GAMBLER

If this is directed at me, I just stated a simple little fact. Trib guys want to piss and moan about charter captains keeping too many fish yet they do not participate in the pen projects as much as lake guys.

Since when have they increased stocking due to mortality? Lakers have been shorted a couple times and no increase the following year? They did add some extra kings due to the coho issue.

I'm all for them getting data but fin clipping and nose tagging lessens their chance for survival and stresses them. The DEC employee that delivered the fish to our pen project told me the kings will stop feeding for days after being clipped and tagged. He said the fish were bigger this year because they did not go through the stress of the marking trailer.

The captains are just trying to survive! A good percentage of captains do this as a job not a hobby. I have no problems with captains targeting a certain species to survive. The trout have been left alone for the previous four seasons for the most part. As for the steelhead, the population is high and only a couple ports are having success fishing them. East of the oak, the steelhead are being left alone.

Everyone has to work but we all find time to fish. Not a good excuse by any means. If we all sit back and let the dec do the work, they will do what cheapest and easiest for them.

I tend to disagree with this statement. Sandy, Olcott and the oak pen projects were all here on this site. People tend to have the attitude that someone else will do it.

I would also like to see more trib guys volunteering in these pen rearing projects! These projects benefit all of us and most of the leg work is done by the lake guys.

The addition of 300,000 lakers is being implemented to try to help out natural reproduction. I'm a big lake trout fan but I'm against stocking more. Over the last four seasons, my catch rate per hour is climbing. There is not shortage of lakers at all. The more lakers around, the harder it is to find bigger ones. Since 2011, my catch rate per hour has gone up significantly and we are having to weed through more smaller ones to find big ones. It is harder to get the big ones when the little ones are keeping your rods out of the water. I agree with Yankee 100% about the lakers living to long to increase their numbers. This could be detrimental to the fishery if we have bait issues. Hopefully that does not happen!

.7 to 1.7 is my down speed. Over 1.8, the cowbells thump really hard and the catch rate goes down. Also I find more big fish like the slower end of the speeds I listed.

Flat fish and Kwikfish work but you can not hit bottom or they will pick up zebra muscles. Lakers like whites, glows, silvers and sometimes wacky colors like all pink.

I say mid thirties at best. We will see.

This just goes to show without stocking of kings, natural reproduction will not always fill the void. I like fishing kings as much as the next guy but I just want to catch fish. You also have to do what you have to do to place in derbies. Do you guys enter derbies and tournies to finish middle of the pack or out of the money? I would hope not.

When in doubt, fish trout. My king numbers are way down this year but I have filled the void with trout. When the lake gives you lemons, make lemonaide. Be thankful we have the bonus world class trout fishery to back up a world class Salmon fishery.