2026 LOTSA Salmon School at Greater Niagara Fishing Expo

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    The LOTSA Salmon School held at the Greater Niagara Fishing Expo this coming February 20^th 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:

1. 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:
   1. Fishing where the Mature Kings are
   2. Deep dive on how they use their Electronics
   3. Mastering the “Art” of Trolling
   4. Big King Tactics
   5. Efficiency on the Water

2. 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.

 

3. 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.   

 

4. 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.

 

5. 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.

 

6. 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.

 

7.  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.   

 

8. 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.

 

9. 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!

 

10. Here is the Link to register for the School:  Sign Up – LOTSA Membership | Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association