Gill-T

One of the worst seasons for age 3 salmon I can remember. Thankfully, there were other species around to fill the void.

Curved Kyped jaws that are hardening daily. Nipping verses eating/engulfing bait. Except the challenges of catching salmon this time of year as par-for-course. I will say that you can do little tweeks to make the hooks stick.....such as extending your J-plug or trolling fly trebles back a little further to stick those short strikers.

ELOTSA

What type of fish do you see in those depths?

Better to check the buoy data then rely on NOAA. At 2 am the wind died on the lake. Should be great fishing this morning.

Hot n'tots and mag wiggle warts are a staple off the piers.

I would add that as the lake cooled over the winter, the last batch of warm water persisted offshore north of Rochester the longest. I PM'd Gambler over the winter to ask if there were any open launches free of ice because I was sure most of the Kings were going to end up there and I wanted to give-em a go. Never could get out due to ice but if you go back and check the reports, the Rochester area had a better than usual King bite this spring. I don't think it was a coincidence. Add into the equation the Niagara plume was feeding the middle of the lake instead of the shoreline and you can see the fish never had to leave their winter pattern offshore. I do think there is something amiss with the King numbers and this will be shown with the trib runs. Canadian fish are usually running by now and their lake-take numbers are WAY down. Just an odd year that I am glad is over. It was easy to put the boat away this year and start thinking about hunting.

When fish start true staging they are creating a "meet and greet" before running up the rivers. If boat traffic is not too bad, they will often stack vertically in a lose ball and chase each other around. I caught a King last year 15' down on a flasher in 70 degree water when I was setting a cheater line. High marks often get missed on our sonar because zoom is set lower. Next time out before you set lines, just sit in the water and don't move. You will be amazed at how many marks appear on the sonar at all different levels this time of year.

Yellow NBK Mags

Thanks for the report. I almost towed my boat down there but figured with turn-over and East winds it would be a weedy mess down there. Good fishing was found off Olcott Sunday in 350-400'.

This is not new news. I think it is among the top 20 most polluted waterways in the US. Believe me it will not stop people from fishing it OR keeping fish from it. By the way, the rocks in the Niagara Gorge are supposedly too toxic to touch as well.

I think everybody has covered all the bases. Start with a decade of super warm tribs with low water come fall spawning time reducing natural reproduction. Add into the equation a record cold winter changing the current dynamics in the lake (those old GPS coordinates were not hitting this year). Throw in a possibility of BKD from eating Gizzard Shad the past two springs. Lower number of fish stocked due to conditions at the hatchery. Perhaps greater Lake Trout predation on immature Kings. Perhaps the harvest of two year old Kings last year lakewide was high? Does it really matter why? For me what matters is the DEC lake managers interpreting the data have the ability to adjust stocking numbers year-to-year instead of every five years. There will always be a flood or a drought or a cold winter.......so the current agreement being constructed with the Canadian MNR should include more flexibility in stocking numbers IMO.

Slice B.

If you are fraying near the termination it may have been from your dipsy rocking around during travel.

That is typical. The "lighter" warmer water gets moved into the east end of the lake and piles up there before heading down the St. Lawrence River or recirculated around the North shore. There was a roll-over on the West end yesterday so lots of cold water around.

Yes but only as "general" indicators. I have a probe but I would not leave the dock without checking that page. The page tells me what is going on lake-wide. The information gleamed tells me if I am going shallow, deep, left or right out of port. If I see cold water off Olcott, I will trailer to the Niagara. Invaluable information. Remember the depths given are in meters!