One of the articles I posted did state increased stress increases thiaminase in alewives.  All this talk about the steel and no one is  stressing over the miniscule and probable salmon die off. Only time will tell

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.

Lucky, it seems everything we've all mentioned in this thread is coming together to paint one larger picture. One of the articles I read referred to "one thing happens and causes another thing to happen, and another and so on..." The eastern end is getting locked up right now. Although it didn't last sandy pond did have ice on it earlier than most folks have ever seen this past year. I saw maybe 10 bees in my yard this past summer while the two before hosted thousands... Last winter put a major hurting on a lot. Another oddity to throw in to the equation: all the way in to mid June steelhead were in big numbers and even sometimes visible in the 12-15 foot of water mark due to the cold in shore temps that lingered. What were they eating???

The kings??? You all know I'm concerned about that. I've honestly always said I could do without them. But its the least I've ever seen this year and its a concern of mine. I think the bumper crop of 2012 plays a part in that. I do lean towards not enough bait in the lake... Or not enough diversity in bait fish more so

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.

Don't know if this has anything to do with anything but the perch bite on Sandy ponds absolutely bows this year.  5 # weigh in at tourney  today won for 20 fish where last year it was in the teens.

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

Been reading around a bit today fighting off the cold winter indoors---
Read where the Hatchery is treating King eggs to help avoid thiamine deficiency for later returns. They are also managing the Steel egg take to insure enough eggs for a proper stocking this year and injecting adult Steel prior to release..
It looked a bit like this 'issue' may be here for a while and isn't being taken as a one year glinch--- Just my take.
 Also on another forum a very  recent report says guys are still seeing dying fish in the river.
One fisherman  reports  many deads are seen while floating over larger pools.
 Considering that  a big issue seemed to be ice cover in last years record weather it will be interesting when this years results are known- this year is on track to break last years record ice cover.
    As always I maintain every faith in the State of NY in its efforts to maintain the fishery, we all enjoy so much, to the highest level of excellence possible.
I applaud their quick attention to the negative issues of this year and rapid positive reactions.
  Many knock various Govt agencies here and there but these guys are IMHO definitely up to the task---again.

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.

Real glad to hear ya got some Charlie-congrats.
Hey Charlie= during the Fall saw what appeared  to be a unusual number of very small Steel mixed with normal size Steel and Hos, haven't heard a thing about them since- do they return to the lake early or stay in the river ??

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.......