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Trophy Trout and Salmon Will Highlight 2003 Fishing Season for Oswego County
Posted by: wmk on Monday, February 24, 2003 - 03:39 PM
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Trophy Trout and Salmon Will Highlight 2003 Fishing Season for Oswego County
By Ernie Lantiegne
The success of new tributary regulations could mean improved lake fishing for bigger brown trout in Lake Ontario waters of Oswego County in 2003. Combine that with the third strongest year-class of 20- to 30-lb. three-year-old Chinook salmon since 1998, and anglers will have a hot time in eastern Lake Ontario this year.
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 trophy 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 1960s, millions of anglers from all over the globe have fished Lake Ontario. In 2002 alone, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) lakewide creel census, an estimated 230,000 anglers fished 1,000,000 hours on 80,000 boat trips on Lake Ontario from May to September. They harvested an estimated 53,000 trout and salmon, 43,000 smallmouth bass, and 1,000 walleyes.
Great Fishing = Baitfish + Stocking + Predator Control + Regulations
Abundant forage, annual stocking of healthy, good-sized trout and salmon, effective lamprey and cormorant control, and rigid but reasonable enforcement of appropriate angling regulations - these are the keys to Lake Ontario's great fishery. With 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 all come to expect in this great lake.
According to New York State DEC experts, based on a record 1998 year-class, plus another strong year-class of alewives in 1999, our alewife population is at moderate levels. Winter weather conditions have a major influence on the abundance of this important forage, because overwinter survival of alewives is temperature dependent. With a cold start to the winter of 2002-2003, only time will tell how the alewife population fares this winter in Lake Ontario.
The DEC continues to assess the impact of cormorants on the Lake Ontario fishery. To limit chick production, the DEC oiled eggs last year on Little Galloo Island in northeastern Lake Ontario. 2003 will be the third year of DEC's radio and satellite telemetry studies designed to document cormorant impacts on the fishery. With the publication of the Cormorant Management Plan by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and public hearings completed, anglers are hoping that cormorant control will be expanded in 2003.
Stocking of trout and salmon by New York State in Lake Ontario is not only continuing, but DEC is making every effort to improve survival of stocked salmonids. In 2003, volunteer groups will continue to pen-rear Chinook salmon and steelhead at Oswego, and a new Skamania steelhead pen-rearing project will begin at the Little Salmon River.
Pen-rearing improves the size and condition of stocked fish and increases survival by avoiding predators like cormorants. Pen-reared steelhead and salmon are towed to deep water before stocking. Yearling brown trout are scattered offshore by barges carrying hatchery trucks. Numerous pen-rearing projects are being conducted lakewide from Oswego to the Niagara River to enhance the fishery.
New fishing regulations, effective Oct. 1, 2002, have made great strides in reinforcing angling ethics, conserving adult stocks of brown trout and steelhead, and promoting the sport of fishing. In tributaries like the Oswego River, improved carryover of adult browns, rainbows and steelhead will increase the number of older, larger fish in the population, enhancing the trophy quality of both the lake and river fisheries.
2003 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 - Consistent Recruitment Spells Steady Fishing
In early summer of 2002, Lake Ontario anglers, especially in the west half of the lake, were scratching their heads. With salmon fishing slow, they were asking, "Where, oh, where did the Chinook salmon go?" No one really knows, but by mid-August, a huge concentration of adult chinooks staged off the Oswego County shoreline in Mexico Bay, and later thousands of spawning chinooks ran both the Oswego and Salmon rivers in Oswego County, producing fantastic fishing. On Labor Day weekend, 2002, a fleet of 600 to 700 boats cashed in on this wild action in Mexico Bay.
In 2003, Oswego County anglers expect average numbers of 2- and 3-year-old kings, which means excellent salmon fishing once again. In the fall of 2001, DEC collected 2,393 yearling chinook jacks (early maturing one-year-old males) at the Salmon River Hatchery. This past fall, in 2002, 1,200 chinook jacks were collected, about 200 less than average. DEC uses the number of chinook jacks collected as an indicator of year-class strength. The 2,393 chinook jacks collected in 2001 prompted DEC biologist Dan Bishop to say he thinks Lake Ontario's 2003 chinook fishery should be "excellent!"
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.
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 stockings by New York and Canada, will add even more to our already great salmon fishing.
Cohos - Oswego County Corners Fall Cohos
Aggressive, hard-fighting fish up to 20 pounds, mint silver cohos are a favorite of anglers. Good coho fishing has become routine along Oswego County's Lake Ontario coastline in August and September. 2003 should be no exception, when these wild gamefish stage in the southeast corner of the lake in August and September before running rivers to spawn. With stable coho stocking the past few years, near record numbers of coho jacks collected at the Salmon River Hatchery in the fall of 2002, and increasing numbers of wild spawned cohos contributing to the population, look for good late summer and fall coho action again in 2003, from Oswego to the Salmon River.
Brown Trout - New Regulations, Cormorant Control, Barge Stocking all Pluses
Good brown trout fishing in Lake Ontario depends heavily on stocking success. Experience has clearly shown that fish-eating cormorants can reduce the survival of stocked browns. To counter this, DEC is continuing its effort to control cormorant numbers and reduce cormorant predation on freshly planted browns by distributing yearling browns offshore from hatchery trucks transported by barge.
Another factor involved in the quality of the brown trout fishery is the proportion of older, trophy-sized fish in the population, the so-called "footballs" that have attracted thousands of anglers for years to Oswego County. The number of trophy browns available depends on survival of adult brown trout beyond the age of two years old. Because of new regulations reducing foul hooking of spawning brown trout in tributaries, and a growing catch and release ethic, a greater proportion of big browns over 10 lbs. showed up in the lake catch in 2002 than in recent years. The numbers of these big browns was also impressive in tributaries like the Oswego River into January 2003.
Expect to see even more lunker Lake Ontario "footballs" this coming season. If DEC implements additional lamprey control measures in 2003, look for increased survival of stocked brown trout, a major step forward in improving the fishery even more.
Steelhead/Rainbows - New Skamania Pen Project on the Little Salmon River
Some of the best Lake Ontario news of 2003 is the tremendous success of the steelhead pen rearing project on the Oswego River and the new pen project to begin on the Little Salmon River this year. Studies since 1998 showed the ratio of returns of Oswego River pen-reared vs. river-stocked steelhead were 6 to 1.
Pen-reared steelhead, fed six times each day, increase almost 70% in weight after only about three weeks in the pens. Because the pens are towed out to deep water before the steelhead are released, cormorant predation is reduced.
Only winter-run, Chambers Creek strain steelhead have been pen-reared to date, but beginning in 2003, 5000 Skamania steelhead will be pen-reared in the Little Salmon River. Oswego County anglers are excited about the special potential of these summer-run fish to create a new spring fishery near one of Oswego County's principle public boat launch sites at Mexico Point.
Lake and river fishing for Lake Ontario steelhead fluctuate dramatically for a variety of reasons -- including weather and water conditions, baitfish levels, cormorant predation, and other factors. The bottom line, though, is that DEC's annual stocking of a half million steelhead consistently produces a healthy population, with many steelhead reaching 10 to15 lbs., and occasional monsters reaching 20 lbs. and larger. Few waters in the world can make such a claim.
Lake Trout - Deep Water Denizens
One of the favorite lake trout fishing areas in eastern Lake Ontario is the deep water off the Oswego County coastline, from Oswego Harbor east to the vicinity of Nine Mile Point. Year after year, this area thrills anglers with hundreds of big lake trout. If you're looking for a lunker laker over 20 lbs., you'll have a good chance to find one here, close to bottom in the crystal depths of 150 to 200 feet of water. When these deep water members of the char family stack up here like they have in the past, you can expect fast action in 2003!
Walleyes - Trophy Fishing Continues
According to the NYSDEC lakewide creel census, the harvest of Lake Ontario walleyes doubled from 2001 to 2002. Most of these fish are world class lunkers from 7 to 10 lbs., with a few even larger. Many of Lake Ontario's trophy walleyes are taken each season in one of the top walleye honey holes in the entire lake -- Oswego Harbor. The fishery for these big walleyes in and around Oswego Harbor peaks in May and June, and later, walleyes are taken throughout the eastern basin of Lake Ontario. Juvenile walleyes, suspected to result from DEC stockings, have also shown up in at least one other location.
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 2002, according to the DEC's lakewide creel census, anglers harvested over 40,000 smallmouths and released many more. Big "smallies" from 3 to 3½ lbs. were common. A growing catch and release ethic is helping promote this fantastic fishery. Smallmouth fishing in Lake Ontario is on a roll! Look for more of the same in 2003!
Note: Nice Article By Ernie Lantiegne about the 2003 fishing season on Oswego Counties Lake Ontario.
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