Lake Ontario fishing forecast for 2026 looks promising at the very least. We will discuss my reasons why in this post based upon stocking data as well as imperical evidence from chartering past seasons. Lets start with the brown trout population.
Brown Trout
Brown trout fishing over the last couple of years has been good to excellent, especially in terms of numbers! Size wise, 2025 brown trout were somewhat smaller over all. Our best 2025 brown weighed in at 13lbs. In a typical year, teenage size browns were pretty common. Fish in the mid to upper teens were also around as well. From what I’ve seen in 2025 and the health of those fish, 2026 should have fish in the mid teens available again. Keep in mind, there always seems to be an exeptional fish or two that escapes capture. Put another year of growth on these fish and their size will most certainly increase. What also is promising was the abundance of stocker size browns present later in the season. Hence, there is a strong population of several age classes which does well for the longevity of the species present in the Lake.
Steelhead
In 2025 this past season, our clients caught some exceptional steelhead while targeting other species, both inshore and offshore! During the month of June, our trophy brown trout month, steelhead as well as Atlantic salmon were mixed in with the browns in shallower water feeding on the spawning alewives. Kings were there, too! Steelhead in the 10-12lb range were taken quite regularly! On our offshore excursions, sometimes over 15 miles out while chasing summer kings, nice steelies were captured in the mix. Their tell tale acrobatics were something to see! The Lake Ontario fishing forecast for 2026 wouldn’t be complete without the mention of salmon.
King Salmon
Three age classes of King salmon were present during the 2025 season. The one and two year old fish were abundant and healthy. Size wise, they looked good! The three year old kings were around, but size wise they were not as big as we have been acustomed to. Our largest king for 2025 was 28 lbs. That being said, we did lose a monster king at the back of the boat that was well into the upper 30lb class if not bigger. I know what you’re thinking, the one that got away!! Granted fish always look bigger in the water, but this fish was huge! It takes a lot to get my heart thumping after decades of fishing Lake Ontario kings, but this one did!!!
Stocking Numbers
- Approximately 1.7 million king salmon are stocked annually by New York State!
- Net pen operations in 2025 for Oswego (140k fry)
- Coho Salmon 135,000 to 250,000 fish lake wide, with efforts focusing on spring yearling releases to improve survival rates.
- Atlantic Salmon 200,000 with emphasis on the eastern basin.
- Lake trout 360,000,
- steelhead 640,220, including the net pen operations.
Conclusion
All indicies point towards a Lake Ontario that’s full of our target species to fish for in 2026. June brown trout fishing looks to have a lot going for it! Good stocking numbers with three solid age classes as well as some seniors that still are swimming around make for a great base to start. Add to it a very snowy winter which should produce adequate spring run off in the feeder creeks, favorable spring water conditions make it that much better.
Steelhead were plentiful running the salmon river this year with many weighing in the mid teens being caught and released. Survivors return to the Lake to live till the spawning urge again takes over to run the rivers in the fall and winter.
King salmon numbers of one and two year old fish were plentiful during the 2025 season and this waa lake wide. With good survival rates, due to ample prey numbers present in the Lake, two and three year olds should be available in decent numbers to fish for in the 2026 upcoming season.