Gill-T

Rich s, the DEC stocked surplus Kings in 2014 probably due in part because they listened to us fishermen who are out there on the water when we told them there was too much bait and not enough predators. The DEC does listen to us to some degree. This is not a fight or pissing match but rather a discussion on how to make things better. Being proactive instead of reactive. Many on this forum obtain their livelihood from the fishery. I could care less if King Davy thinks I am nuts, I harbor zero ill-will to anyone who displays a counter point to the discussion. I have a passion for fishing Lake Ontario since I was a young boy and I have invested a lot of time, thought and money into the sport.....and I don't want to see it go away. There was a window in time recently when the DEC, FWS, and OMNR were so focused on using federal dollars to restore Atlantic Salmon, Lake Trout and Bloater Chubs?? that they took their eye off the golden goose that helps drive the economy.

Davy, I said "should be 100,000 kings running the Salmon" not there ever has been. If we are only going to have one hatchery and only a few tributaries creating naturals, and the state is relying on natural reproduction to fill in the gaps needed to control alewives, then we should be trying to create a run on the Salmon River that takes into account current mortality equations. I also think everyone on this forum would be for increasing steelhead numbers as well.

By your own admission that the fish are probably stopping and spawning on the DSR then what you are describing in not a lot of fish. The run of kings should be 100,000 fish strong. If only 500 fish move up after every rain and gives life to the river for a few days you might be talking about a run of MAYBE 5,000 kings? Not enough to support the fishery's historical number of fishermen. There are 300,000 kings stocked every year in the Salmon River. From the DEC numbers, 76% of Kings caught in the Salmon River by trib anglers are wild so add them to the mix. Add 2 year old early spawners. We are missing fish. There has to be a way with some sort of tripped light-sensor technology that could be placed in rivers to get a crude head count of fish moving up a tributary. It would be nice to put scientific numbers ahead of opinions.

I would have expected a good push of late fish up the Salmon River as it gets stocked the heaviest and there is natural reproduction. The question still is where are the stocked fish in the other tributaries? We have tons of unaccounted-for salmon.

It is a good thing you shot the second one as he probably would be waiting for you the next time you came around LOL. Crazy story.

I like his shows but I often wonder if Charles moonlights as Captain Obvious on those Hotels.com ads. What's this? Late October full moon best time to hunt???? What is this strange phenomenon you speak of? I can't believe he gets paid for this stuff. You be the judge.

So why did they stop? Was there a mortality issue from transport?

How do you guys cook hares? I tried one once and fed the rest to my dog. Cottontails are delicious.

I have thought about this a lot. Getting the babies out into the blue zone where bug life is greatest would be beneficial. Not having to run the gauntlet of browns, cohos and laker predators in the spring would be beneficial. Moving the fish from 60 degree harbor water into 40 degree lake water might just kill them all. Better to hide in the brown shore water with the other bait seems to be the best scenario.

In every trail picture I have seen this year I have noticed the racks this year are more spindly/lacking mass. I am sure the past two winters have taken its toll on antler mass. I have lowered my expectations.

Agreed!!! They should only be stripping late October and November fish and I am glad there are some fish running! Good rains last night.

I have no doubt the Salmon will continue to have fish as there is natural reproduction there. The problems is all the other south shore ports that rely on stocking.

Steve LaPan is up on the issues with Lake Ontario. The interviewer's questions are what many of us have been discussing. I accept most of what he says EXCEPT the part where he stated the Canadian salmon runs are experiencing the same low returns that our salmon runs are experiencing as if it is a lake-wide issue. I would comment that the Canadian runs on the East end have been full of fish. The West end of Canada ARE having similar poor returns on streams there. Therefore, problems with the warm tributaries with no natural reproduction which are reliant on the stocking programs to foster fishable salmon runs (which are getting a failing grade the past two years) points to a potential problem with the stocking program. Natural born kings on the East end of Canada are thriving. Right now we are doing something wrong for the current conditions of Lake Ontario.

Stan have you invented carbon fibered "stealth downrigger balls" over there in silicon valley? Torpedo-style weights are about as low profile as you can get...however, you can't make them completely invisible.

The "Medusa Buck"

Congrats!!

Tough to tell as early September their coats can be a little patchy yet and temps were still hitting in the 80's at time of photo.

I would like to report one coyote with a large patch of missing/shaved hair.

I see they recommend matching a right helical vane set-up to match a right bevel for those steelforce-type of heads.

Beautiful detail on that sheephead Paul!

I like the idea of stocking rats on the colonies.

Rollie, many of us have been working "with" the DEC by voicing our concerns at the state-of-the-lake meetings.....what else can we do? At the meeting this spring in Lockport I started talking to DEC official about the LOLA report that accesses the food web on Lake Ontario and is published every four years. I could tell after awhile by the fact that the gentleman's eyes started swim a little that he had no idea what I was talking about. I asked him if he know what the LOLA report was and he admitted he had no clue. Really there are only a select few that are running the show. The rest of the DEC just follow along and keep their nose clean. The "select few" like to think they know best and discount the opinions of stakeholders that are on the water most of the year. It is with the "select few" that our source of frustration lies. Give us reasonable governance of the resource and this thread does not exist. Believe me I have much better things to do with my time than dealing with this issue.