Is New York's Lake Ontario lake trout population in trouble? Here's a look at the status of these popular game fish and what the DEC is doing to enhance angling opportunities in 2006. by Rod Cochran

"We had fabulous lake trout fishing in Lake Ontario last season, but we had to fish in Canada to find 'em," claims Walt Boname, a former fisheries manager who guides out of the Cape Vincent area. "I'm expecting another good season this year."

WHAT'S GOING ON?
Sportfishing has always been more art than science, of course. But putting keeper lake trout in the box seems to be a never-ending puzzle for biologists and fishermen. In recent years, lake trout have provided fantastic fishing in Lake Ontario's east end and at certain locations along the south shore -- even during a slow, decades-long decline in the population that is still continuing, according to New York Department of Environmental Conservation fisheries researchers. More confusing, the slide in lake trout numbers has occurred despite some encouraging reports from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's project to restore a wild spawning population. Each year, a handful of young non-fin-clipped fish turn up in seining operations.

A PLAN TAKES SHAPE
Lake trout were the original top-of-the-food-chain predators in Lake Ontario. The restoration of a naturally reproducing population is the goal of a joint program including federal agencies, New York State and the Province of Ontario. Their cooperative effort attempts to stock 500,000 yearlings annually at several locations in New York waters. All of these fish are produced at the USFWS Allegheny National Fish Hatchery in Pennsylvania, mostly from eggs obtained from Seneca Lake fish. A captive brood stock derived from Lake Superior fish is also used at the hatchery, and a few years ago, eggs were obtained from a Lake Michigan trout strain.

In 2004, a total of 456,800 lake trout were stocked. All of the fish were released at various times in May, with two releases at Stony Point, four at Oswego, one release at Sodus, four at Point Breeze and one release at Olcutt.

The hatchery fish were placed in water-filled barges and towed to deep-water release sites to protect the young fish from shallow-water predators. Lampreys are regaining a foothold, however, with anglers reporting a significant increase in wounded fish. Seneca strain trout have a much higher survival rate over Superior-strain trout, apparently due to their ability to withstand lamprey attacks, according to researchers.

Recent findings of wild yearlings indicate that progress is being made and that lake trout are now believed to be spawning throughout the lake.

On that bright note, we'll look to better days ahead, and focus on catching one of those slammers that tapes well above the 30-inch slot limit. June and July are the hot months for lakers in Lake Ontario!

GOLDEN CRESCENT
Northeastern Lake Ontario, from Cape Vincent to Henderson Harbor, is locally known as the "Golden Crescent," not only for its scenic shoreline and islands, but also for its nonstop fishing opportunities. Cold-water salmonids usually take the spotlight here, but fishing is also superb for smallmouth bass, walleyes, pike and perch.