Greater Niagara Region Fishing Report
by Bill Hilts, Jr.
Lake Ontario and tributaries – Action in the lake has been good, with some days better than others. One of those good days was last Tuesday when everyone seemed to be catching salmon and trout. According to Capt. Bob Cinelli of Olcott, trollers were picking up fish in the 70 to 90 foot contour from the Niagara Bar to east of Olcott. Boats were also catching fish in the waters out to 250 feet, as well as 450 to 550 feet of water. The near shore bite has been good for mature kings getting ready to stage off the creek and river mouths. Cut bait behind a flasher is a top bait right now, followed by flasher-fly and magnum spoons. Out in deeper waters, flasher-flies and spoons are both working. One of the hot lures for steelhead out deep is the “Highway to Hilts” spoon taped up by Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors in Olcott. Karen Cinelli of Olcott reported six nice steelies off that particular spoon. The 37th Annual Greater Niagara Fish Odyssey Derby ended last weekend and Larry Goehring of Spraggs, Pennsylvania won the Grand Prize when his 17 pound, 13 ounce brown trout was selected from the six first place adult winners to win the check for $2,500. Goehring is also currently in first place in the Fall Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby. He caught it east of Olcott in 72 feet of water. Sandra Brown, also of Pennsylvania, won the Salmon Division with a 35 pound, three ounce fish that is also currently in first place in the LOC Derby. It was caught out of Point Breeze. Other first place fish in the Odyssey included Bob Turton of Sanborn with a 24 pound, 13 ounce Niagara Bar lake trout; Karen Cinelli of Newfane with a 28 pound, four ounce Olcott carp; Michael Creighton of Buffalo with a six pound Lake Erie smallmouth bass; and Paul Devlin of Niagara Falls with a 12 pound, 14 ounce Niagara Bar walleye.
Speaking of walleye, congratulations to Patrick Foote of Grand Island who won the Lower Niagara River Walleye Tournament last Saturday with an 11 pound, 12 ounce fish and a kicker fish that brought his two-fish total to 16 pounds. No, he wasn’t in the Fish Odyssey. Back to the Fish Odyssey where the Kids got into the action, too. Grand Prize was Steve Moskaluk of North Tonawanda with a 9 pound Niagara Bar walleye; Gabe Schank of Olcott won the panfish division with an 11 ounce Olcott rock bass; Ethan Long of Batavia won the carp division with an 18-1/2 pound fish from the Oak; Andon Woodward of North Tonawanda topped the bass division with a 5 pound, four ounce upper Niagara River smallie; Peter Campbell of Niagara Falls led the trout division with a 12 pound, 12 ounce steelhead from Lake Ontario; and Jacob Velesko caught the salmon of his life out of Olcott, reeling in a 29 pound, seven ounce king. The only derby left is the LOC which continues to Labor Day. Leading the way for the $25,000 Grand Prize is a 36-1/2 pound king weighed in by Fred Dedrick of Cairo. Leading steelhead is Mike Mongan of Grand Island with a 14 pound, 8 ounce fish caught north of the Niagara River. Check out www.loc.org for the current leaderboard. Tip of the week comes from Capt. Dan Evans. When netting salmon and trout in the lake, pay attention to where the head of the fish is pointed and be quick! If not, you could be late to the draw and knock a few fish off in the process!
Lower Niagara River – There are good days and bad days on the river for bass. Capt. Frank Campbell reported nine bass for four people one day, followed by more than twice that many the following day using a mix of live bait like crayfish and shiners. Tube jigs will also work nicely for bass. The walleye bite for numbers is still better in the river, but the bigger fish are on the Niagara Bar. Paul Devlin’s monster was caught on the bar power trolling with the current with a worm harness on the bottom just west of the green can. Pat Foote caught both his fish on a worm harness using a chartreuse-colored willow leaf blade, green and yellow beads off a 3-way rig. They had 40 anglers in the contest. Still no reports on salmon in the river, although Campbell did see an expired fish floating down through the system … which means some fish are in the river. Try the fishing platform to catch the first salmon of the season. Some shore line action in the gorge for bass is still going on, too.
Upper Niagara River – Lots of white bass are providing good to very good action for shore casters at Broderick Park right now. Emerald shiners are a good bait to use. Use small white twister tails on a hook or jig to take fish, too. Perch and bass are also available there. Thompson’s Hole was a hot spot for the Fish Odyssey derby where the winning Junior Division smallmouth came from, as well as two of the top three Adult Division fish. Live bait was used for all three, crayfish and chubs. If you plan on fish over or near the Canadian line, be forewarned that increased enforcement has been reported by Canadian authorities. In addition, it was noted that you must report back to U.S. authorities when you return back to New York waters. Bass are also available to the east of Strawberry and Motor islands, as well as in the west river on the western side of Grand Island.
Chautauqua County Fishing Report
by Craig Robbins
Lake Erie – Overall, the walleye fishing has been slow this past week with the better, but modest catches to the west. Barcelona trollers have been working hard for a few walleye in 75 to 110 feet of water, with stickbaits and worm harnesses run between 65 feet down and the bottom. Most Dunkirk anglers are concentrating efforts in 80-95 feet of water. Trollers have also picked up a few walleye in around 65 feet of water off Dunkirk.
West of Dunkirk, walleye trollers are also seeing the occasional steelhead, brown trout or lake trout catch. An extra line can be 6-8 feet of fluorocarbon line with a snap swivel on one end and spoon on the other. After you have dropped your downrigger ball to desired depth, attach the snap swivel to downrigger fishing rod’s line. Toss the lure into the water and the cheater line will slide down to the bow in the line, approximately half way down. Trollers have been heading out to the international line and working west at depths over 80 feet.
Yellow perch fishing has been hit or miss this week. Anglers are marking a lot of fish off Silver Creek. Out of Cattaraugus Creek good catches have been found at times in 55-75 feet of water. A couple favorable catch reports have also come off of Silver Creek in 55-65 feet of water. The time of year to target lake trout on Lake Erie is now. Spoons trolled near the bottom at depths over 80 feet are often very productive. Last week, a DEC survey showed a strong concentration of lake trout outside Brocton Shoal in 80-115 feet of water, especially between 90-95 feet of water.
Chautauqua Lake – Weed edges are a good place to catch a variety of warm water species. Largemouth bass and sunfish are common along weed edges and open pockets in the weeds.
Muskellunge fishing along weed edges improved this week. Trolling tight to weed edges with large stickbaits or bucktail trolling spinners is a good bet. Walleye trollers were catching a few walleye in the north basin in 20-25 feet of water. White perch catches are widespread on worms fished near the bottom.
Cassadaga Lake – Walleye anglers are finding the little lake of Cassadaga tucked in the corner of Chautauqua County off the weed edges in front of the Jobs Corps. The outside edges are best in the evening hours drifting a split shot with night crawler. Keeping the bait bouncing on the bottom seems to be trigging more strikes.
Oswego County Fishing Report
courtesy of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning
Fall LOC Derby – August 15 through September 1
Oswego River – According to Larry Muroski of Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop, the water flow has been up and down but is currently running at 3,570cfs this morning. The activity has not changed much as the warm temperatures are keeping most of the salmon in the lake. There are a few salmon moving into the river but it is very limited action. Smallmouth bass, panfish, catfish, sheephead and carp can be found throughout the river. Suggested baits include minnows, worms, crayfish and stickbaits. Remember the bridge to Leto Island is closed, and there are Mandatory Personal Flotation Device (PFD) zones on the Oswego River below the Varick Dam. For more information, view the Oswego County Tourism web site at www.visitoswegocounty.com and look for the fishing report under fishing and hunting.
Lake Ontario – The lake is producing some very nice size salmon. The current leader in the LOC Derby weighed in at 36.08 pounds. Another three spots in the top 20 salmon division were taken over on Wednesday and a new fourth place weighed in this morning at just over 34 pounds.
According to Capt. Mike Conroy of Proteus Fishing Charters, the charter fleet had a slamming day on King salmon in Oswego on Tuesday. Large catches of big Kings were the order of the day. Fish were taken in 90 feet of water from the harbor east to Nine Mile on riggers down 75-85 feet and dipseys 170-220 on number two setting. Fish are biting on white echips and paddles and cutbait and flies. Jplugs are starting to get hits also. No big run in the river yet. Stable weather should keep the fun going!
According to Capt. Troy Creasy of High Adventure Sportfishing Charters, there are very good numbers of Kings and Cohos schooling in the Eastern Basin. There are some real brutes this year and we have taken three over 30 pounds already!
Pulaski area/Salmon River – According to Garrett Brancy of the Douglaston Salmon Run, fishing was simply fantastic down on the run on Wednesday. Everyone returned to the parking lot with smiles, stories, pictures and sore arms! Depending on where they were, guests did tell us the intensity of the run began tailing off in the afternoon with the high sun. They added that there was still enough movement and still more than enough fish already present to keep them more than occupied. Hot flies were copper stone files #8, red/pearl comets #6, and red estaz with krystal flash #8.
According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, the lake fishing continues to be very good. Look in 100 feet or so of water from north of the river to the estuary. Flies and flashers are working well. We had a big run a couple of nights ago with fish making their way from the estuary up through the village of Pulaski. Flies, imitation eggs and real eggs are the bait of choice.
Oneida Lake – Warm temperatures and not a lot of wind have made for good fishing this week. There has been some action in 20-30 feet of water. Areas off Shackleton Shoals and Big Bay have been seeing some activity. Bucktail jigs tipped with a nightcrawler are taking walleye and minnows are working well for perch. Look for diving birds, a good sign of gizzard shad and you will likely find some bass. For the new downloadable Oneida Lake Association boating safety map, visit their web site at www.oneidalakeassociation.org.
Sandy Pond – According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, conditions on the pond have not changed. It is typically quiet this time of year. Anglers are finding some bass and northern pike activity.