salmonboy41

you always hope they would but deep down I know your right

I wouldn't mind seeing a naturally sustaining population of lake trout as it would help to free up money that could be used elsewhere in the fishery, but if I'm remembering this correctly from the state of the lake meetings they need lake trout to reach age 7.5 to successfully reproduce and the average aged reached by lake trout in lake O is 5.5 years due to the lamprey issue. So if that's the case then no matter how many lakers they stock they wont self sustain until the lampreys are eliminated.

Spot on! I don't understand why the DEC feels the need to stock as many Lakers as they do. Why increase stocking of lake trout by 300,000. Is there really a shortage of lakers as it seems to me that the FEW guys that fish for lakers are not having a hard time getting lakers. For example during the spring LOC people where complaining about catching lake trout on the radio! why stock so heavily a fish people complain about catching? I say scratch the 300,000 increase in lake trout idea and put the increase into Kings and Steelhead. This year is a prime example of why we need kings. just look at the ports like Olcott and the Oak there is hardly anyone around because the salmon fishing is so bad. We fished out of the Oak on Sunday and it looked like we where fishing in June out there with how few boats there where. On the flip side last year at this time there was so many boats out there it was hard to navigate even out on the 26 line. I'd love to see the economic impact a bad king year like this one has on the local economy compared to a good year like 2012.

Agreed the tell all is going to be when fish run or maybe don't run. Same here I thought everything was late and when the kings showed up on the bar about a week before the pro am I was like ok here we go! Then by the second Niagara pro am the salmon where gone even though there was huge amounts of bait. I've been telling myself that they will show up but IDK. I have three theory's one the weather has messed everything up and the salmon will show up in late August to stage. two there is so much bait in the lake now that it is causing the fish to spread out over the lake instead of schooling up in the western end. Three we are totally missing a year class and I'm not totally sure why.

I think that deserves an AMEN!!!! I will say that I love Steelhead though as I fish the trips when the salmon aren't biting out in the lake(October to April).

That's an interesting, as I've kind a that myself but never had the true data behind it to back it up other then my own observations where I noticed that when I would see a 30 plus king it usually would have all of its fins. Almost makes you think twice about feeding them 6 times a day in the pens . I would be interested in knowing if there is a way to get a greater percentage of kings to the 4 year mark maybe through selection at the hatchery or something.(I'm sure something like this has been tried) There is defiantly an increase in people's ability to catch salmon and to be able to catch salmon for more months during the summer. It wasn't that long ago that 95% of people considered salmon fishing to be a May, last half of August-September only fishery. But now people are successfully targeting salmon May-September which has in turned cause the number of salmon being taken out of the lake to increase dramatically. Which has been shown by angler surveys done by the DEC which show that we have all time record catch amounts for the past 11 years and as its not like there are more salmon in the lake now then what there where in the 80's(basing that on stocking numbers)

I second that

I would agree with that. As the past two years the runs up the Niagara where really good for the first time in years and if you look back a few years thats when the DEC had stocking issues so I'd say this thoery is correct.

thanks

does anyone know the number to East Fork Marina?