Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Lake Ontario and tributaries
Fishing for salmon and trout continues to be consistent for anglers in the know, with most of the salmon action taking place in 200 to 400 feet of water with either spoons or flasher-fly according to Capt. Bob Cinelli of Newfane. Ci nelli has been using mostly a spoon program in the top 100 feet of water, looking for pods of bait with active fish around it. Some bigger kings are available, evidenced by the 26 pounder taken by Capt. Tim Sylvester of North Tonawanda while fishing out of Olcott. He was using a flasher-fly. Of course, he wasn’t in the Orleans County Derby. An occasional big king is coming around the 100 foot mark, too. Good numbers of steelhead are being reported, as well. Head out to the 26 bar in the lake and head north. Spoons are the way to go for steelies. The Orleans County Rotary Derby completed its first weekend of action with only a handful of fish on the board. At the time, Grand Prize leader was Mark Cippel of Ford City, Pennsylvania with a 23 pound four ounce king salmon caught out of Point Breeze. There are only three lake trout, one salmon and one brown trout on the board, with the steelhead division wide open. In Niagara County, you can weigh your fish in at the Slippery Sinker. The derby continues through August 16. For future events, the Fall LOC derby is August 21 to Sept. 7 and the Greater Niagara Fall Classic Derby is August 22-30. The LOC Derby Newspaper should be out the end of next week and the website for the Fish Odyssey is now taking registrations at www.fishodyssey.net. Tip of the week comes from Taz Morrison of Appleton who has been focusing on making sure he doesn’t lose any Shark downrigger weights with temperature probe attached – especially one of the chrome-colored weights. Be careful when you are cleaning up sea fleas and, if you do lose a weight, make sure the clincher is attached properly to the wire so that it doesn’t come off….with a second probe and weight!
Lower Niagara River
Action for walleye and bass has been spotty at best. Walleye fishermen have been doing okay in the river, especially at the mouth near the Fort and the green buoy marker, as well as along the Stella Niagara drift. Worm harnesses are the bait of choice. In the Cystic Fibrosis Lower River Challenge, Capt. Mark McGranahan led the winning Kenworth team consisting of Mark Schleuter, Tony DeMarco, Nick Manguso and Fred Saia to the lunkerland trophy for the Monday afternoon-Tuesday morning outing for Cystic Fibrosis. They combined bass from the river with salmon from Lake Ontario to win the prize and nip Washington Mills for the prize. We’ll have more for you next week.
Upper Niagara River
Bass action has been decent the past week when the weather was cooperating. Live bait like crayfish and shiners were taking fish. Be forewarned that live bait purchase in the U.S. are illegal in Canadian waters – even if that bait was certified or dipped from Canadian waters. It is also illegal to dip bait from Canadian waters if you are a nonresident to the country. Some walleye and bass are being taken in the Emerald Channel at the head of the river. Also try around the head of Strawberry Island. A few musky are hitting large tubes around weed edges. In the Erie Canal, kids should head over to Widewaters Marina in Lockport at 8 am on Saturday, August 8 for a kids fishing derby. Moose Lodge #67 will be taking over for the White family this year. Call Mark West at 940-1244 for details.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Oswego River/Lake Ontario report:
According to Larry Muroski of Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop:
The river level has been running below 2,000cfs for the last couple of days. This afternoon it is flowing at 1,930cfs. The activity in the river remains about the same. The dam is producing smallmouth bass, sheepshead and panfish. Worms, crayfish and minnows are working well. The area near the powerhouse continues to see activity with walleye, sheepshead, smallmouth, catfish and rockbass. Minnows, crayfish, worms and leeches are suggested baits.
Lake Ontario report:
According to Capt. Mike Conroy of Proteus Fishing Charters:
We did have some wind and rough water over the last couple of days. Prior to that the salmon fishing has been in full gear in Oswego, weather permitting. Good catches of both mature and immature King Salmon were taken from west Nine Mile all the way east to the nuclear power plants. Fish were being taken in and out of temperature from 80-120 feet down over 230-330 feet of water on stingray stingers and flashers, flies as well as paddles and cut bait. Wicked current from west to east made temperature and down speed critical and constant changes in different items depending on light conditions. As conditions settle down today we will have to see how things set up.
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 Reports along the top of the page. The Oswego Fire Department offers loaner life jackets at no charge through its ìLoaner For Lifeî 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:
With yesterdayís blow it is likely you will find the salmon in deeper water for a bit. There has been some good action and we expect that to continue. The salmon bite in Mexico Bay has not reached its full activity as yet. Look for more action west of Nine Mile Point. Lake trout are active in 150 feet of water north of Port Ontario and there has been a good bass bite in 20 feet of water off Mexico Point and Catfish Creek.
Salmon River:
The water is continuing to run at 185cfs. Activity is fairly quiet on the river at this time of year however a few brown trout have been caught.
Oneida Lake
Conditions are about the same on Oneida Lake. We have had some cooler temperatures and wind which may drop the water temperature and spark some more activity. Anglers are finding a few walleye in the 30-40 foot water depth. Worm harnesses and jigs tipped with nightcrawlers are suggested bait. Look for smallmouth bass near the shoals with crankbaits and tube jigs.
Sandy Pond report
According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
The warm temperatures have produced some thick weed growth and as usual for this time of year there is not much activity on the pond.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
There is some fantastic fishing for the kings in Wayne county waters. The August turn-on has begun. After a few slow weeks the bite is sound.
Charters are catching 20 to 25 pound kings and they are in deep water. Some guys are setting up in 400 fow and trolling back …straight out from Sodus Bay.
The fish are hitting flasher flies and cut bait. The meat rigs have been the preferred bait.
Some steelhead are also coming deep 40 down over 300 feet.
Fishing has been hot from early morning until sunset with some Sodus Bay charters running double trips in August.
Bays
The bass tournaments have been producing plenty of largemouths in Sodus and Port Bays. They are catching the bass along the weedlines everywhere in Sodus. Use power baits and fish the thick mats of weeds.
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.
The Wayne County Youth Derby awards were Sunday, August 2nd and a nice crowd of 60 people enjoyed the festivities. We had 75 youths signed-up for the 2015 event…the same exact number as last year.
Erie Canal
Cats and largemouth bass have been the popular catch in the canal. The bass have been hitting in the Widewaters while catfish are everywhere. The waters are always calm which makes it a safe waterway to take the youngsters fishing.
Salmon River
Michael De Rosa – Zero Limit Adventures – Tailwater Lodge
Fishing this week on the Salmon River has offered anglers a few resident brown trout in the Pineville area and the Douglaston Salmon Run is producing plenty of action with the browns in their stretch of the river. There are still plenty decent small mouth bass in the system as well.
If fishing for the elusive Atlantic salmon is in your blood then get out there before they return to the lake. Focus your energy up high in the river, the upper fly zone is always a great place to swing some flies and take in the beauty and tranquility.
The final scheduled water release for the season will be on Labor Day weekend so we should see consistent flows this week!