opinions

Well - Its January and the Steel fishing has been  slow. We all have differing opinions and theories so lets throw out some of them- Certainly NOT professional ones ,I am sure, but interesting perspectives from fisherfolks. Some  will be rhetorical but it might be nice to see them on one place lol.
 My take--
Seems to me we started out the year with a banner , almost early, King run. All who saw this 'epic' run seemed impressed.
  Problem as I saw it was that with the low water the big numbers never seemed to go much above Pineville. That left kinda normal fishing up top. The Hatchery even  reported difficulty getting enough Hens in for egg recovery.
  This seemed evident to me personally as I never saw Hos and Steel in any kind of numbers up river where I have fished for years.  Many places they normally spawn were high and dry. Heck -  saw Hos spawning in early to mid Oct in mid river. Few if any observed in their usual haunts up top later on. Not many early Steel up there as usual either and far fewer King beds observed.
  All kinda theories were presented such as the fish running in and out again and for some reason staying in lower river areas. Not just in SR but many feeders along the Lake system seemed to have similar reports.
  My take was that it was a banner year early on and that the water levels kept the fish from the 'normal' spawn cycles we are used to experiencing. Clearly the fish didnt 'like' the low waters up top.
  Kinda gotta wonder if this is the 'issue' with Steel this year- Might be all wet but believe they come in early following the big spawners for the readily available food source the eggs provide, With  less upriver spawning  it seems IMHO to have affected the Steel holding up top.
  There are fish there as some food is available but gotta wonder about little fished holds down river where the spawn did take place this year. We are used to them 'running' the river to the top. That didnt happen this year so it may do us well to shift to the pattern the fish were on- more downriver action- even in Winter.
   The fish clearly were there early and tried- conditions altered their 'normal' movement IMHO -we should adjust too.
  Gonna be real interested in seeing what happens with the Spring spawn- Will they hold back then come in the spring ??? Some always do.
       One odd  guys thoughts.

Hi Bear-
 A guide friend has told me the fishing is improving up top in recently. Gotta wonder if those releases had to do with it. He  advised that although often seeing good numbers from the boat they seem unusually tight lipped all too often. He has had some great days though.
  Was strongly suggested however that flies other than egg imitations may work best due to the lower number of natural eggs-  his feeling is the fish are geared to more bugs now as they are the most prevalent food source after the poor upper spawn ( stones etc).
   May well be up myself for a try late this week.
 
  Hey -point gotta be made Bear-
 You and several others here are what I consider 'river masters'. Its what I like about this place- hearing from you guys. You and those few others can IMHO catch fish in the Mojave Desert.
  While the rest of us are splashing water with no results your end of day report is much differet LOL   90/10.

lol
thanks for the compliment, but i am far from a river master
it has been a very hit and miss season.....best example was in salmon season, did awesome in the barrel stretch one week and there was not a fish the next week
i just think there are still good numbers, but distribution has been spotty

In Nov. Good weather + extreme fishing pressure + low water = Dead Fish (On a rope or from being hooked several times)

  Early on Bear when they had the LFZ closed for the extra month it was loaded with fresh Kings- looked to be an outstanding time. Bout when  it opened those fish moved up and few followed --go figure ??  Then there were the reports that the Hatchery didnt get enough King Hens. Those earlies mostly seemed to be natural spawners too with the fin as I recall. 
  Last year bout this time we were talking about still seeing Hos up in the zone- folks were a bit surprised.
  Sittin here  doin Politics and jumping back and forth to the Forum be phun.

Charlie- Dont know bout the clipping way up- as I kinda stayed upper mid through the King season most  of what I saw dead was with the fin. Quite likely that the naturals dropped off where they were hatched along the way and hatchery fish continued . Actually kinda hope that was the case.
 Yea - it was a snag fest with the low conditions and lots of everything  got removed.
  Your fly info is pretty much as it was told to me too. Think I'll stick to some Stones this week.
   Low reports were actually very uplifting for fresh fish on top of that recent release and after the slush cleared.
 Have never thought it was a distinct lack of fish because of the big Lake reports this year- just a different kind of season with the Fall conditions.

Trev,
Unlike years past I really could not give an opinion as a result of not being on the water much.. Times have changed for me and I'm pretty happy..
Only 1 weekend for salmon and a few steelhead episodes..
The times I were on the water, it was fishing pretty well..
 
I see internet reports from guys that hook up regularly, almost daily so cant base any thing from those..
I read from guys here who fish and catch fish..
Seems to still be a good fishery with a lot of fishers.. Sometimes the fish gotta win once in a while.
 

So darned bored I'm double posting---
   Hey- fella fished mid river on the 5th and took a  hawg. See photo on the Lake Ontario Web Cam -fishing report section.

At the west end, the run died out around the same time as on SR, but word from my brother in law, a reformed basser who now chases chrome in the fall, was that the smaller tribs loaded up heavily with bright chromers, and some browns and hos the week before Xmas.  I just have not had time to fish, and the Genesee is still over 2000, so it is spin with weight down there.  May get out Saturday locally, and looking to go up north next weekend when I've got 3 days, but the weather dictates everything this time of year, especially with an old beater truck.  And if we get the deep freeze between now and then, I'll head down to Canadice or Hemlock and watch tip ups and jig for smelt, or go to Honeoye and hope to get the panfish for Ash Wednesday!
 
L13

With the colder snap we've had I was beginning to think the gauges were all stuck.
 
Every day it showed a projected drop but it never showed up.

Ya the big G.
A friend that lives by Driving Park says its green but Avon gauge at over 19 feet means its barely fishable to me.
He did say he saw a pinner while looking off the bridge.
 

I hope you make it to the river and explore your theory, Lucky.  Spot burner!   I've not ventured very much below Pineville- whole new vistas await in the murky future....
I plan to hit the river as soon as I can swing a trip- we'll see.  Maybe I'll set a few hours aside for new exploration.  

Dude glad all's OK.
 

Ditto on 2b's post!
Did I beat him Charlie?

Stream of unconciousness if anything!
Better than self conciousness I guess.
 
 
 
 
 
IT IS GOOD TO BE KING!