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Look for Record Chinook Salmon to Highlight the 2002 Fishing Season
Posted by: wmk on Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 07:16 PM
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Have you ever thought about fishing Lake Ontario to catch a trophy Chinook salmon that could weigh 30 lbs. or more? This is the year to do it. According to state fishery biologists, an all-time record number of 3-year-old Chinooks from 20 to 30 lbs. and larger waits for anglers in 2002. This abundance of huge Chinooks should produce some of the hottest salmon fishing ever.
Lake Ontario, year after year, provides some of the finest, most accessible freshwater sport fishing in North America. The 14th largest freshwater lake in the world, this huge water is renown for its fantastic fishing for trout, salmon, walleyes and smallmouth bass. Public fishing access is excellent. Along New York's 200-plus miles of shoreline, anglers enjoy a wealth of top quality fishing services like marinas, charter boats, restaurants, tackle shops, and more.
Since the late '60s, millions of anglers from all over the globe have fished Lake Ontario. In 2001 alone, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) lakewide creel census, an estimated 288,000 anglers fished 1,440,000 hours on 100,000 boat trips on Lake Ontario -- harvesting an estimated 83,000 trout and salmon, 63,000 smallmouth bass, plus other warmwater species like walleyes and yellow perch.
Stocking, Predator Control, Baitfish Are Keys to Our Great Fishing
Annual stocking of healthy trout and salmon, effective lamprey control, plus abundant forage are the key to Lake Ontario's great fishery. If there are lots of alewives and smelt, and minimal predation from lamprey eels and cormorants, healthy stocked trout and salmon survive and grow well, producing the world-class fishing we've come to expect in this great lake.
According to New York State DEC experts, our alewife population is at high levels based on a record '98 year-class, plus another strong year-class of alewives in '99. With the unusually mild 2001/2002 winter we're having, Lake Ontario's water temperature is higher than normal, perfect for good overwinter survival of alewives.
DEC has expanded its effort to assess broadscale impacts of cormorants on the Lake Ontario fishery, and continued oiling eggs in 2001 on Little Galloo Island in northeastern Lake Ontario to limit chick production. 2002 will be the second year of DEC's new radio and satellite telemetry studies designed to document impacts of cormorants on the Lake Ontario fishery. With the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Cormorant Management Plan published, and public hearings scheduled, the outlook for increased cormorant control looks good.
Stocking of trout and salmon by New York State is not only continuing, but DEC is making every effort to improve survival of stocked salmonids. A cooperative effort continues with volunteer groups to pen-rear Chinook salmon and steelhead, improving size and condition of stocked fish and avoiding cormorant predation. Offshore barge stocking of yearling brown trout, initiated in eastern Lake Ontario to improve brown trout fishing, is now planned for the western lake. Numerous chinook salmon and steelhead pen-rearing projects at locations from the Niagara River east to the Oswego River are increasing survival of stocked fish and further enhancing the fishery.
2002 Lake Ontario NYSDEC Stocking Policy
Chinook Salmon 1,600,000
(Oswego Co.) 447,000
Coho Salmon 245,000
Atlantic Salmon 100,000
Rainbows 75,000
Steelhead 537,870
Brown Trout 425,000
Lake Trout 500,000
NYS Total 3,482,870
Canada Total 1,595,000
Chinook Salmon - Record '99 Year-Class Spells Great 2002 Fishing
The outlook for Chinook salmon fishing couldn't be brighter. In the fall of 2000, DEC collected an all-time record 3,500 yearling chinook jacks (early maturing 1-year-old males) at the Salmon River Hatchery. This broke the previous 1997 record of 2,896 jacks. DEC uses the number of Chinook jacks collected as an indicator of year-class strength. With a record '99 year-class of now 3-year-old Chinooks swimming the waters of Lake Ontario, expect outstanding fishing for 20- to 30-plus lb. fish in 2002.
Almost a half million of the total 1.6 million Chinooks stocked in Lake Ontario are planted in two Oswego County rivers, the Salmon and the Oswego. Adult Chinooks imprint on these stocked waters and return there to spawn. What a bonus for Oswego County anglers!
Wild, naturally-produced Chinooks are also increasing. Fishery biologist Dan Bishop reports that DEC has collected wild Chinook smolts in beach seines near the mouth of the Salmon River, possibly a result of improved flow management. These wild smolts from the Salmon River and possibly other tributaries -- combined with continued stocks by New York and Canada -- will add even more to our already great salmon fishing!
Cohos - Oswego County Corners Fall Cohos
Good coho fishing along Oswego County's Lake Ontario coastline in August and September has become routine. 2001 was no exception. With stable coho stocking the past few years, increasing numbers of wild spawned cohos contributing to the population, and 100% of Lake Ontario's yearling cohos stocked in Oswego County's Salmon River, look for good late summer and fall coho action again in 2002, especially in eastern Lake Ontario's Mexico Bay.
Brown Trout - Mild Winter, Warmer Water, Increased Growth
Brown trout fishing depends on stocking success and water conditions. One of those conditions is winter water temperature. Because fish are cold-blooded, their growth rate depends a lot on water temperature. With a milder than normal winter producing above-average lake water temperature, fishermen should see some nice 'football' browns this spring.
Experience has shown that fish-eating cormorants can reduce survival of stocked browns. To counter this, DEC is continuing to stock browns over deep water by distributing them from hatchery trucks transported on a barge.
According to DEC's lake creel census, the quality of the brown trout fishery reflected by the annual harvest has been very stable with an estimated 22,000 to 28,000 browns creeled each year from 1996 through 2001. Excellent brown trout fishing should continue again in 2002.
Steelhead/Rainbows - Oswego River Pen-Rearing Successful
Some of the best Lake Ontario news of 2002 is the tremendous success of the steelhead pen-rearing projects on the Oswego River. Each year since 1998, DEC and volunteers have finclipped 20,000 yearling steelhead to be stocked in the Oswego River. Half are stocked directly in the river as in the past. The other half are marked by inserting a coded wire tag in them, raised in pens for about 3 weeks, and released in deep water to avoid cormorant predation. Returns from 2001 have shown that 41(80%) of 52 finclipped steelhead recovered were tagged, documenting the success of pen rearing.
According to the DEC creel census, the lake catch of steelhead increased close to 80% from 2000 to 2001, an encouraging improvement, which could spell some tremendous steelhead fishing in 2002, if this trend continues. For the second year in a row, in tribs like the Oswego River this past fall, anglers also caught some beautiful 2-year-old domestic rainbows from 5 to 10 lbs., and are hoping for more of the same in 2002.
Lake Trout - Once Again, Bigger and Better
This one is easy. Anglers catch lots of lakers in eastern Lake Ontario and they seem to get bigger and bigger every year. In the spring 2001 LOC Derby, a 28.08 lb. lunker won the grand prize, beating out all chinooks entered. Look for record levels of alewives, the laker's favorite forage, to produce even heavier fish in 2001.
One of the best lake trout fishing areas in eastern Lake Ontario is off the Oswego County coastline in the proximity of Nine Mile Point. You couldn't find a better place in the continental U.S. to look for a trophy laker.
Walleyes - Walleye Stocking Pays Off
Biologist Dan Bishop reports sampling juvenile walleyes up to 5 lbs. at an Oswego County location where walleyes were stocked for several years.
Smallmouth Bass - Lake Ontario a 'Sleeper' for Smallmouths
According to the 1996 New York State Angler Survey, which polled approximately 9,500 license buyers, more anglers fished for smallmouth bass in Lake Ontario than for coho and Chinook salmon. This trend is continuing as smallmouth bass fishing along the southerly shore of Lake Ontario gets better and better. In 2001, according to the DEC's lakewide creel census, anglers harvested 63,000 smallmouths, and released several hundred thousand more. Big 'smallies' from 3- to 31/2-lbs. were common. Smallmouth fishing in Lake Ontario is on a roll!
For a free fishing and hunting guide and information on accommodations and attractions in Oswego County, call the Oswego County Department of Promotion and Tourism, phone 1-800-248-4FUN or visit the Oswego County website at www.oswegocounty.com/tourism/index.html
Capt. Ernie Lantiegne
Note: Article from Oswego County Homepage: Jan. 30, 2002
2002 Fishing Prospects for Lake Ontario and Oswego County--
Look for Record Chinook Salmon to Highlight the 2002 Fishing Season
By Ernie Lantiegne
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