Salmon River, 10-12-07: My body is bruised. . .

It's amazing the transformation. Catching those kings out in the lake in the Spring when they are bright chrome with a purple sheen is a lot of fun and some you get in the DSR early are still pretty bright.

Here was a dark one for #2 son

This was a July king out in the lake

Pulaskinaut, those are great pics! I like that bright King! ;D Yes, I had the most incredible time up there, and another round of kudos to Aaron for taking us up and showing us the way, as usual. It was certainly a day for the kings!

I didn't let the other anglers spoil the time, but I'm still thinking about it, and am in despair. I would think that it wouldn't be too hard for the DEC to keep one eye on that beautiful area. . .So many (more than not) were fishing with illegal rigs, plain and simple. The thing that bothered me most was that "they" (the anglers) seemed to huddle up in their gangs and promote each other's foul way of hooking fish. Most of all, their angling ways were noticeable from a distance. . .one didn't necessarily have to get up close to see this.

I can't wait until the next time up!

[quote author=pulaskinaut link=topic=947.msg5514#msg5514 date=1192560003]
This was a July king out in the lake
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Wow - if I didn't know it came out of Lake Ontario, I'd say that fish almost looks edible! Nice catch -
Have you guys ever seen some of the nasty fungus-ed up Kings that some of these dummys actually take home to eat? It's amazing they don't keel over within 24 hours of dining on such a delicacy :P Truly gross.

Yeah the best is to watch the people at the damn on Oak Orchard. I have seen some really beauties taken from there.

Looking out the window of the SR sport shop I saw a goon trying to snag a dead salmon as it floated downstream. Said to the boys I've seen enough, time to go home.

Stiil it' s what you make of it an amazing fishery we are fortunate to have and enjoy.
Hopefully pressure will mount and eventually reduce that idiotic behavior. The DEC does not have the manpower to be everywhere. I have spoken to them on various occasions and suggested more education and enforcement as well as keeping the "fly zone" close until 10/15 eavery year.

has theree been any success in trying to restore the atlantic population to lake ontario?

They get little or no return on the Atlantic Salmon in Lake Ontario. I am sure that the Chinooks, Cohos and all of the other trout are too much competition for the forage base in the lake. I have only heard of a few caught.

Yeah, that I'm aware the returns on Atlantics have been disappointing. A couple hundred years ago there was a thriving Landlock fishery in the lake & tribs, and they historically reached sizes up to 48# supposedly! Hard to believe, and then man of course f***ed it up. I know that Little Sandy Creek used to get some nice Atlantics running up it in recent years, mostly when it was closed to fishing in the June thru October time frame. I've seen a small pool with 10-12 NICE fish in it in years past. Dunno what the current status is.

In the late 1800's/early 1900's Lake Ontario was our primary source of commercial Atlantic Salmon fishing. The fishery in the Atlantic off the coast of New England was really secondary to teh Ontario industry. I suppose because it was so much easier to catch the salmon in the lake. Between the pollution and overfishing as demand increased, the atlantics were essentially wiped out. advocates of their return often site the stocking of the unviable pacific salmon fishery as the major hurdle to bringing the atlantics back. There's just too much money in the pacifics for the locals to give them up I guess. They're having a similar problem on the Upper Penninsula in Michigan with stocked brookies vs. the coasters.