Preliminary summary of fishing boat trips and fish harvested, and harvest rates per boat trip for trout and salmon and

smallmouth bass among boats seeking these species, for the month of August, from the 1985-2004 DEC Lake Ontario

	9-yr. avg.	5-yr. avg.			Yearly	Estimates
	1985-93	1994-98	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Fishing Boat Trips:	43,646	33,278	28,548	29,865	35,936	26,584	28,411	28,151

No. of Fish Harvested:
Coho Salmon	2,505	2,447	2,983	3,774	3,775	541	1,313	2,114
Chinook Salmon	27,395	19,962	14,990	13,314	12,400	10,653	12,752	21,472
Rainbow Trout	9,439	11,910	8,939	3,721	5,755	4,133	3,305	3,752
Atlantic Salmon	60	72	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brown Trout	3,508	2,912	3,774	2,987	4,101	2,896	4,814	3,390
Lake Trout	12,054	3,554	2,796	1,425	2,217	5,180	843	739
Total Trout & Salmon	54,966	40,856	33,627	25,223	28,248	23,403	23,027	31,468

Smallmouth Bass	15,972	16,068	28,865	23,799	25,336	11,403	27,134	16,442
Yellow Perch	848	583	5,879	1,459	2,488	280	3,976	8,617
Walleye	84	583	94	161	100	872	308	72

Coho Salmon	0.068	0.098	0.152	0.175	0.152	0.031	0.078	0.110
Chinook Salmon	0.732	0.806	0.781	0.617	0.501	0.612	0.759	1.121
Rainbow Trout	0.265	0.474	0.466	0.173	0.232	0.237	0.197	0.196
Atlantic Salmon	0.002	0.003	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
Brown Trout	0.093	0.116	0.194	0.136	0.166	0.166	0.287	0.177
Lake Trout	0.338	0.142	0.146	0.066	0.090	0.291	0.050	0.039
Total Trout & Salmon	1.498	1.638	1.746	1.169	1.141	1.337	1.371	1.642

Estimated fishing effort in August 2004 (28,151 fishing boat trips) was the second lowest August estimate among the 20 years censused, and a 5.8% decrease compared to the 1999-2003 August effort average (previous 5 years). This estimate represented a significant increase (80.3%) from estimated effort in July 2004 (15,613 fishing boat trips). Boats targeting trout and salmon accounted for 19,160 boat trips, the third lowest August effort estimate for trout and salmon boats, and 3.9% below the 1999-2003 August average. Boats targeting smallmouth bass accounted for 8,217 boat trips, 9.4% less than the 1999-2003 August average.

Despite a relatively low level of targeted fishing effort, the total number of trout and salmon harvested in August 2004 was 31,468 fish, a 17.8% increase compared to the 1999-2003 average August harvest. Chinook salmon was the most commonly harvested species, comprising 68.2% of the August 2004 salmonine harvest. Smallmouth bass harvest in August 2004 was estimated at 16,442 fish, a decrease compared to the 1999-2003 August average. Yellow perch harvest in the open lake boat fishery was estimated at a record high 8,617 fish, due largely to several large catches by boats targeting yellow perch in the Sodus area.

Fishing quality as measured by harvest rates was mixed in August 2004. The trout and salmon harvest rate among boats seeking trout and salmon was 1.64 fish per boat trip, a 21.4% increase compared to the 1999-2003 August average. Comparisons among the salmonine species show that August 2004 harvest rates were above their respective 1999-2003 averages only for Chinook salmon (+71.4%, and a record high among the years censused), and below their respective averages for coho salmon (-6.4%), brown trout (-6.8%), rainbow trout (-25.0%), lake trout (-70.0%), and Atlantic salmon (none observed in August 2004). Reduced fishing success for trout and salmon species other than Chinook is likely due to a shift in effort to take advantage of the exceptional Chinook fishery. The smallmouth bass harvest rate among boats seeking smallmouth bass was 1.99 fish per boat trip, a 117.0% increase compared to the July 2004 harvest rate, but still the fourth lowest August harvest rate among the years censused, and 18.3% below the 1999-2003 average August smallmouth bass harvest rate.