he spent many hours learning the lake and developing tackle that is still used today to become a successful fisherman on the big lake. For 35 years he has written articles for the In Fisherman magazine. He has also been a contributor for Great Lakes Angler and has even been featured on the cover of the magazine passing on his years of knowledge to help anglers improve their fishing skills. Captain John will be discussing how to target and catch “The Big One “and how to learn the lake and what it takes to land trophy fish consistently. He wanted me to tell you to be sure to bring a notebook and take notes as he will be going over a lot of proven techniques he has learned for almost a half a century becoming one of the most successful “Big Fish” Captains 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 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 Board member

On Thursday June 13th at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be sponsoring a Seminar on Offshore Summer Kings and Steelhead with Captain Tim Sylvester of Tough Duty Sport Fishing. Captain Tim has been fishing on Lake Ontario since 2007. He has been running his chartering business for the past eleven years out of the Port at Olcott aboard his 43ft Tiara Open the Tough Duty III. Tim prides himself on giving his customers the best experience on the lake catching Salmon and Trout. Through the years he has built a steady business with many repeat customers along with new ones that keep coming back to him year after year. Tim will be talking about, and taking questions on, his successful techniques he uses while out on the water to consistently put fish in the box. One of the topics he will be discussing is his use of long lines, copper and lead core, and how he runs them to increase his catch rate. This will be a very informative seminar for those wanting to be more successful while out fishing on Lake Ontario during the summer 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 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

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!

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.

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

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

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

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.