Clint, I think, has it.  The alewife is the main prey fish in the lake for all the salmonids, even if some are more opportunistic than the kings, which are herring feeders unless there are none to be had.  The heavy stress experienced by the alewife population last winter, which led to a rare spring alewife die-off (even if not the kind of massive dieoff we saw in the 60's), would also have caused a greater production of thiaminase, which would lead to even poorer incorporation of B1 by the predators. Thiamin, B1, is necessary for many areas of the fish's metabolism, and lack of it can even become fatal.  The east end of the lake also froze sooner and stayed frozen longer last year, which could have meant greater stress on bait schools at the east end, and a larger impact, including some morbidity out in the deep water, on the salmon.  Things at the west end were fine, except for that period in June into July when no one could find fish, and I have not heard reports  of problems from west end tribs, they are still reporting healthy catches of browns and steel.  Of course, so was Douglaston last I looked. 

But there were strong runs of salmon in the Genesee right into early November, and good runs reported in the Oak and 18-mile.  If this winter stays cold enough to set up similar conditions, we could see the same thing happening next year.  And Dime, you're on it, too, as if the stresses are enough to decrease the alewife population significantly, predators that require alewives (Kings) either shrink in size or numbers, as happened in Michigan (size) and Huron (numbers, the whole fishery collapsed, and is slowly being "rebuilt"), the whole concept of carrying capacity, and the limiting factor for predators is the amount of prey.  More opportunistic feeders like steel and browns will switch to alternatives like Gobi when temperatures allow, and emerald shiners or sticklebacks or whatever they can find, but the kings really focus on alewife, so they will be the canary in the coal mine, and maybe we saw one canary tip over last year, and these scurvy (Yea, I know, that's C) steelhead are another bird gasping for air.

Think many of the Kings that did live long enough to run  likely died just like the Steel in the river. No one likely noticed it because the Kings are supposed to die off.
Perhaps -like the Steel- after being in the river a while some of the disease issues wore off in some Kings.
IMHO that why the zones were OK with healthy looking breeding Kings  just like normal and lower areas  saw little spawn activity.
Likely the Hos had the same issues as many were around early, but personally never saw numbers of them on beds.

Same word all along the lake. Sodus, IBay, no one is getting much but tons of dinks, and the only once in a while.  Tons of small bait around I Bay, last week the ducks were diving big time at the outlet

Saw 2 whirling and dying. Both were relatively thin and almost chrome. If I could have got a hold of them I would have bonked and ate them.  The bottom of eddies and frogwater has steel carcasses. On the other hand , saw lots of very healthy and fat steel, and caught one that was very heavy for its length. Just a guess, but the fish that make it in the river for awhile seem to recuperate.  Fish I caught and  most I saw were pretty nice looking for this time of year.

I wonder if the current problem has to do with wild vs hatchery fish and genetics.  A good article in the Spring 2015 Flyfishing & Tying Journal, Lost At Sea regarding declining returns of steelhead on the West coast.  That article deals with the problem of predation of hatchery raised fish vs wild stocks but I can't help but think we have mucked with the gene pool to the detriment of the fishery.  Just saying.......

Just got first hand info today of over 100 dead steelhead in the river sighted two days ago on a float from pineville to ballpark. Also got first hand info from a friend who attended state of the lake meeting last night. Vitamin b-defficiency was said to not be a new problem in which egg injections have been done in the past. A question was asked "why are more fish dying in salmon river and Not so Much in other tribs and Canadian tribs"... Answer from DEC: salmon river has too much fishing pressure...

I've feared the past few years...mostly since 2010ish/2011... Too many people... Steelhead being harassed from top to bottom. I do admire the lack of internet and Facebook hype the past year. I do hope it continues. Fishing should not be treated like a video game.

If you wish to read about the sol meetings then I suggest looking at these points of view. I do agree with many here , even the finger pointing one. It's really best to start from page 1
http://www.lakeontariouni...led/page-4#entry339200

The strange thing is , years ago the trib anglers were blaming the lake fishers for the majority voice now the lake fishers are blaming the trib anglers for the voice.

And you're correct about fishing pressure currently: a lot of people. I suspect a lot more fish are dying as we speak. Fishing pressure is making the problem seem much worse on the "salmon river". ... Over 109 dead fish seen in 1 float??? That's freekin horrible. I know many say who cares its a put and take fishery. I do believe they should step in with some type of regulations if the dying fish persist. Now another record lake freeze after an already hurt alewive population... Here comes some really bad times folks

The hatchery has proven that fish held captive in a stress free environment have high survival rates...

I live 6 miles from the DEC facility and even closer to tribs that host runs let alone the salmon river. As much as I wanted to attend, the same reasons that keep me from getting out on the river kept me from attending.

You're right lucky, there is no "one" factor to point the finger at which more or less is summed up through this whole thread as well as published studies on the matter. It just seems ironic that at the height of such a catastrophic event with steelhead noticibly dying in the river still; parking lots are filling up. Lfz is filled with people snagging the same fish over and over again... Let it burn baby... Just keep throwing gas on the fire. The good thing is, life goes on in these parts even if the fishery collapses ;)

Great points tuna... I am being misunderstood on the fishing pressure issue. I'm not saying its the problem... Just saying its not helping AT ALL. You have vitamin deficient fish that are being slaughtered... And for the dead fish, I've witnessed dying steelhead plenty of times... They descend downstream with the current while gasping for air. Altmar seems to be the crime scene from my observations

If fishing is a big part of the cause then STOP c and r for a couple of years.
(did I say that ???)
 
Catch a limit and keep it --may save  many fish improperly released and those done properly only to die because of other factors related to stress.
Yea--I know- not in the makeup of most of us, but may stop some of the dying of already stressed fish for a while till things on the lake straighten out.
Blast away-----

hot tuna

As far as the SR , I have to think and from my experience over the years guiding. Most fishers below the zones are catch and creel within the 1 fish limit

And after a quick trip to the car they catch their limit again.
 
 From what I have seen I would say many of the fly chuckers are  C&R, especially the ones above 50.   Most spin guys are out for meat especially the ones fishing with sponge.  I know when I fish my spin reel with egg sacs I am going to keep a fish. My wife likes how they taste and I do not have to buy it from the store.
 
If we eliminated the number of kept foul hooked fish (snaggers), the fishery would be fine even with the loses. Who would like to venture a guess on the % of kept fish that are fair hooked. In my brief history of fishing I would say well over half the steel I have seen strung up were hooked in the ****.

I'd say 90% guided trips are catch and creel. Salmon or steel . I also believe that how far one traveles to fish also contributes to creel or release . A guy going an hr to fish is going to creel less, well to an extent.
Once you get out of the zone I honestly believe the majority of fishers are going to keep at least 1 fish. Personally I know some who do as Clint said.
I don't think harvesting more is the answer , remember , the lake limits are higher then tribs.

As for stripers and slots.
I do think you , Trev we not really a slot but a min size
Slots SUCK IMO . Not saying that protecting spawners are a bad thing or possibly necessary but a slot limit using live bait is not the answer . Anyone who fished slots for lakers on Ontario can attest .
The stripers along the coastal shorelines are much different then spawning fish in my ( our ) trib.
I have fished striped bass here since the 70's. we slaughtered them then and very few recreational fishers but MANY comercial fishers .
Comercial fishers raped the seas and winter migratory holding areas.
The early - mid 80's got so devistated , it wasn't even worth fishing then here.
Marine regs imposed a comercial restriction and it worked , 100 fold. The fish rebounded to peak levels about 10-15 years ago, and so did the recreational fishers ( here )

Now was the bait ( herring ) issue. Again regs were imposed, no trib netting and 10 herring limit.
So with the new spawning protection slot, imposed herring limit. My guess is in 5-7 years the stripers will explode and the herring ( bait ) will be off limit as in some states ( tribs already ) .
Tricky stuff this fishery game..

Great to hear your views rj on the Hudson rj... Passionate and true from what you know. Top notch in my book.

For the salmon river. Yes a lot of guys below rt. 52 are taking 1 fish per outting. But catching,snagging, snapping pics, and same fish being hooked over and over again is a whole other side of it. I'm happy to see that center pin and bobber fishing is not as productive as it was... Just like every other fad... Once everyone else is doing it, the fish catch on.