the reason for the crash in size for trout at crystal is its way overstocked with trout just like east twin,10-12000 or something like that,way too many.
So lets add salmon in the mix.
Hey Mark im not trying to pic a fight and you make very good points, specially about most of the salmon being gone by early spring.
I am no biologist and have never taken a salmon to actually look inside its stomach. The ones that I have caught on the ice have been on live bait. I could be wrong but to me it would seem like another species targetting the limited bait Crystal and other lakes have.
On another note, I don't really fish for trout anymore in CT its just not worth the time, gas, and money.