Oswego Fishing Report
Oswego River/Lake Ontario– According to Larry Muroski of Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop, with heavy rain throughout the region over the last week, the water flow has been flowing between 7,000-11,000cfs. This morning it is running at 9,560cfs. Fishing along the river has been quiet as this level makes most areas unfishable. An area that is accessible is flatrock in front of Fort Ontario. Look for bass, catfish and sheepshead using crayfish 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 – Fishing remains slow with the salmon scattered quite a bit. The weather has not cooperated in setting up favorable conditions. Anglers have found a few with a brown or laker mixed in. The extended forecast for the next few days is good with weather conditions settling down. Hopefully this will spark some good salmon action.
Salmon River/ Pulaski Area – According to Garrett Brancy of the Douglaston Salmon Run, activity on the river is quiet right now as we wait for the first salmon sighting of the season.
Pulaski Area – According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, the fishing has been slow and very spotty. The thermocline is all over so there is no consistency. We are headed into a stable weather pattern over the next few days. With this, things could change in a hurry and the salmon bite could catch fire very quickly.
Oneida Lake – According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, anglers are continuing to find a decent bite on the lake. Typically this time of year the fishing is slow as the oxygen level drops in the lake with the hot summer temperatures. With the more moderate temperatures we have had, the fish remain active. The applications are the same with stickbaits, bucktail jigs tipped with a nightcrawler and worm harnesses working in the deeper water. In the more shallow depths, jigs or worm harnesses pulled through the weeds are working. Anglers are finding bass in shallow water with spinnerbaits.
Sandy Pond – According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, there is very little activity on the pond at this time.
Chautauqua County Fishing Report
Lake Erie and Tribs – Reports out of Barcelona point toward good action in 90-130 feet of water. Stick baits run 50-60 feet down have worked well. Walleye are being picked up just outside of Dunkirk Harbor in 80-95 feet, with most the quality fish being found in 25-40 feet. The planer boards and the lead core bite has been producing this past week. While early in the week walleye anglers out of Dunkirk targeted suspended walleye in 80-100 feet of water. Jigging spoons, worm harnesses and stick baits work well for walleye.
Perch fishing has been hit or miss lately. A good starting point has been off Cattaraugus Creek in 50 feet of water, and then working towards deeper water. Live emerald shiners fished just off the bottom work best for perch. Anglers report consistent smallmouth bass action around structure in 30-45 feet of water, from Dunkirk to Barcelona. Drop-shot rigs combined with crayfish, minnows or tube jigs works great.
Chautauqua Lake – Largemouth bass catches are common around docks, weed lines and open pockets in weed beds. Top water lures, weedless rigged power worms and wacky rigged senkos work well.
Top muskellunge destination has been producing some really good catches at many points around the lake. Trolling along weed edges with large stickbaits or jointed stickbaits has worked best. Casting around weed edges has produced a few musky as well. Another approach for musky is to target suspended fish, 15-20 feet down over depths of 25-35 feet. Trollers are still catching good numbers of muskellunge along weed edges in the northern basin around the Bell Tower and Upper Dewittville Bay. Trolling with large perch pattern stickbaits, hot-n-tots and bucktail trolling spinners are good bets.
The dock pattern for largemouth bass are still being found in the Southern Basin of Ashville and Bemus Bays. Both large and smallmouth bass are still in the open pockets in weed beds and along the weed edges. Top water lures, weedless rigged power worms and wacky rigged senkos work well.
Evening bite for “eyes” has been producing best along the weed edges in Warners and Dewittville Bays for anglers that are welling sacrifice sleep for over night fishing. Successful anglers are working jointed stick baits and worm harnesses by slow trolling the edges or by drifting and jigging with black hair jigs tipped off the a jigs with night crawlers or leeches in the same areas.
Wayne County Fishing Report
Lake Ontario – Lake fishing is hot!! Browns are still hitting in 80 feet of water, striking glow spoons. The salmon are in 120 to 250 feet of water and hitting flasher flies and cut bait. Cut bait is not cheap, so charter captains are opting for the flasher flies, NKs, Stingers and Dreamweavers.
Everyone is saying it’s an early bite, so be on the water at 5AM. You snooze…you lose.
A nice 30 pounder took Grand Prize in the LOC Summer Derby. It was caught off of Sodus Bay.
Bays – The bays are running the high 70’s for temperatures, which fire-up the bass. Fish the weedlines at the south end of Sodus Bay with rubber, plastic and spinnerbaits.
Some walleye are hitting near the islands on Sodus Bay. Look for the deeper drop-offs on the west side of the three islands. Largemouth bass are being caught in Port Bay and also on Blind Sodus Bay, the small embayment adjacent to Fair Haven Bay.
Don’t forget the Wayne County 5-Grandslam and Merchants Challenge Youth Derby which is ends August 10th. Click on Grand slam for more information. The youngsters are starting to catch fish. Don’t miss this great contest.
Check out the rest of the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops. www.waynecountytourism.com.
We have a brand new Wayne County Fishing Brochure. This publication features where to go, what to use, and what to catch. Call our office for a free fishing packet, including the new brochure. 1-800-527-6510. We also have a new publication on Great Lakes fishing.
Erie Canal – The canal has tons of extra large bass. This fishing destination has plenty of places to fish from shore or you can launch at Widewaters.
Fair Haven/Cayuga County Fishing Report
Fish are starting to show back up as our usual westerly winds bring warmer waters back into the area. Spiny water fleas have been around in numbers greater than I have ever seen. Be prepared to clean lines on a regular basis. Decent catches have been had in the 200+ water depths with most action still above 100′.
Niagara Fishing Report
Lake Ontario and tributaries – Fishing is slowly starting to improve on the big lake for salmon and trout according to Capt. Bob Cinelli of Newfane, fishing out of Olcott. Most of the salmon action has been in the 100 to 300 foot area, targeting the top 60-70 feet of water with spoons, flasher-fly or cut bait. Some of action has been out deeper, from the 27 to the 30 line, offering a mix of steelhead and salmon. One suggestion that was made is to head north out of the port at Wilson or Olcott and motor until you see a pod of bait. At that point set up and continue to head north, seeking out active fish and looking for the best areas. Wes Walker at The Slippery Sinker reports that a few early mature kings are starting to show up early in the morning inside of 100 feet of water and some browns are being taken inside of 60 foot depths. A few browns have even been caught off the piers in Olcott on spoons. Fish could be just about anywhere. Ask Capt. Roger Young of Connecticut with Papa Smurf charters out of Wilson. In the Lake Ontario Counties Derby that ended last Sunday, Young reeled in the first place brown trout last weekend while trolling between Wilson and Olcott in 300 plus feet of water with a Silver Streak spoon. He had just lost a 30-plus pound salmon at the back of the boat due to some netting issues when his wire diver set back 130 feet went off. They thought they had another salmon. Instead, it turned out to be the first place brown trout at 21 pounds, four ounces. Top lake trout was also from Niagara, a 24 pound, 10 ounce fish reeled in by Bob Turton of Sanborn while fishing the Niagara Bar. Second place was Richard Barber of Niagara Falls with a Niagara Bar laker, just two ounces back. Both were caught on the final weekend of the derby. Stephanie Brace of Oswego held on to win the $10,000 Grand Prize by weighing in a 31 pound, 11 ounce fish while pre-fishing a tournament out of Sodus Bay. Top rainbow was reeled in by Mike Sabo of New Jersey, a 16 pound, 8 ounce trout caught during the Sodus Bay Pro-Am. Next LOC event is the fall derby August 15 to Sept. 1. Check out www.loc.org for details. Greater Niagara Fish Odyssey registrations are now on sale at registration outlets. The derby is August 16-24 and the website is www.fishodyssey.net.
Lower Niagara River – Capt. Lloyd Schrack of Niagara Falls reported some decent fishing last weekend for bass and sheepshead while targeting bass. Using a mix of live bait and Kwikfish lures, the managed to catch around 20 bass and at least that many sheepshead. After fishing the lower stretches of the river, a north wind sent them motoring up to Devil’s Hole and they proceeded to catch bass and sheepies. They did reel in a bonus muskellunge that stretched out at 42-inches long and released. It hit a Kwikfish. The Niagara River Anglers bass contest was held last Saturday and top angler was Brandon Walsh of Niagara Falls with 9.96 pounds for two fish. He didn’t have the biggest single bass though. Ron Mrzygut of Grand Island walked in with a 5.74 pound smallmouth for lunker prize and he ended up in second overall with a two fish weight of 9.8 pounds. They were all caught on the Niagara Bar using shiners, tube jigs and jigging spoons. The Independent Living Center of Niagara County will be holding its annual bass contest on Sunday, August 3. Walleye fishing is starting to pick up a little, too. Worm harnesses on the bar, but you can also catch some ‘eyes along drifts in the river like Stella, Artpark, Peggy’s Eddy and Johnson.
Upper Niagara River – Not too much changed from last week with decent bass fishing being reported around the river – in the West River near Navy Island and around Staley’s Reef; at the head of the river; and around Strawberry Island, as well as Motor Island. Musky action is also an option, especially working large tubes around weed edges like the Strawberry Island area. Live bait is working for shore fishermen around the traditional Buffalo-area spots like Broderick Park, the foot of Ferry and Ontario streets, and the Bird Island Pier. Finally, congratulations to Todd Wells of Medina who won the Grand Prize in the Erie Canal Derby after the awards ceremony drawing was held. He won a boat, motor and trailer.