Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Lake Ontario and tributaries
It’s derby time around Western New York and fish are trying to hide from anglers looking to cash in on the Greater Niagara Fish Odyssey Derby, as well as the Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby. According to Capt. Bob Cinelli of Newfane, there have been three distinct fish-catching lines out in the lake as of Tuesday – 90 to 130 feet of water for staging king salmon and the occasional brown or lake trout; the 25 to 27 GPS line out in the lake for a mixed bag of salmon and trout; and the 30 to 32 GPS line heading north with a focus on steelies and cohos, with the occasional king. Glenn Bird of Barker has been focusing inside of 100 feet in front of Olcott and picking up mature kings on cut bait and flashers – right on the bottom. His biggest king came by using 500 feet of copper in 90 feet of water. Speaking of cut bait, stop in to see Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors. She has the new N&D Brined Herring Strips that have been hot out on the lake. The Niagara Bar is hot and cold, seemingly predicated on wind direction. Capt. Matt Yablonsky of Youngstown did well over the weekend with eight nice kings with a northwest wind. When that wind switched, though, he was back to catching shakers. His tip of the week comes from customers who were not in the derby on Friday – reeling in a 32 pound salmon that would be leading all of the derbies right now. You have to be in it to win it! In the 39th Annual Fish Odyssey, the focus is on getting the kids out fishing. Entry into the derby is free for any young angler under 16 years of age and there are plenty of prizes going around – whether you catch a fish or not! Register at www.fishodyssey.net. Come great kid’s catches have already started coming to the scales … but there’s still room for improvement. Austin Peiffer of PA is leading the salmon division with a 21 pound fish AND the trout division with a 13 pound brown. Alyssa McGrath of Niagara Falls has the top bass at 3.5 pounds and her sister Abigail has the biggest panfish, a 12 ounce perch. Christjin Skilton of Lockport has the first place carp so far with a 12 pound fish. For the adults, Kim Hubert of Newfane has the biggest salmon so far, a 25 pound Olcott fish. Top lake trout is a 21 pound Niagara Bar fish taken by Steve Klejdys of North Tonawanda. Carp leader is Nick Dougherty of Lockport with a 32 pound upper Niagara River fish he caught while bass fishing. Kathy Muir has the top smallmouth, a 5.5 pound Lake Erie bass. Scott Ludwig of Niagara Falls is setting pace in the walleye division with a 12 pound Niagara Bar ‘eye and Paul Hovis of Ohio has the biggest rainbow – a 12 pound, 9 ounce steelhead. The contest runs to Sunday at 1 pm with the awards to follow in Newfane at 4 pm. The LOC Derby has some nice catches already, too. Leader for the $25,000 Grand Prize right now is a 30 pound, 5 ounce king salmon reeled in by Dylan Schroder of Earlville. Biggest rainbow is currently a 18.06 pound trout out of Oswego, caught by Chris Salvas of Mexico. Tom Wallace of Ohio is holding onto first in the brown trout division with a 14.6 pound fish caught aboard the Thrillseeker II in 100 feet of water in front of Olcott on a Dreamweaver spoon behind copper line.
Lower Niagara River
Some nice walleye have shown up on the leaderboard for the Fish Odyssey and the lower river is the destination of choice for a big one. Scott Ludwig of Niagara Falls is at the top of the heap with a 12 pounder caught on a worm harness. Two other fish over 11 pounds round out the top three – all on worm harnesses. As far at the bass fishing, it’s the same story all along – hot and cold with certain periods seeing an increase of fishing action when they feel like it. The only exception is when Lake Ontario sees a flip in water temperatures, forcing the bass into the warmer river waters. That happened last weekend and fishing was outstanding for bigger fish up to 5 pounds. However, that was short-lived once things turned back to normal in the lake. No word on the first salmon in the river yet, but salmon have started to stage in other areas.
Upper Niagara River
Bass fishing has been fair to good depending on who you talk to. One spot that was producing smallmouth was at the head of the river for Nick Dougherty of Lockport and Lyndon Hilts of Gasport. Tube jigs were being used with the hopes of keeping other fish off like sheepshead that didn’t count in the Odyssey. Of course, it didn’t keep a 32 pound carp from hitting Nick’s offering and he now leads the Carp Division of the Odyssey to the dismay of defending champion Karen Cinelli although she weighed in a 29 pounder on Wednesday). The head of Strawberry Island is still a good spot for bass and walleye, too. Worm harnesses work best, but you should be able to use something like Kwikfish off a three-way rig or live bait like shiners and crabs.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Oswego River/Lake Ontario report:
According to Larry Muroski of Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop:
The river flow has been under 2,000cfs for the last couple of days. This morning the flow is at 2,010cfs. Anglers are finding walleye with some nice ones being caught from the high wall. You will also find bass, sheepshead, catfish along the river. Baits of choice are crayfish and nightcrawlers. There are no salmon to report as yet.
Lake Ontario report:
According to Capt. Troy Creasy of High Adventure Sportfishing Charters:
We have had some crazy fishing and crazy weather. You put together a good catch one day, struggle the next. There seems to be a good number of fish around but being consistent each day has been the hardest part. We had another big blow early in the week so hopefully the mother load shows up soon.
According to Capt. Andy Bliss of Chasin’ Tail Adventures:
Tuesday was another rough day on the lake with the wind but the fish were biting!
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 along the top bar on the home page. The Oswego Fire Department offers loaner life jackets at no charge through its “Loaner For Life” program. For more information contact the fire station, 35 E. Cayuga St., at 315-343-2161.
Pulaski Area/Salmon River report
According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
The fishing on the lake has been tough this week. We have had cooler temperatures but the wind has been a factor. Anglers have found some nice salmon in 80-90 feet of water but they have worked for them. There are reports of a very few fish in the estuary.
Salmon River:
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
We had clouds off and on yesterday with a high temperature around 73 degrees. We had one fisherman early who hooked up with three salmon. We also had new employees on the river training today and six more salmon were spotted. One other fisherman that I spoke with caught and released a nice brown trout and a couple of smallmouth bass.
Oneida Lake
Conditions have not changed on Oneida Lake. There continues to be a few walleye taken in about 30-40 feet of water. Look for smallmouth bass along the shoals or where there is evidence of schooling bait fish in the deeper water. Tube jigs and stickbaits are working well.
Sandy Pond report
According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
There is no activity to report on the pond.
Fair Haven / Cayuga county
Captain Werner Stenger
Salmon River
Michael De Rosa – Zero Limit Adventures – Tailwater Lodge
It’s true, there are now a few more salmon now entering the Salmon River. Cooler evenings and precipitation have led to the start of the 2015 Fall Run. We have seen small numbers of fish from the lower stretches of the Douglaston Salmon Run all the way to entrance of the fish ladder at our hatchery. If you are willing to cover some ground and put in your time you are likely to spot some of these fresh early run salmon. Be ready and beef up your tippet, these early fish are full of explosive energy and will likely put up a ferocious battle. River flows remain in the area of 200 CFS and will not likely increase by much until the Labor Day release at which time we hope to see more fish enter the system.