Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association (LOTSA)

LOTSA is a Not-For-Profit group of mainly weekend recreational fishermen who are dedicated to the enhancement and promotion of the Lake Ontario Sport-Fishery. LOTSA places a heavy emphasis on Education including recruiting new Anglers to the Lake Ontario Fishery and providing continual Education opportunities for the experienced Anglers.

LOTSA meetings are held on the 2nd Thursday of certain months (see events below) at 7:00 p.m. at the North Amherst Fire Company, 2200 Tonawanda Creek Rd, Amherst, NY 14228 and usually feature an informational seminar on a particular topic relating to the Lake Ontario fishery. Each meeting also features a sharing of information on the current fishing conditions.  Get Directions >>

Latest Club News & Happenings

2024 OLCOTT PEN REARING

Pen Assembly Day – March 23rd, 9:30am at
Town of Newfane Marina, Olcott NY

As March approaches, it is time to start thinking about the LOTSA salmon and steelhead
Pen Rearing Project in Olcott NY.
The key dates are as follows:
Pen Assembly Day is March 23rd, 9:30am at the Town of Newfane Marina.
Receiving of the fish is still TBD but likely to be the first week of April.
Pen removal and clean up day is April 27th at 9:00am at the Town Marina.

The Olcott Pen Rearing project got it’s start in 2004 with the help of Niagara County Legislature, Niagara County Fisheries Advisory Board, Niagara River Anglers Association, and lots of volunteer help from LOTSA Members. The initial intent of the project was to get the salmon to imprint to the local tributaries causing them to return when they spawn 3 years later, thus sustaining a staging fishery for us to enjoy. LOTSA was given control of the project with Curt Meddaugh at the helm. Since then, we have gone from roughly 67,000 Chinooks in 4 pens to today’s number of 137,000 and 17,000 Steelhead in 10 pens. Through the years with different studies the NYDEC has determined that pen reared salmon have a 2 to 1 better chance of survival over direct stocked salmon.

We will need quite a bit of assistance from volunteers, with three opportunities for you to help. In 2024, we will be assembling our 10 pens at 9:30am March 23rd, at the Town of Newfane Marina in Olcott, NY. If you are available, please come out and help us out and help sustain the fishery. We will have hot drinks and pastries to enjoy, dress warm and bring side cutters to clip zip ties. We expect our fish to arrive the first week of April, the date is yet to be determined but will be posted on our website and Facebook page when we get notification. We will need help again April 27th at 9:00am to clean and stow the nets for next year. We will have pizza available after the nets are cleaned.

For more information or if you are interested in volunteering, please contact LOTSA via email at [email protected].

LOTSA Membership

Register or Renew your LOTSA membership as well as view the current LOTSA Membership list.

Salmon School

The well-known, in-depth salmon school of detailed instruction taught by top captains.

LOTSA Tournament

A fun tournament with simple rules that encourages family participation & promotion of the fishery.

LOTSA Picnic

Picnic and raffle on for this year!

Curt Meddaugh Tournament

Free tournament for LOTSA Members only. 3 Fish tournament – Salmon Only! NEW- BIG FISH FRIDAY! $150 payout to largest salmon weighed in!

323 Tournament

Fishing tournament with 3 fish weighed in over 2 days with 3 winners.

Quick Links

Below you will find a collection of links that the members of LOTSA have found useful, educational and entertaining over the years.

If you would like to see additional links added to this section, please let us know.  We will be happy to review the suggested link with the board for inclusion.

Hot Topics

Today's HOT Topics from around Lake Ontario brought to directly by Lake Ontario United.

 

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"Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers... "

– Herbert Hoover

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Come on, Join Us!

We are always looking for new members. Young, old, amateur or pro – consider joining us!