HB2

I also see that the Canadian side produces the biggest fish of the season As these fish are transient , or supposedly swim all over the lake , it seems with all the good fisherman on our side of the fence , one of us would hookup once in a while . I still believe that an ample supply of baitfish , at least to some degree , influences the size . If a fish is around a good supply of bait ,common sense would say that it would not wonder far from that ,and stuff it's face 24/7. Compare that to a fish caught mid lake this season especially where not a lot of bait was present . You are what you eat . I also believe , and have been saying for a long time with some pushback , these fish are evolving and adapting to LO from their ancestors environment of the ocean . Certainly they are eating somewhat different forage here than in an ocean environment . From my correspondence with DEC last year , they are all in on the bait, or lack of it, being the direct correlation with size .

I consider a teenager a 2 year fish . Now what is the avg weight of that 2 year old ? If returning to hatchery fish are avg 17 to 23 # , they must be 3 year olds for the most part . Especially if there are no or very few 26 to 33 # fish . When I say I have a teens king I mean is 10 to 19 # . Not a 2 year old . I see a lot of speculation on here about how old a mid teens king is . Does anyone know for sure ? We are assuming a returning fish of that weight is a 2 year old . We might be wrong on that .

When I hear " teenager " for king , what does that refer to ?

From what I gather , the DEC is under pressure to provide the best fishery under current lake conditions . Just because there was somewhat of an increase in bait fish In the lake that led to increase stocking doesn't mean size will increase significantly. I fished out of Sandy for the LOC I think 5 days . I saw very little bait . There were fish there because of good green water . I'm sur there is some bait but not west end bait The west end has way more bait early season . Which may be why almost all the leader board kingss came from up there . If the kings migrate up that way mid winter and stuff themselves for the entire time they are there , common sense says they will be bigger . I think we are in the new normal, for size wise . Maybe it's time to lower expectations. A 20# king is not a 35# king , but it's still a nice fish . That being said in the first ESLOs , the winning kings were smaller fish . Probably because we don't know how to catch them and our rod and reel combos couldn't handle them . If in fact those 12 to 18# kings are 3 year olds then it most likely is bait . Otherwise it has to be genetics of some sort .

So those 12 to 18 # fish have to be 3 years old . Why are they so small ( that's retorical) ? When I inquired about this to DEC last fall, they told me lack of bait . Can't have big fish without an ample supply of bait fish . I kind of have to believe them .

I guess the answer to the question I have is , what was the avg size of a returning 3 year old king salmon say the last few years ?

And furthermore , we use to use CB radios , and VHF radios to communicate and everyone could hear . Inevitably , someone would get on and say he was getting into them on such an such a lure . Not hooking up , I would put one out . Then another guy would say I'm getting them on something different . It really wouldn't help and just add to the frustration . Point being , take advice for what it is and a grain of salt . Run your own program . Think about what you are doing . And build on that .

I think when you decide to go out , you need a starting game plan and a starting spot . From Oak to Bald Eagle ,to Sandy, I have about 6 . These are inshore areas that have some sort of structure or drop offs that more than anything else ,affect the current . There always ( as long as there is good water ) some fish on or around them . I fish that spot and gradually move out till I hopefully find fish . I team up with a few guys on here when they go and we text back and forth to eliminate water . Sometimes I'm on my own but I have confidence in my ability to find and catch fish . Finding fish is 90% of it . I really don't change lures a lot till I see some sort of activity down there . If you have proven lures down in the strike zone , you will probably hookup if they are active . Once you venture off shore it's a crap shoot . If you find fish it can be great , if not , a long ride. If the lake flips ,it basically your only choice to run offshore till you find warmer water . I start fishing at 65 during summer once the lake sets up and the lake flips .

Location is always everything

I don't think most guys are fishing for them . Use to be a lot of guys trolling close with boards . Everyone wants Salmon. And that's what they are set up for. . We trolled out front yesterday in 40 o 60 ft looking for them Boated 15 Lakers , no browns

We all struggle sometimes . I have been doing this since the 70s and I still have bad days . I can tell you this , keep it simple . Less can be more .I don't know what you have for equipment . But riggers are the center of it . One spoon on each rigger, 25 ft leads for me , and maybe a dipsey or 2 should be plenty . I run 5 rods max . Make what you have work . And I generally do as well as anyone out there . Use proven spoons . My favorites are, glo frog, Lazer spook , black silver , 42 second , NBK , carbon 14 . DW reg and Mags , Stingrays , Moonshine . Been doing better with reg size lately. Location is the first piece of the puzzle . Follow the pack. Don't get to close . Speed is relevant to your monitor . But generally 2.1 to 2.8 is good . And that's on a fish hawk or depth raider NOT gps , that's SOG or speed over bottom which is totally different . Direction of troll is important also so note that on the hit . Patience , you have to let what you have work . I use to change stuff constantly and wind up with a mess down there . How you drive the boat is critical IMO . Straight with slight S curves . Good luck

I have noticed that our Canadian brothers seem to catch on occasion and consistently over the last so many years the biggest fish of the season during the fishing year . Now why is that ? Either they are better or more lucky than we are . Or something to consider are those are North shore naturally reproduced fish that don't stray far from the breeding grounds .

But there were some which may be the few bigger fish . And how big were the avg returning 3 year olds ? Probably those 18 to 23 # fish . Or so I would guess .

Also has it occured to anyone those 25 and 26 # fish maybe 4 years old ?

Well , it ain't nothing like it use to be 20 + years ago . And we are way better at catching them . And average size is not bigger . There is not nearly the amount of alwives in the lake like there was back then also . Can't deny that . Are these low to mid teens kings we are catching small 3 year olds ? I'd like to know that also .

We were wondering how the kings weight would be this spring . I guess we now know . But there sure are a lot of them