Lake Trout abundance this year

[Striperhound]

Seems like the lake is producing a large # of large lakers this year, what does everyone think the upswing is from? We have seen a few 30 lb fish last few years are 40's or larger in the near future? 

[BigMac]

I see no reason why we won't see 40s. Reality is very few people target them and of those that do, even less keep them. There is tonnes of food and lots of hiding spots for such a predator.

I personally love to catch them. When they're on it's non stop action.

[Adk1]

Kind of funny cause we target lakers on a few adk lakes. Particularly Piseco. I am not much liking to eat them cause they are super fishy but I have heard that you should boil them in saltwater basically poaching them.. Basically takes the strong flavor out of them? Havent tried it but makes sence. Another thing, more of a question, when you land a fish and are planning on making a meal out of it, I have heard that you should slit their gills to bleed them?

[allaboutfishing13]

If people keep fishing for them to fill their boxes when nothing else is biting, you won't see many more. They will decline fast. This year, you saw a lot because a lot of people fished for them since other fishing sucked. Especially charters to put fish in the boat. BTW, fish piseco all the time. Probably have seen you out there Adk1

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

I think the recent good Salmon years has kept the pressure off them, but I think the goby numbers are down a little putting the feeding lakers in the Alewife "wheelhouse".  This makes them an incidental catch while targeting Salmon a much more common occurence. 

[Adk1]

If people keep fishing for them to fill their boxes when nothing else is biting, you won't see many more. They will decline fast. This year, you saw a lot because a lot of people fished for them since other fishing sucked. Especially charters to put fish in the boat. BTW, fish piseco all the time. Probably have seen you out there Adk1

No kidding. I haven't been up there in a few years actually for one reason or another. Kind of got tired of catching non legal lakers. Spent some time on Indian with better luck at some decent sized fish out in front of the marina

[Meals-On-Reels]

I think it's more that the temps this year are bunching up the lakers in areas of greater angler pressure. When the temps setup quicker and stratify sooner in the season, the lakers are usually in their depths where we never really see them while targeting Kings and Steelhead, and such.

With their growth rates being so slow its not like a good year or two is going to put 10lbs on a fish either. I think it's just that if you're seeing lake trout catch rates high, you'll have a greater chance of seeing really large lakers mixed in. But the trend definitely seems to be on the upswing when looking back years ago.

I love catching them and often target them specifically. I just hate to see somebody keep a 20-30yr old fish and struggle to make it taste good. Especially when they are often so willing to revive for a release. Not that I'm against keeping fish, it's just that it sucks to see someone keep a 6lb laker because nothing else is biting and not even realize that the fish may have hatched way back in '05 or '06 or earlier on Lake Ontario (or back in the early '90s on a smaller lake without the same forage base).

Edited June 25, 2013 by Meals-On-Reels

[Adk1]

I put 90% of the fish back in the lake. THe only time that I actually keep a fish is if I am gonna eat it that same day,. Truthfully I have never had a fish out of Lake O. I also never hear of anyone on this board say that "man the King I kept last night was awesome table fare"...??

[Meals-On-Reels]

Sorry Adk1- that wasn't directed specifically at you. I think a majority of people that frequent forums like these think twice about that kind of stuff. It's just sad to see some guys come up to the fish cleaning station with some tiny lakers and say "no good-fish would bite today".

Sorry if that came across the wrong way.

Edited June 25, 2013 by Meals-On-Reels

[allaboutfishing13]

I feel the same way ^. That's all I saw and heard this year. What a shame. When charters and other fisherman are trying to find lakers in a few years, they may not see or experience what happened this spring or even for the rest of the year.

[Sk8man]

The numbers of lakers and the size of them being caught is probably a function of many things such as: they may represent strong year classes in the past (many years ago in the case of the big ones) where the survival rate was very good in given years for whatever reason. Lake trout do not spawn in the streams as many trout species do so they may be less susceptible to the various predation forces operating there as well as diseases and chemical contaminants etc.. They also have a varied diet....much more so than some of the other varieties such as salmon and rainbows. I've found small sunfish, perch, and smallmouth bass inside them along with various bugs etc. over the years in addition to alewives and shiners (and in the past smelt). Once they are up to size they can compete with larger predators in the shallows also (especially in the Spring) without fear. They may be stronger genetically.  When you add these things to those already mentioned it could add up to greater general populations of them avaailable. The thing I wonder about is are juveniles being caught frequently too? If not it could be a bad omen for the future because these big ones are the spawners....

Edited June 25, 2013 by Sk8man

[allaboutfishing13]

Was thinking the same thing. Taking the bigger ones especially will hurt them the most.

[Striperhound]

good stuff guys, just looks like we are on top of a cycle for lake trout, they are strong predators, wide diet and grow big. I like seeing those 30 lb fish landed, would like to see some released but to each his own. Anyone been jigging them this year vs trolling? 

[Meals-On-Reels]

Good points brought up by all.

I've been wondering about the spawn thing too. Being shoal spawners I just wonder if we're going to see a sharp decline in juveniles because of the gobies. It's been years now and might become noticeable soon.

[allaboutfishing13]

With the gobies and fisherman taking the bigger fish, in years to come, the lake trout may be rare to non existence.

[ifishy]

i fish seneca where there is a push to harvest more to keep the numbers from stunting and I gotta tell ya those 6-7 lbs are very tasty my wife does a beer  batter that she discovered this year and spring was one of the best fish frys i've ever had.  Its good to let the biggest ones go but just like walleye those eather size ones are awesome table fare

[Finders Keepers]

I have to say we have seen huge numbers of lakers the last couple years, and this year they have been all over the water column. It was mentioned that there is a new strain in the lake - maybe this new strain breeds more efficiently than the other?

[allaboutfishing13]

And possibly grow faster too?

[Gill-T]

Alewives are high in the enzyme Thiaminase which inhibits reproductive success in Atlantic salmon and Lake Trout.  Gobies are rich in Thiamine.  By feeding on Gobies, Lake Trout reproductive success is probably higher.  If they spawn deep enough or in the Niagara...gobies feeding on Lake Trout fry might be a non-factor.  I agree....Lake Trout on the grill or baked is good food.  I don't eat the big ones due to bioaccumulation of toxins.  Lake Trout can live a long time and accumulate a lot of the bad stuff.  If the DEC were smart they would place a slot limit to protect the biggest spawners and protect the public from eating them.

[FISHIN AGAIN?]

There is a slot limit to protect the fish at prime spawning age. However there does not seem to be much natural reproduction in Lake Ontario even after all these years of stocking them. There have been some different strains of Lakers stocked in the past 10 years or so maybe that is why there is more. There has been a lot of pressure on them lake wide this year due to the lake condtions. As the lake sets up most will go back to chasing silvers.

[Sk8man]

It is also likely that lake trout are more biologically adaptive to this particular environment since the salmon are primarily a saltwater fish forced to adapt to fresh water year round in the Great Lakes rather than being born in fresh water spending your life in salt water and then dying in fresh water after spawning... the extended life span of lakers (30 plus years) would suggest this possibility as well as the fact that they are a true cold freshwater species.

[Yankee Troller]

They are taking Alewife away from the Kings and Gobies away from the Brown Trout.....Kill them all! LOL

 

It's actually getting annoying out there with the amount of Lakers. It started this Spring on the beach, and now they are suspended in the water column munching your F/F combos. Whatever the case may be I hope it comes to an end soon!

[Tim Bromund]

I put 90% of the fish back in the lake. THe only time that I actually keep a fish is if I am gonna eat it that same day,. Truthfully I have never had a fish out of Lake O. I also never hear of anyone on this board say that "man the King I kept last night was awesome table fare"...??

I would disagree with that.  The kings this time of year (spring and first half of summer) are excellent eating.  Once they start getting dark in mid-late August, they start dropping off from an eating perspective.  If all someone has ever tried was a nasty black mud hen in late August/September or even worse, those half dead zombies in the rivers, I could certainly understand not appreciating the fine eating quality of these fish.

 

Tim

[Paul Czarnecki]

They are taking Alewife away from the Kings and Gobies away from the Brown Trout.....Kill them all! LOL

It's actually getting annoying out there with the amount of Lakers. It started this Spring on the beach, and now they are suspended in the water column munching your F/F combos. Whatever the case may be I hope it comes to an end soon!

Be careful what you wish for my friend. Those of us that have been around longer than a few years remember how welcome lake trout were on an otherwise dismal day. More than one charter has been saved with the lowly lake trout. In fact, several BIG charter operations on the east end of the lake were built and sustained on lake trout. I remember several ProAms that were won almost exclusively with lake trout. Lets not forget that people still pay THOUSANDS of dollars to go to northern Canada to TARGET lake trout.

Accept them for what they are---another fish that we can fish for that MOST clients are happy to catch.

[TESSIER]

What about these monster Brown Trout guys are catching over 20lbs , In my opinion it has to be the Goby .