Finding Salmon and Trout in Lake Ontario, 1985

Abstract

Using radiotelemetry and vertical gill nets, we studied the movements and habitat preferences of brown trout (Salmo trutta), steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Chinook Salmon (O. tshawytscha), Coho Salmon (O. kisutch) and Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in Lake Ontario. No species were available for radio tagging in the summer, Brown Trout and Chinook and Coho Salmon were available in the fall, and Brown Trout and Steelhead were available in the spring. Steelhead responded strongly to offshore thermal breaks at the surface in the spring. Vertical gill nets in the summer captured Brown Trout just above the thermocline and Lake Trout below it, while Chinook Salmon ranged widely a above and below the thermocline. Our studies helped Lake Ontario anglers to increase their catches of stocked salmonids in the lake.