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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

New offering for 2020 is a LOTSA Flea Market: We have had some members inquiring about having a flea market where LOTSA members would be able to sell some of their used fishing tackle and equipment. We are sending this out to see how much interest we have into putting one together. We would be holding this on April 2nd from 5:30 pm to 6:45 pm before our first scheduled meeting of 2020. Tables would be provided for your set up. You would be responsible for selling your items and taking home what you have left. LOTSA will not be collecting any money from you. If you are interested in a table, please contact Board Member John Suttell no later than February 29th at (585) 813-4066 or email [email protected]

PLEASE NOTE APRIL MEETING CHANGE 2020 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 7th meeting is in Wilson at Bootleggers Cove Marina. SEMINAR SERIES: Thursday April 2nd - Early Spring Kings on the Canadian side of the Niagara Bar With Captain Roy Hryckowian Thursday May 7th - “At the Dock’ talking Kings With Captain Mike Johannes Thursday June 11th - May Kings Recap Roundtable With multiple LOTSA Captains Thursday July 9th - A Simple Summertime King Program With Captain Joe Yaeger Thursday Sept. 10th - 2020 Hot Baits, Techniques, Winterazation Roundtable of LOTSA Captains Thursday Dec. 10th - Annual Christmas Party 17th Annual LOTSA King Salmon Tournaments & Free Picnic July 18th 10th Annual Curt Meddaugh Memorial Free Tournament Friday July 17th 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 5/8 – 5/17 Summer LOC Derby $750 Cash Largest Salmon 6/27 – 7/26 NYS Summer Classic $250 Cash Largest Salmon 7/1 – 8/31 Fish Odyssey $700 Cash Largest Salmon 8/22 – 8/30 Fall LOC Derby Wk #1 $500 Cash Largest Salmon 8/21 – 8/29 Fall LOC Derby Wk #2 $500 Cash Largest Salmon 8/30 – 9/07 Salmon Pen Rearing Program: April at Olcott (Newfane Marina). See LOTSA1.ORG for the specifics.

As we did last year, LOTSA will be able to offer LOTSA themed clothing items to our members. In order to avoid the upfront costs associated with producing the merchandise and carrying the inventory, LOTSA will continue our arrangement with “Special Tees” located in Geneseo, New York. Special Tees has created a website where our members can go online and purchase LOTSA merchandise; such as hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, jacket, and UV protective shirts in men and women styles. The LOTSA member pays for the merchandise, applicable tax and shipping costs. Your order will be shipped directly to you. There is no cost to the club. Please be advised that this is not an on demand ordering system. There is a deadline in which you can place your order. Once the deadline expires, the website will not allow you to place an order. The reason for this is because Special Tees has to set up the printing equipment and will run all of our orders at the same time. This helps keep costs down. Bottom line –Do Not Procrastinate if you want to place an order! The website will be as follows: https://lota20.itemorder.com The website will be open from January 16, 2020-February 3, 2020. Thus, the last day to order is February 3, 2020.

As we did last year, LOTSA will be able to offer LOTSA themed clothing items to our members. In order to avoid the upfront costs associated with producing the merchandise and carrying the inventory, LOTSA will continue our arrangement with “Special Tees” located in Geneseo, New York. Special Tees has created a website where our members can go online and purchase LOTSA merchandise; such as hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, jacket, and UV protective shirts in men and women styles. The LOTSA member pays for the merchandise, applicable tax and shipping costs. Your order will be shipped directly to you. There is no cost to the club. Please be advised that this is not an on demand ordering system. There is a deadline in which you can place your order. Once the deadline expires, the website will not allow you to place an order. The reason for this is because Special Tees has to set up the printing equipment and will run all of our orders at the same time. This helps keep costs down. Bottom line –Do Not Procrastinate if you want to place an order! The website will be as follows: https://lota20.itemorder.com The website will be open from January 16, 2020-February 3, 2020. Thus, the last day to order is February 3, 2020.

If you find someone that will sell their seat, please have the SELLER contact me either here or at [email protected] so the substitution can be made. No one will be admitted if their name is not on our list. Good luck, and Thank you.

If you find someone that will sell their seat, please have the SELLER contact me either here or at [email protected] so the substitution can be made. No one will be admitted if their name is not on our list. Good luck, and Thank you.

On Thursday December 12 at 7pm, the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA) will be having its last meeting of the year. A special guest his year will be Steve Hurst. Steve is the Chief of the Bureau of Fisheries in the Division of Fish and Wildlife for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. He is predominantly responsible for leading and administering the States freshwater fisheries program. He will participate in an informal question and answer session during the meeting. Also attending will be the Niagara County Fishery Development Board where they will be talking about some lake wide issues and also answering questions. Pizza, wings and refreshments will be provided for all attending. This should be a great meeting on what is going on in the lake and your chance to ask questions to the people heavily involved in the fishing 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. Sent from my VS995 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

We are officially Sold Out. Thank you to all who have registered. See you all in January! Sent from my VS995 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Ok, we did some checking in to the issues stated above. There is now a statement on the https://niagarafishingexpo.com/lodging page that reads "ONLY THE ABOVE PRICING APPLIES WHEN YOU BOOK THROUGH THE MARRIOTT SYSTEM. IT WILL SHOW SOME STANDARD FEES WHICH WILL NOT APPLY TO YOUR DISCOUNTED RATE. ONLY THOSE FEE'S CLEARLY OUTLINED ABOVE WILL BE CHARGED TO YOU. ALSO, YOU WILL NOT MAKE ANY PAYMENT UNTIL ARRIVAL, SO YOU CAN REVIEW THAT ONLY THOSE FEES OUTLINED ABOVE WILL BE CHARGED. THANK YOU" I agree that this is kind of confusing. When you check in, make sure that you are only being charged what is stated on the https://niagarafishingexpo.com/lodging page. That price should only be $96.54 per night. These prices are negotiated by the Greater Niagara Fishing & Outdoor Expo, Not LOTSA. Thank you.

As of 6:00pm this evening, 122 seats have been filled, Only 48 seats left.

"Just a quick update on the Salmon School this coming January 18th. As of November 1st over 100 seats have been sold and sales are on the same pace as last year’s sellout by the first week of Dec. Andy, Matt and Pete are working hard on it and have a lot of material to cover. Bringing in Karl and Lance for their specific areas of expertise will even add more value to the offering. Here is a quick video message from the presenters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdrDbZvdSV0 . The main purpose of the Salmon School is to provide attendees with the information that they can use to be more successful catching Kings. One of the “Deep Dive” topics this January will be to cover all the “off the water” work leading up to your outing that will allow you to be as successful as possible when you hit the water. As we all know both the lake itself and the Kings are constantly changing. Your last trip may have been great for Kings but just going back to the same spot without doing the “off the water” work may be the wrong move for your next trip. You can’t catch Kings if they aren’t where you are fishing so giving yourself the best chance to fish where they are is critical for a successful outing. This will include the prep work prior to the trip right up to when you hit the water. It will include the resources to use whether your boat is docked or on a trailer to be able to make the best decisions on where to start out, with what presentation, baits etc. to have the best opportunity for success in your time on the water. Probably the least obvious benefit but one of the biggest opportunities of attending the Salmon School, is to increase your network of Fishermen. Having a reliable network of Lake Ontario anglers that you can share information with is one of the most critical components of your “off the water” prep. With 170 Anglers at the Salmon School all sharing the same passion for Kings that you have, there is not a better opportunity for you to add to your network than this. There are now 12 hours of time around the Salmon School if you are able to attend everything (Friday 2.5 hours State of the Lake and Meet N Greet, Saturday School 8 – 430 and Sunday addition questions 9 – 10) where you have the opportunity to build your network. So, if you are thinking about attending, please make up your mind soon while seats are still available. Signup and submit your questions (www.lotsa1.org) so that Pete, Andy and Matt have enough time to work them into their presentation. Please remember the school is being taught for the experienced angler. We don’t plan on spending much time if any on the basics. If we get real basic questions, there are other seminars early on Friday and on Sunday that you can go to for that information. We have also been getting some questions on how to get you 3-day pass etc. We will send out specific instructions in early January to each person signed up with everything you will need to know. LOTSA President – Joe Yaeger"

They will have a list of registrants at the door, but it's always a good idea to have that receipt just in case. Sent from my VS995 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

MikeyP, do you mean for the Salmon School, or for the main show? The Salmon School tickets can be purchased here, https://lotsa1.org/sign-up-lotsa/ Tickets for the show itself can be purchased at the door. Sent from my VS995 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Your PayPal receipt will be sufficient. Sent from my VS995 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Here are some links from Capt. Pete, Capt Andy and Capt. Matt