King Davy

Don’t have the exact number handy but I believe they stocked 70k domestic bows, and would replace that number with brown trout. I think the one brown trout limit on the tribs is going to start to pay dividends to the lake fishery in the next few years as well. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Genny gets 111k salmon. A larger allotment of browns and steelhead. The browns are still stocked at a few different locations along the lake in Monroe county. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Well HB2 the domestic rainbow program is over. They shut down that stocking in favor of raising more browns. So most locations are getting more browns. We placed 4th in the summer LOC in the brown trout division. And we put our time in fishing for browns and our experience was plenty of yearling browns, mixed in with the big fish we caught. The little brownies were as wide as they were long. All out of Braddocks. The one charter Capt I know out of Braddocks has been clobbering the browns when the temps are tight. Our weather and water temp structure has been all over the map this year. I believe that’s our biggest culprit. DEC are science guys but they do have bosses in Albany. So it would be foolish not to think there is pressure to find high economic return. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

HB2 your a business man , I was for 43 years it’s always going to come down to $$$ as part of the decision. My post was what I figured played in, not what was told to us. The fishing on the lake reminds me of that 97/99 fishing. Running all over the place to put a good day together. Back then we turned to steelhead, browns and lakers to get rods moving because with stocking reductions salmon fishing was tough. But we caught them as well . Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

The science of survival was a culmination of stocked fisheries in general not just LO. And HB2 while it wasn’t admitted to us on the panel, I’m sure decisions are focused on greatest bang for your buck. Although Sandy during the trib season sees anglers from as far away as Oregon, Montana, and Colorado, and a flush of folks from PA, Ohio, and Jersey, there isn’t the infrastructure on and around Sandy to support a large group of anglers that are towing boats and needing lodging close buy or spots for bigger boats with water and power etc. It’s the biggest little port on the lake success fishing wise but it can’t handle large groups of people who want to stay by their boats. Trib wise these guys already drove many hours to get here. So the 15 minute ride from Hamlin to Greece where there are 100’s of rooms, and places to eat is no big deal. They aren’t lugging boats and trailers Around. We should all know by now that these management programs are never going to make 100 percent happy. Hang in there folks. I’m sure things will change again. Hopefully to get Dandy back on board. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Brian Sandy got the triple slam this year. No more kings, steelhead, and the exit of the domestic rainbow as a LO fish. They got an increase in Browns. I fought like crazy to not end the rainbows to no avail. My personal opinion and we’ll see, if bait fish have rebounded and from my time on the lake this year it seems so, like they did after the 1993 cut and build back up in early 2000 they’ll have an opportunity to increase stocking and hopefully put Sandy back on the schedule. Those of us that fish the tribs know Sandy has a huge following from all over the country and is a very busy port to fish the lake. It deserves to be considered a major asset port to the entire year round fishery Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

One last comment. I know one of the creel agents you spoke to. Known him since he was born. His dad and I taught him to fly fish and work the back of a trolling rig since he was seven. There isn’t a program that kid hasn’t mastered from fly and float fishing to rigger and junk rods. I also know how hard he’s worked to get his Fisheries Batchelor of Science degree. He’s worked as a steward for DEC USGS, and others the last four years. So while as a young Jedi he may not be as articulate as an older DEC tech he eats and sleeps this fishery. So let’s all hoist these kids up who paid some huge dues to get where they are. Finally they are there to collect data. The data that drives the decisions made by your regional managers. Charter and rec anglers need to spend the time providing the data. Especially our Capt’s. They realize most of you guys clean fish on the lake, but you can still (and I know many do) provide info on where your clients are from how many and what species were caught. While cleaning fish if you note a size length/ weight of the fish and maybe scrape a couple scales and put them in a plastic bag even more help. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

As far as the fishery being compared to the early 2000’s. It’s had its ups and downs for sure. Steelhead in 2014 died off in maybe 70 percent of the adult population not from whirling, but rather a vitamin B deficiency from eating emaciated alewives that’s were in poor health out on the lake. So it was easily four years before we had any rebound of decent trib steelhead fishing. And truthfully as one who spends over 100 days a season fishing for them can I say that the 20/21 season looked to be the first more normal fishery. In 2017 to 2019 the lake fishery for K ing salmon on the lake in my opinion was nothing short of spectacular because we were not feeling the cuts until last year and much heavier this year. We have what I’ve experienced as bigger fish on average but not as successful numbers wise. This fishery as all do go through cycles. So the only thing to do……. Just keep fishing. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

For Gambler, when they talked survival rates they are speaking about a larger pod of fish living through the smolt stage on their way to being true yearlings. So not looking at pen rearing success. In fact as you know they are releasing 100 percent of the kings in pens. Now I don’t disagree with you that Sandy was always a huge success and the fact that they have great stream access as these decisions also included as it should the entire depth and breath of the fishery meaning the fall trib fishery as well For salmon. With the stocking numbers down nearly 60 percent the strategy was to look at management plans to ensure the greatest survival. All should stay turned for the bait fish assessment which should be out shortly. If the bait rebounded then there will be considerations on increasing stocking and could put places like Sandy back on line. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

I sat on the Stakeholder panel along with both charter boat captains, rec lake anglers and other trib stakeholders. Others may chime in. After several years of study on survival of stocked fish either in pens or direct stocked is that the highest survival rates was when larger groups of fish were stocked together in a particular location. Thus a survival management decision was made by the department to cutout smaller ports push the fish to larger rivers and stock a larger population of fish together. We did have a vote. One of the options was to keep stocking as it had been, and then two other options that grouped larger pods of fish at the larger ports. I spent my whole life from the 60’s fishing on or out of Sandy and truly hated to see it cut. But with the data provided by DEC on overall best survival the majority of stakeholders voted to the new plan hoping with such a heavy reduction in king salmon stocking we’d retain the highest survivor rates of kings. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Hey Tom , just finished fishing 10 days out of Wilson. We had a good week caught nothing but kings. We didn’t go all the way to the bar. Fished four mile, and down 4 to 6 miles out of port. There were a bunch of fish and bait all week in that 50 to 80 foot of water. We moved them pretty good until mid week, but then the boat traffic and high sun put them down. The last couple days we hunted the 200 to 250 depths and found a good class of fish many in the high teens low 20’s. We did finish in 10th place with a 24.10 salmon. Parked rigggers 100 to 120 down and divers out to 300 and had them snapping pretty good. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Nicely done. Can’t wait to be able to cross the border and swing your beautiful streams again. Tight lines. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

You’ll need a handful when you hear about the sea run Brook trout program. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

They just loaded the LL on Champlain. The LL are not only for fly fisherman. Many gear and float anglers catch them in the tribs, and many are caught in the lake. Having fished for them in many different places, LL salmon are truly happy in rivers. They enter as early as right now , I hooked a dime bright salmon in the Oak this past week that likely ran in with the better flush of water . There have been several caught on the Salmon river this month running in from the lake. They will enter all spring summer and fall when conditions are right. Last summer anglers fishing near the dam at the Oak caught some LL. They can tolerate water temps into the high 70’s. So this species can fill several nitches for a combination of both lake and river anglers. I’ve caught them trolling but in my humble opinion and my experience is they are made to be caught on rod and reel in a river where the angler is one on one with the fish without being pulled by the boat as well. Fish that I’ve experienced that have jumped high enough that I’m looking up at them. They are actually faster in the water than king salmon coupled with their acrobatics makes them a very worthy target. So the state and feds are working together to enhance this species for anglers to enjoy. At the same time they are not limiting any of the other species except for circumstances like bait fish issues the past three years. NYS has only been stocking 20k fish. With some added fish from Tunison who are experimenting with strains and sizes of fish through how long they hold them. In the end this study takes nothing away from the other species and provided though limited at the moment opportunity to catch another top level game fish. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

That’s exactly the reason they passed on I Bay. But Tunison at Cornell are raising fish a little longer and bigger before release to where they may be less of a bait target. No matter where the fish are stocked they have to survive predators . 2019 to 2020 trib creel census results of LL caught at Oak Orchard creek from fall to spring was 2700+. They stock the Oak fish in the harbor just several 100 yards from the open lake. Last spring DEC stocked the entire salmon river group at the mouth of the river to see if they get a great return like the oak gets by not having the fish run the river to the lake. They could do the same thing at IBay. We have natural repo of king salmon and steelhead in irondequoit creek. This creek is of the highest quality of any of our local tribs. Lots of access all the way to Fishers NY with much more canopy keep waters cool including many springs that seep into the bed of this Trib. However since no more stocking of Kings or steelhead at Sandy and the ending of stocking domestic rainbows in LO may be their reasoning. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

The penned fish are only an experiment being done this year at the lighthouse marina on the Salmon river. They are simply taking part of the stocking allotment of the salmon and penning them to see if they get a better return. So just part of original Adirondack stocking. Yes DEC has decided to put LL’s in Sandy. Many of us tried to push for irondequoit for the main reason of better habitat. Yes they did do a stocking in the 80’s and actually it was very successful and not sure why they backed off. The total cost of this experiment is less than 5 k for materials. Cobelskill college welds the pens up. There is a group of volunteers already in place to put the pens together and care for the fish. I simply can’t understand why there is so much negativity every time DEC is diving into more science. This was NOT a program that trib fishers came up with. This strictly is the program of Steve Hurst the bureau chief of fisheries. Some of you guys always run way off track and never truly have the story straight. DEC is working with USF&W to obtain more LL to try to work towards creating an annual sport fishery of this native species. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Gill they will still end up draining the canal for the season. Normally for safety and maintenance reasons. NYPA Met with Lake Ontario stakeholders who could describe the benefits of pulsing water through the streams connected to the canal. 18 Mile, Oak and Sandy would be the major beneficiaries. For this first go round they targeted Oak and Sandy. We can see the success of this effort especially this year with our drought situation that the pulse of water induced some really strong runs of fish earlier than would have ever happened this year. We are just now getting water levels back to normal with the past two weeks of rain. I can’t speak for further west of the Oak but from there to Sandy the angler usage has been heavy. A large portion of the anglers are from out of state. So we can assume there has been an uplift economically to Monroe and an Orleans county. During the meetings NYPA also discussed usage of the canal during the summer season with not only the western canal towns, but also the east side of Rochester to look at programs (summer kids and adult fishing derby’s, and other water related festivities) to get awareness of the canal as a resource for families to enjoy. DEC was also present and I and others raised the issue of PFR’s. If raising the popularity of the LO trib fishing works, access could become an issue. DEC stated they would be pursuing more PFR’s especially along Sandy since it runs a long way from the lake to Holly. This might also improve the late season near shore trolling if they Crank this up in Sept at the Oak and Olcott as well as the pier fishing. So just getting started but early results look positive. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Even with increased flows with the lack of water we have unfortunately it hasn’t kept them at bay. But salmon season is waning and those folks are being replaced by better ethical style anglers. But the goal was to induce fish in the streams and I can tell you that worked in spades. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Thanks for putting this up Jerry. Lindsay and I were asked to be involved with the panel of stakeholders who met with NYPA to discuss this a year ago August. The panel confirmed along with elected officials from Orleans County how impactful the trib fishery was to the area from a tourism aspect so they decided to enact this pulse to local streams. I can tell you from personal experience the past three weeks it’s brought fish in bunches, and with it lots of fisherman from all over the NE US. Oak and Sandy are very busy. And the fishing has been good. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United