ifishy

the steel head are still suffering from that large die off several years back there are not a lot of fish in the lake more than 6 years old but with the cleaner water fish have to swim faster and farthur when feeding so there is some slimming in profile as well. this is really visable in steal head. for the brown there are still some pigs out there and they feed heavy on goby at times iI cant say there is as many as there was 5 or 6 years ago but the brown population in the lake is very heavy and with big fish at the top end for sure. its possible that there may be other tecniques that would better target those large ones in the current lake conditions and trolling just does not get as many of the slobs but that is pure speculation

Chinook daemon spawn once and die period they can mature early or wait an extra year there is always some variety in the age they spawn at that is normal variation meaning one catastrophic weather event wont make a population go extinct (hopefully) fore lake o when they started the majority ran the river when they were 3.5 yeas old so 3 full summers of growth over the years a growing percentage is maturing and spawning at 2.5 so one less summer of growth it might be that our hatcheries are less accessible to larger fish it might be that the areas that have natural reproduction are more accessible to smaller younger fish it may be that larger fish are targeted successfully by steam fisherman it could be that an extra year in the lake makes them more likely to be caught and kept it is probably a combination of those and other factors

with kings size is also partly a function of age. over the years a larger and larger percentage of Lake O fish are running at 2 years old instead of 3 and very few are holding out that extra year. the fact is that likely has its advantages in Lake O which is why its become more prevalent. the kings here now have been both artificially and naturally selected for better survival in lake Ontario under current conditions. the fact that we have notable if inconsistent natural reproduction speaks to that. new genetics would likely be far less advantageous and to get them established in the population would be significantly harder in time and cost than just adding some new eggs and any introductions would likely be gone within a couple generations. The fact is that lake Ontario is not the same as it used to be it is a changing and evolving ecosystem and it may not be able to have as many 30+lb fish. We also tend to have selective memory. 40lb fish happened but it was not an every year occurrence. Good hatches of alewives do not mean good year classes if recruitment is low. so if we had 3 large year classes as of this year than this years stockers would be the first to have access to that there whole life so we would see the size increase 2 years from now. the fact is the numbers in the lake of 2 year olds seems to be really high this year and is likely caused by good recruitment of natural fish due to increased bait abundance. The DEC has done a good job of using real data and science to manage the fishery and they have taken input from stake holders on what outcomes to target. Its easy to say things like they are small make them bigger but thats not how it works. I do think there could be some merit in running a multi year experiment to selectively pull older/larger fish for crossing and than tagging the young to see if they start to have a disproportionate representation in derbys or creates a small sub set of the population that goes 3 and even 4 years in the lake. It could be done on a small scale within the current stocking strategy and provide the data needed to determine if its worthwhile to try on a larger scale.

Sk8man nailed it some of my local creeks have washed out higher than I have ever Seen recently and those flows can ball up all sorts of crap worth checking out as it can pull bait In but not worth working hard good areas to work with aggressive tactics to find the "spot on the spot" a washed out creek dumping debris for a day can create miles of this set up

Used bugg spray today tried and true the number of flies was just crazy out of sodus

Haven't been there in two weeks back than best screens were 30 50 fow west of pultneyvill tried all the way out to 150 with nothing went shallow and went 1 for 2 I the last hour with a big drop back steely. It's old info but weather has been relatively stable I would Starr shallow and slowly work out till I saw marks that area has always been feast or famine for me but we did hit some 2 year old kings out of sodus already this year so good sign for an early set up

ive been starting to really miss that lake but every time i plan to go there either something comes up or in my head i hear the screaming drag of a king on a dipsey in my head.

Better get it this year if the schedule works out next year I'm claiming it in a triumphet return

You can get stock biminis online for less but if you go custom and are willing to pay I recommend a wrap around of some sort stock Biminis come in many heights and lengths so can get whatever size you need that way sport tops or enclosures are a lot harder to find so if paying for custom worth getting the full set up

The derby itself can be a lot of fun and the lake is accessible to boats of all sizes this derby was part of me getting back into trout and salmon trolling on my first boat (14 footer) I fished it 8 straight years and unfortunately in 2018 ad a rough experience (life issues not the derby fault) that combined with a tough fishing year pushed me away I am now looking to get back in just unfortunately busy this weekend this year I always used to think I was only an ok fisherman based on internet reports but I have 3 of those plaques on the wall and mostly good memory's from seneca