I think you're right... Already some kings showing (very sparsely) in the river... That did not happen at all this time of year. And even though things are scattered and slow on the lake, it seems better than last year and some big fish are showing...

Report 8/15-16
Got home quite early today so I will throw up the report now..
We hit the lake pretty early (6am) yesterday to another slight 2' chop.. Had a minor malfunction on way out with a bad spark plug (coil) wire. It seems the boot may be weather cracked and it was arcing .. Some electrical tape and she was good to go.. Gonna pick up a new wire set this week..
Anyhow, we go to the usual area and start the long troll from 100 fow out.. Not seeing anything on the screen and lots of boats in the area.. I think somewhere around 30 is was counted but I'm sure there were at least 50. Troll, troll and troll some more until we hit 225fow and I watch the rod jiggle then fire !! My passanger grabbed the rod and it had a big bend so I didn't think it released so I told him to yank hard to release the line.. Well after about 2 or 3 yanks and a hard drag (my fault) the fish swam away with another spin doctor rig firmly planted in it's mouth.. Please catch them in the river and return them to me :), lol
Back to the troll without a sniff or anything on the screen so we pulled up stakes around 11 am..
 
Headed to Sandy beach with wife and grandson and had a blast !!! That beach is just awesome !!
Went back for a pm troll around 5pm with wife and grandson and the lake was flat.. Spent 3 & 1/2 hrs trolling around between 80-125 fow and marked TONS of fish which I assume were salmon.. They were heavy arches (hooks) on the screen and not like lakers stuck on the bottom.. Unfortunately we couldn't get any to bite.. Did see one streak up to where my rigger ball was but no go.. Really thought it was going to happen last night..
 
Woke up late today, puttered around camp, went to clean the boat and packed up outta town by 11 am..
 
Next week is going to be the week.. Heading back out Friday, we will have 2 boats out there working so something's gotta give.   
There will be no full report until I return at the earliest next thurs 9/3
 
From the finding on the lake this year and what might be to come in the river:
As you know , we struggled.. What I KNOW is that again these are tough times out there for everyone, pro's included.. Obviously they fish the lake and have far more knowledge then me but they are echoing (face to face) that the last 3 years have been lots of hard work for fish..  Yes they are putting fish in the box, mostly mixed bag.. They tell me it's rare now to limit out on kings unlike past years..
I still believe the river is going to be sporadic and only small spurts of fish, maybe night runnes as twobob suggested last year..
In saying that, there is still potential out there for trophy fish, kings might be smaller but still, big fish swim that lake..
I have an absolute BLAST every time I go there.. I will continue to fish the lake until something changes that I'm no longer able to .. Truly want to make some sort of establishment out there because we have plans of joining the ATV club next summer.. Right now I cant beat the price of my floating hotel so it will have to do :)
 
Good Luck folks ..

A quick entry as we head out for day 2, there still ain't no darn fish in this lake !!! Unless something drastically changes, I do not see any thing for the better then last season

No place else to put this so  - will hijack a bit-
My oldest son just won a 'senior division' weight lifting competition up in Boston.
He went from his VT home as kind of a last minute thing never having competed before.
Talk about being proud but old at the same time  lol.

Well I have caught more fish then ever up here. Dink perch rulez. Tiny gills any bad . A leaping smallie about 1 lb. a largie about 5 oz . And great suntan .
All the fish are in the river now :)

Charlie , I so wish but we are not feeling much love up here.
We got charters , privateers and family probing the depts . Blank screens on the lake as have been all summer.
Wouldn't trade my summer for anything this season . Fish be damed .
Met some really nice people , caught my season best so far .. Tomorrow is thankfully another day .

Rich,they're out there somewhere 'cause if you remember the end of July the cleaning stations were doing 300 a day so it's a big lake but soon they will  come to the river for sex.

I think the lake is done playing nice for the summer . Snotty and churning . Keep an eye on any flow increase . It's low and slow now but the Labor Day could trigger something .
West blow is hard out here now

A small shot of fish came in this morning.  One guide reports going 0 for 4 while snapping off fish with 12# tippet.  I'm hoping this is a portent of good things to come. 

Well I will say the lake churned up really hard yesterday . It's not playing nice anymore which means to me , look in the river . Still am hearing the same old story though , where are the fish ?
You guys are optimistic and I hope it happens to be a great run, I'm just going off of my observations from what I se and here out here not so much what gets posted on guide and charter Internet sites . I'm sure some of you old timers remember the stories in tackle shops then they tell you " shoulda been here yesterday ". I have been here every single week and , yesterday .

We are outta there . Spent to many days land locked and was tired of "trying " to fish in 5-6 footers . Out of 6 days , we got off shore twice, that lake got seriously angry and I'm sure it put some fish in the river . Again though , I have talked with the charters ( big boy boats ) all week that did go out and there is NO normality out there where , when it should be . Screens are not showing the fish , trolling for and hr or so and seeing just a mark or two on the screen is not normal . At first I asked what am I doing wrong ? Wrong gear , wrong weights , wrong lures , speed , temp range ?
In the end , you can have the best of the best set up but if you are not seeing pods of fish , none of that matters .

Will fish run the river ? Of course they will .. How many is yet to be seen and right now in all my weeks on the lake , I just ain't seeing many . I could be totally wrong and for the river walkers sake , I hope so otherwise the river will be a complete **** show with many people, low water and lots of frustration - tempers .

While I'm taking this weekend off , my boat will not be and hope the crew will have a better report then I do ..
Back at it for me out there Labor Day weekend

There will be plenty of fish for river walkers.  

I wouldn't be surprised if they are cutting stocks without notice. They have been conducting wild return studies for quite some time now (I think 2002)... Can't tell you how many seasons in the past 5 years where wild fish were my main catch from end august through mid September. So maybe they are covertly experimenting??? Who knows. 99 was a horrible season. 98 had a sick run in late august but rest of season was sub par... 97 was average... But I do remember many fIshing type folks and businesses moving out because there were too few fish and no big fish left in the early 2k's... Those folks were proved wrong. This fishery came back to provide what will probably be known as the best years it ever had. I will keep the faith. And I will personally enjoy lighter crowds... Hey,Maybe I'll start fishing the river again even!!! Lol... :D

Fichy, mid to late 90's were said to be horrible steelhead years but my opinion is biased as I did very well in the late 90's. Lakers were everywhere 97/98 season and I would hop all over to find the steelies. I had no use for the lakers. February 99 and 2k I had a blast in dsr fishing along the ice ledges for monster pink cheeked bucks... Never seemed to hit that window again like I did that year.. As Early 2k's progressed I'd say they were horrible for steelhead in my findings. So if history does repeat itself, bad steelhead years could be coming in the next few years

I wouldn't be too quick to say the numbers of stocked fish have been covertly dropped.
Remember the Thiamine issue that we know was the culprit last season after one bad ice over- now we have had two in a row.
Clearly it hits all age levels leaving us with a likely shortage for a few years to come- bad but realistic.
Think the Lamprey issue may not be overabundant Lamprey but under abundant game fish to latch on to.
  Too many like a good Govt conspiracy when things get rough.
Cant believe that Thiamine only affects Kings- remember last year we first learned about it when the affects on Steel were seen- King were supposed to die off - not Steel.
Think Tuna hits the mark on bait.