RUNNIN REBEL

Remember the "future concern" is for the 2017-2018 season (Assuming we have mild/short winters again) Cutting Lake trout stockings %100 percent this year or even last year would have close to no effect on the potential alewife problem of 2017-2018. Lake trout grow relatively fast the first 5 years of their life. BUT They don't put much pressure on the alewife existing numbers at this early age. AGAIN ---We are missing 2 year classes of alewife in a row and there are LARGE 4-5 year old alewife's out there now. Jerry RUNNIN REBEL **** Headed to Toronto/Bluffer's area/ Canada now to fish Salmon derby, will post more info when I get back ****

Tom, this should help with some answers.LakeOntarioAlewifeStatusUpdate-2016.pdf

Saw that and a couple dead / rotting carp out there today also

Gill T, NOT a "Salmon stamp" it is hard enuff to get multiple agencies to agree on 1 thing, let alone agree on Lake Ontario stamp only ? Canadians benefit without buying stamp ? NY State LIFE TIME LICENSE holders now pay every year again ? HAVING CHARTERS PAY on top of every other add-on expense they incur from NYS ? Salmon only ? Finger lakes trout/salmon included ? warm water species ? Adirondack trout lakes ? Entire state ? NY waters of Lake Erie ? Now you are talking about an enforcement nightmare on checking fishing licenses for "stamp" with a person/family fishing any Lake Ontario pier for perch....next to anglers fishing for salmon.. BIGGEST concern was not letting ANY "stamp" $$$$ disappear from intended fund to downstate let's say. And which agencies & lakeshore only counties get cut ? At what % See: Cayuga county limited Lake Ontario shoreline distance.... Cayuga has multiple finger lakes shoreline too. ANY government agency does not collect/maintain and distribute funds well I am seeing..........We tried the STAMP path before. I am glad meeting moved on to new technology in checking great lakes ship ballast water while ships are moving............................................ Jerry RUNNIN REBEL

Tom B I will post everything I receive after tonight's conference phone call. This will give a few answers to your questions. Keith/Gator GREAT POINTS YOU MAKE. I had the luxury of having over 40 different entities in which to ask the same question to publically and over an ice tea later on. Some things I have learned when asking these question's is, Student's are less biased than the professor's I ask . Federal & State & local government officials DO NOT work well together (surprisingly to me) Scientist are scientist and you can find one at any given meeting to prove OR disprove your own theories. Biologists are the most interesting to talk with and give the most detailed answers Private grant studies and private companies provide the most in-depth studies/presentations and Questions/answers Talking to any one of the ^^^above^^^Individuals one on one over an Ice Tea REALY PRODUCES the answers ...... SK8man "revenue streams" play a HUGE roll in decisions.You cannot talk about Federally Funded Lake trout without having Atlantic salmon and Lamprey control funding's (and the requirements the Fed's bring along with the funding) affected. SORRY SIDE NOTE: You seen the amount of lamprey hits/scares on kings and any brown over #12 ? Chad/gill T You are missing one of the biggest concerns out in Lake Ontario now PHOSPHORUS LEVELS %30 of all Phosphorus in Lake Ontario comes from Lake Erie Via mostly Niagara River BUT is heavily concentrated on the south shore from Niagara River to Rochester. Farms were under the watch of US Agriculture for the most part. Now with the Federal EPA involved (they don't hide in bushes) The EPA threatens all $$$ subsides and low interest loans $$$ farms currently receive (No one has to enforce anything , when you own the lively hood of these farmers). Some farms are following the EPA recommendations of NO MORE culvert installs on farm properties in exchange for GOVERNMENT grants to collect (phosphorus rich) run off in holding ponds or collection tanks to be delivered to the normal water waste treatment plants. The quote made at the Ottawa meeting on this was "we are going to clean up Phosphorus in Lake Ontario one (farm) culvert at a time" ANY REDUCTION in Phosphorus affects the lowest web of the food chain in Lake Ontario. Lake Ontario has approximately 1/3 LESS alewife's it had in the 1980's, that's just part of the future bait sustainability puzzle. Last point of information: We discussed another "fish stamp" fee on anglers. This was unanimously shot down. Only Lake Erie was left to consider this fee moving forward Jerry RUNNIN REBEL

Vince , I did not think about the call timing........And yes the fishing has been incredible for weeks , that's timing I just want to get as much information as I can out here, and when people question things I can go to several different sources (governments-USA/Canada & scientists/biologist & professors and students and Sea Grant ETC) for multiple answers.

In the mean time , people SHOULD care about what the Federal Government has done already and is planning on for near future of Lake Ontario Please look up Clean Waters act 1972 and see what our EPA government arm wants with current revisions due. And look at the PLAN 2014 lake Ontario/St Lawrence river a plan that has been studied for 14 years and is going to prepare us for climate change ???????? These are 2 major plans that will effect our water quality forever............A domino effect on base of food pyramid starting at the base ( which scientist told me "the lower the pyramid base effected, the worse the problem" NOT caring what regulations they (government) enact on farmers (which my wife's family has done for generations) gets us the likes of New York State " GUN SAFE LAW " enacted down our throats because people don't care. Sorry but I would not be able to hunt deer much if I did not stick up for the Farmers from Sodus to Niagara county......... Jerry RUNNIN REBEL

There will be conference phone calls with Lake Ontario stake holders this week and meetings next week. I will post the 2016 Alewife status reports ( including the bait trawls in Ontario waters). This information will help answers; on why only 10 min trolls= because what if an occasional bait haul of 10's of thousands bait fish did happen in a 10 min trawl ?????? answer preferred alewife temps and bait locations at trawl dates = it is a science= focusing Ontario trawls on west end of lake(Niagara river spring time draw) in spring instead of eastern parts of Canadian waters. and northeast end of US waters. TOO much info to list................ BUT I am happy to be in the fold/mix or whatever you guy's call it, and be involved with every meeting possible on every subject to do with Lake Ontario. I will deliver as much info as I can and then you can decide. Jerry RUNNIN REBEL

I have the highest confidence in this year's bait trawl assessments. I have attended meetings from Ottawa to Niagara /Ontario were I have talked with multiple Agencies/Colleges/scientist and fisherman (commercial to charter & everyday guy's) from every Great Lakes state and Canada about Predator/prey balance and Alewife in general. A lot of the questions I asked came from here ( LOU website ) you guy's questioned. ****This time US Agencies have worked more closely with their Canadian counter parts.**** There is more advanced Technology coming (especially in saltwater DEEP hydrocustics technology ) !!!!! This is what we know: The Alewife Bottom Trawl Survey has been conducted in the same way since 1978. It begins in mid-April and runs through early May depending on weather. It surveys all Alewife sizes and ages. You guys see the Adult abundance index and the Age 1 or Yearling abundance index which come from this bottom trawl survey. There are usually 120+ trawls that go into those indices. From 1978-2015 the trawls were collected by 2 boats (USGS and NYSDEC) and were only in US waters, *****starting this year 2016, it will expand to 3 boats and include Canadian waters as well****. Note, the spring bottom trawl survey can not collect Young of Year (YOY aka Age-0) Alewife because they have not been born yet. (Fish aging is weird, they are Age-0 until their first birthday) If you remember from the talk, we survey how many Alewife were produced in a given year, the NEXT year, because so many different factors influence their survival in their first year of life (and really first winter of life). So in 2016 we will have an estimate of how many Alewife were produced in the 2015 year class. Lake Ontario is missing 2 consecutive year classes of alewife. There is strong evidence that the 2014 Alewife year class was low (almost non-existent), and probably a low year class in 2013 do to the back to back cold - long winters. and when these two 'lows' are moving into the adult population, we are likely to see adult density decline in the next year.( VERY IMPORTANT: These remaining adults need to carry the spring spawns with no harsh winters the next few years ) As Tom Allen pointed out this year The majority of bait out there are the remaining spawners. In normal cycle years When anglers are fishing and 'seeing bait', much of what they have to be seeing are age 1 Alewife, that is fish that were produced the year before. Age 1 fish make up 60-80% of all the Alewife in the lake! Those fish will be anywhere from 2 inches up to 5 inches. Litterally there are billions of those Alewife in the lake...but remember, if we are lucky, 25% of them will make it to be age 2. There may be tons, but in one year, 75% are gone.

yes it is type E botulism. Sea gulls get it (form of food poisoning) from eating gobies that are contaminated with the toxin and are dying .Also affected are ducks /loons /mergansers/ Commotants that eat these fish. The gulls you see floating in the lake end up not being able to fly or hold their head up and end up drowning.

Sarah welcome to Lake Ontario United form. I have loved fishing the ESLO & LOC derbies for many years( as my current profile picture shows the 1980s ESLO Weigh Station with Chad Lapa). This is a great interaction of questions and answers you are providing. Any chance you can put a link back to the Lake Ontario United website on your current LOC DERBY website. This way many more people will have a chance to ask questions and see answers from other questions asked already . Thanks in advance I have known your dad for a long long time.... He never mentioned any kids !!!!!!!!

Dane, Depends on who wins our presidential race this year.........If She wins=======HELLO duel citizenship for me..... TODAY IS CANADA DAY !!!!!!!!! Jerry RUNNIN REBEL

people own them and they may sublease a few ....if you look at the far end they are building a new one now

preferably at this end of the dock neighborhood... Comes with bar and restaurant

no problem but if you ever get one of these (houses with a dock )please call me !!!!!!

Benefits the pen rearing project

There is a bluffers tight lines tournament July 30 th with a $40 K top prize. I believe it's invitation only but there should be a big fish Friday On July 29 you should be able to fish.. Also this seems like a nice tournament out of bluffers also I do not know of any in August

Thanks for the updates on here . Wishing I could be a part of the WHI this year. Jerry RUNNIN REBEL

Good information on Lake Ontario potential. Ontario Port Credit Symposium Frank Krist 2 April 2016 sf.pdf