Sk8man

I guess it is human nature and maybe the way our brains organize information to look for the "silver bullet" or one thing or cause that explains it all but it is seldom that complex problems or situations are solved in that manner. It is also commonplace to place blame on things or people we either don't fully understand or are angry with or resentful toward or perhaps even jealous of. One of the major dangers in this current situation is something that also plagues life's problems in general and that is loss of perspective. It is something that appears to be potentially present in this current situation. We all have varying opinions about what exactly is going on out there but none of us actually knows that any one particular thing is to blame for the "alleged" decreased numbers of kings caught or that may or may not have shown up on our depth finders in a particular area of the lake or at a particular time of the season. So in short nobody truly has a firm handle on this including the DEC or the charter captains or the recreational sport fishermen so getting into the blame game and fostering extreme emotions will do absolutely nothing to help this situation. To air our views and opinions is important in gaining a better understanding of the problem here and a lot of good information in this regard has been offered.....but again it is only conjecture, opinion, and personal views we are dealing with...not hard solid research data so keeping that in proper perspective is important as we go along in time. Some of this may become clearer as the end of the season soon hits, and the pier fishermen and stream guys, and the Salmon River hatchery folks get a better look at the numbers showing up. In comparison to most other places we still have a wonderful viable and diverse fishery on Lake Ontario despite the many concerns.

Great post and very touching family pic. Thanks for sharing your posts with us and hopefully we will all have a better year next year in the way of fishing.

WTG Bucky! Holy crap...you should send that pic in to the motor manufacturer for an ad great report and results (you sure didn't starve to death either from the looks of that great food. If you are anything like me it takes awhile to get your land legs back after all that time on the lake.

Where located?

Precious! :yes:

Sounds like BS to me as "alloy" is normally a metallurgical term and the other meaning relates to imparing something by lessening qualities in it so that wouldn't sound great either The copolymer line I tried in the past totally sucked and twisted all to h.

Congrats John persistence pays off once again

Gill-T great info you've given us to think about. I do know that earlier this season there we noted some very large amounts of bait present which now don't appear but that may be for many reasons I'm sure. Guess we just need to hang in there for the long haul.

All it takes is one and on Labor Day it is usually fiesta time for jerks out there

Sometimes just placing a large split shot up the line can help a bit in keeping the spoon itself clean but not when the weeds are real excessive

After 40 years of fishing the Lake O salmon I would offer the following advice to the folks who might be considering giving up after a short run there. These phenomena have always been cyclical and for various reasons (bait availability both plus and minus, hatchery problems, viruses, various potential predation factors, water levels, tough winters, the effects of invasive species etc. etc. The key word here is cyclical and the lake has always seemed to be in a "catch up" mode in that regard.....but it eventually happens despite all the "gloom and doom" scenarios. Back in the seventies folks couldn't unload their properties on the lake fast enough or cheaply enough because of the Mirex scare but a few years later things were back again. One of the things I've experienced firsthand on both Seneca and Ontario is that these tough lean years can serve a valuable function as well as being frustrating and that is that it can make you better fishermen if you persist and don't give up. It forces you to become more resourceful, to pay closer attention to detail, to become more tolerant of longer times taken to catch fish, and above all patience which in this day and age is becoming a rare virtue. Everyone now expects instant answers and solutions to complex problems and this current state is one of those situations.....it rarely happens in real life. The current bait levels of alewives continue to concern me but I also remember that in the past when levels of them get out of control there comes a massive die off smelling up the beaches so it make take something like that for the lake to be able to "auto correct" too.

solegrande you have a PM

Hope all ends well in this Nick and thank God for buddies when the stuff hits the fan (been there done that and not a nice feeling)

At this point in the season FORGET temp. When fish are located stay with them and mark on GPS and keep going over them. Run wires with dipsey/spinneys/fly near bottom Run leads short to ball on downriggers. Keep going over same area when you locate active fish. Don't give up even after hours of not seeing anything....very often you will not be marking them...they come right out of nowhere if interested. Your GPS may be much more critical than your depth finder or temp device right now.

I'm pretty burned out right now and headed for bed just returned home about 9PM after fishing from 6 AM this morning with Admiral Byrd (on his Penn Yan) and my neighbor Dave who is a very recent convert to salmon fishing (especially after today). Very little action this morning one laker, one skippy, and a 12 lb king. Trolled for over 6 plus hrs after that without seeing hardly anything on the screen out to 230 and back in less than 100 ft but caught the early salmon in the 230 ft depth. Late in the afternoon we finally located some scattered marks in less than 100 ft and fished the spot with spinneys a 275 copper downriggers and leadcore etc. Finally found a solitary spot that we didn't mark fish but every time we went over it we caught salmon and one steelie on downrigger. Ended up in the afternoon/evening with 4 for 6 salmon 12-26 lbs and a 12 lb steelie for good measure including a double on matures all but one in less than 100 ft of water and most caught on white on green spinney and green fly which they totally inhaled and made vicious runs with. The 26 pound 39 inch king took out over 100 yds of line pretty much right off the bat and newbie Dave really had his hands full and was totally whipped after bringing it in. Turned into one of the best days in a while and one of the best days ever for newly addicted Dave The lesson from it all is "Persistence pays off in the face of trying times"

That is about as good as it gets solo or not great fish and a great memory I'm sure for a longtime to come.

WTG Justin. Glad to see you finally got to experience the "addiction" with a good one to show for it. Nothing like a good king on the end of your line to get the adrenaline pumping.

I must say you folks really know how to "live it up" Nick and get the most out of your time spent here......I love every one of those "sides" at the Dino and those ribs are to die for

Atlantic for sure. We were marking what fish we saw in 80-95 ft yesterday and could only get a couple to hit both in 90 and down probably 70...one was definitely a big king (the snap-off) I'd be working below the 100 ft real good and maybe something like t J-plugs staggered too. A lot of times in there they are mistaken for lakers.

WTG John! They are real nice specimens