Niagara Fishing Report
by Bill Hilts Jr.
Lake Ontario and tributaries – After a few days of westerly winds, things started to change around a bit for salmon and trout trollers. According to Capt. Bob Cinelli of Olcott, things are starting to improve for the better. Best action off Wilson and Olcott for salmon, as well as other locations along the lake, seems to be in the 200 to 250 foot depth contour, using your baits in the top 80 feet of water. Use a mix of spoons and flasher-fly. For steelhead, best action has been from the 27 to 30 bar on the lake, using spoons in the top 40 feet of water. The summer Lake Ontario Counties Derby, which runs through July 27, still has a couple weeks of action to go. The fishing finally turned on a little bit out east as a new grand prize leader came on board – a 27 pound, 5 ounce king salmon reeled in by Paul Powers of Oswego. Nope, make that a 27 pound, 9 ounce fish caught by Nate Brewster of Dansville while fishing out of the Oak on Tuesday. Steve Klejdys of North Tonawanda is still leading the lake trout division with a 22 pound, six ounce fish from the Niagara Bar. Top brown is 16 pounds, seven ounces and the top rainbow is 12 pounds, 11 ounces from the Oak. Only the rainbow division is not filled at this point but there’s plenty of room for improvement all across the board. If you are a member of the Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Assn., next weekend is the group’s big club fishing contests, starting with the Curt Meddaugh Memorial event on July 18 and the big King Salmon Contest on July 19 – and you must be a member. For $10 though, it’s a great investment. It’s 100 percent cash payback. For warm water fish species, you can target bass or pike in the harbors with live bait or artificials like spinnerbaits. Capt. Nick Calandrelli of Lewiston spanked the bass trolling the shoreline with stickbaits and Kwikfish in 10-12 feet of water earlier in the week.
Lower Niagara River – The moss is still in the river, hampering all fishing action below the falls. Will it be gone in two weeks? According to Capt. Steve Drabczyk of Lewiston, the moss is starting to subside a bit. Hopefully it won’t be long. The Annual Niagara River Smallmouth Bass Contest is set for July 26 in the Lower Niagara River and Lake Ontario from sunrise to 2 pm and it could make for a very interesting competition. Best two fish total weight wins. Contact www.niagarariveranglers.com or call 807-6111 for more info.
Upper Niagara River-Erie Canal – Tony Scime at Scime’s Tackle in Buffalo sends word that bass fishing has been good in the river and moss wasn’t too much of a problem. Smallmouth and silver bass are being caught from the Foot of Ferry to the foot of Hertel streets. Some walleye were reported at the head of Strawberry Island on blue-silver or purple worm harnesses. The occasional musky is also showing up from anglers working large 8-10 inch tubes around the weeds. Good spots have been around Strawberry Island and around Thompson’s Hole. The Erie Canal Fishing Derby winds up on Sunday and it’s not over until the final lure is cast. Some pretty impressive catches have already come to the scales, including a 19 pound carp reeled in by Christina Corey of North Carolina; a 13 and a half pound catfish hauled in by Randy Thomas of Grand Island; and a 12 and a half pound sheepshead out-fought by Todd Wells of Medina. Other notable catches so far include a bass just under five pounds weighed in by Jessica Doran of Middleport; a 5.8 pound walleye boated by Mike Boncore of North Tonawanda; a 5 and a half pound Northern Pike caught by Jeff Stanton of Lockport; and a 2.2 pound bullhead entered by Camille Wells of Medina. Two tagged fish have been caught so far so there’s still another 48 swimming around in the Canal between Albion and the Niagara River. The derby continues through Sunday. Check out the leaderboard at www.eriecanalderby.com.
Fair Haven / Cayuga County Report
by Werner Stenger
Once again right on schedule or king salmon have arrived thanks to the west winds the last week has provided us. While the bite can be tough thru the day in 100-160′ of water due to the mass abundance of bait, it is more productive in the 200′ of water depth. Water is still relatively cool keeping most of the action above 100′ of depth.
Flasher flies like our locally produced A-Tom-Mik flies have been enticing the larger fish to bite.
As is normal this time of year there is a good consistent bite from small mouth bass near the big lakes shores.
Chautauqua County Fishing Report
by Craig Robbins
Lake Erie and Tribs – The eastern basin of Lake Erie and mid-July means one thing—monster walleyes. At 40-65 feet in Dunkirk Harbor, running stick baits and worm harnesses will keep rods bending. One of the keys to trolling is keeping worm harnesses or stickbaits close to structure and the bottom, or bottom bouncing with worm harnesses.
Trolling is the main program off Barcelona, where anglers are picking up good catches in 70 feet of water. Walleye are hanging just off the bottom and stickbaits have been favored over worm harnesses.
Anglers should not overlook shallower reef areas when searching for walleye. Anglers typically catch walleye around the deeper edges of reefs by casting and retrieving weight forward spinners tipped with a nightcrawler or by bottom bouncing with worm harnesses.
Chautauqua Lake – Muskie hunters are picking up good numbers of muskie by casting bucktail and stick baits over weed beds in Dewittville and Bemus Bays. Trolling for big muskies has been working in 15-35 feet. Targeting areas with weed edges and deep drop offs has been producing “reel clicking” action.
Anglers are still picking up walleyes in the southern basin along weed edges in Burtis and Lakewood Bays. Walleye are still being caught in the north basin trolling along weed edges between Prendergast and the Bell Tower from 12-30 feet.
Baits of choice on Chautauqua Lake have been jointed stick baits and worm harnesses or by drifting and jigging with jigs tipped off with night crawlers and/or leeches.
Oswego River/Lake Ontario Report
This report courtesy of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
According to Larry Muroski of Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop, the river has been up and down between 6,000cfs and under 1,000cfs in the last few days. This afternoon we have a good flow of 4,160cfs. Areas all along the river are accessible including the dam. Anglers are finding bass, sheepshead, catfish and panfish. Suggested baits are crayfish, nightcrawlers and minnows. 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 – According to Larry Muroski of Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop, the activity on the lake is picking up. Reports are indicating some salmon have moved in. A number of lake trout are still being taken and an occasional brown trout. Suggested applications are flies, flashers and spoons.
According to Capt. Kevin Davis of Catch the Drift, the good news this week is we have some salmon showing up. Monday we had lots of targets but the bite was slow. Tuesday and Wednesday the action picked up and the kings are getting bigger and bigger every day.
Salmon River/ Pulaski Area – Activity on the river is usually quiet this time of year.
Pulaski Area – According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, reports are indicating that the lake fishing has picked up a bit. Some salmon have been reported off Nine Mile Point. The thermocline that has set up is down below 100 feet and may be deeper with a west wind. There has been a good lake trout bite with cowbells and peanuts and a brown trout or two in the mix. The bass fishing has been a little slow in Mexico Bay. Minnows, crawfish and nightcrawlers are suggested bait.
Oneida Lake – there continues to be a decent walleye bite in 30-40 feet of water. Stickbaits, blade baits and bucktail jigs tipped with a nightcrawler are all working well. Early in the morning jigging in 15-20 feet of water is also producing some walleye. Anglers are finding a bass bite along the weed edges.
Sandy Pond – According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, conditions have remained about the same on the pond. Anglers are finding some bass and a few northern pike. Early and later in the day seem to be the most productive times.