It is all total speculation for most part and so many factors can weigh in which all contribute to balancing aN ecosystem like the lake Ontario system. and great read there lucky. Clint I'd think if below "average" years persist a lot of guys will get weeded out...

How about the skeins in many of the chinooks of 2012 and 2013??? One side was underdeveloped on most...

That's the first I've heard of that.  Was DEC appraised of the situation?  Not having killed a hen Chinook in at least 25 years, I would have little to go on in judging "normalcy", but I know two bait dealers who bought as much skein as they could get, so when I see either , I'll ask.  Speculatively, since the skeins develop fairly quickly into the space from which the digestive organs are shrinking, it may just be a function of which side has more space for growing or how successful an individual fish is in distributing the expanding mass (one of the reasons, I have always heard, for the early porposing gulping air to distribute things inside). 

Lucky it may have been 2012 only... But it was most all of the early wild hens when that 20+ straight day run took place in 2012. I witnessed at least 10 that i cut up myself and spoke with a fish cleaning station who noticed a lot of it also. I haven't missed a season of seeing Chinook guts since 1990 and that was the only time I've ever seen it... Seemed odd... Those fish of 2012 "best ever season" (notice quotations) were the mature while this seasons mature fish (that showed up in low numbers) were 2 year olds... Maybe another correlation???

Food  for thought--
Steel  are often  displaying  lice compromising their health.
They are not getting usual high protein diets in the SR this year.
 The high protein eggs may well have helped them through  issues in the past without notice.
 If the depleted diet is a factor perhaps we aren't really dealing with a 'new' Steel problem but one that simply hasn't manifested itself till the King run diminished.. 
In nature so much is related. 
 
PS --who the heck did the lake report saying King were OK- all we heard last season was how the Kings in the lake sucked - to the point where we were watching with bated breath to see how the run was----or wasn't.

"1985 – 2014 Lake Ontario Fishing Boat Survey Summary for April 15 - September 30, 2014 
Since 1985, NYSSDEC surveyed boats operating in New York waters of Lake Ontario’s main basin from April through September.  The data collected from counts and interviews of fishing boats are used to manage Lake Ontario’s multi-million dollar trout and salmon fishery and provide valuable data on other fish species.  Survey results from April 15 - September 30, 2014 are lake-wide averages, and therefore may not reflect fishing quality experienced during some months and in some areas of Lake Ontario. Lake Ontario angler effort directed at trout and salmon has remained stable for more than a decade, and anglers experienced good fishing quality in 2014 (i.e. catch rate = number of trout and salmon caught per charter boat angler hour).   Lake-wide Chinook salmon catch rates remained above the long term average for the 12th consecutive year (2003-2014).  Evaluation of monthly and regional Chinook catch rates indicate that across much of the NY shoreline, catch rates were good to excellent from April through the second half of June, relatively poor from mid-June through mid-August, and then improved during the second half of August.  Anglers experienced the 7th consecutive year of excellent rainbow trout fishing, with catch rates above average along the entire NY shoreline.  Lake trout catch rates declined relative to 2013, but remained well above average.  Brown trout fishing quality was good to excellent throughout most of the open lake season.  Coho salmon lake-wide catch rate was below average.  Fishing effort targeting smallmouth bass remained low despite improved catch rates in 2013 and 2014.  A final 2014 survey report will be available in spring 2015"
 
Jana Lantry is the biologist in charge of the survey, and this came out of Cape Vincent.  The pdf viewer I have does not allow me to cut graphs, but total catch was up slightly from last year.  The report goes out to a lot of people from fisheries advisory boards and the charter industry and the visitors boards.  It is not on the DEC website yet, but may be soon. 

I was surveyed 3 times when I returned to Mexico port so I do know they were out. At least at the Mexico port in the August month the catch rates reported were dismal .

I know little about the western basin but from reading lake forums and charter reports the catch rate in the spring was good for Juvenile salmon, as I hear it always is there at that time. Once mid June and July rolled around the reports from that ( western basin ) was still the same and spreading to the east ( Oswego ) area. Lots of juvenile salmon, to the point captains were getting worried about next years class.
Most at that time switched to trout/ lakers.

That's the only reason I said that the data may be skewed.
Catches were good, mature salmon were not., hence " I " said we will have to wait and see what happens in the river to determine .
Is this due to the late arrival of salmon ? Possibly , you guys fished the river , I did not. I can say it seemed poor from a trib anglers perspective in forums .

Thanks for taking the time to provide the info L-13

PS:
The survey only asked if we caught fish, species , port and hrs / days fishing

lot's of interesting stuff here. lets hope we find put the reason at some point. possibly I will check the health of a few on Monday.

Well, the local ditch had perfect water, and only a couple of other fishers, but it was not showing much sign of fish at all for anybody. One short tug and shake that could have been a stream trout.  Maybe tomorrow.  Good luck up on the river Clint.
 
L13

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/columnist/roth/2014/12/20/fishing-steelhead-lake-ontario-die/20704673/
Here is another article with more of the same.