Upstate New York Fishing Report for September 10, 2015

Greater Niagara Region

Bill Hilts, Jr.

Lake Ontario And Tributaries

Fall fishing action is slowly starting to transition into its normal patterns as salmon make their way closer to the shoreline and stage off the creek mouths and river mouths – tributaries that they think are home. Trolling the shoreline in front of Wilson and Olcott was a given as a normal pattern inside of 100 feet, but when the lake rolled over going into last weekend after a northeast blow, fish scattered and you needed to head out to deeper waters to find more stable conditions. That helped some of the winners in the Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby that ended on Labor Day. In fact, the big day of change was Sunday when every single divisional leader was replaced with bigger fish. Capt. Matt Yablonsky was out earlier this week and found the ice water had turned to bath water on Tuesday, 65 degrees down 80-90 feet over 100 foot depths in front of Olcott. Slowly cooler water was replacing the warmer water and by the end of the they ended up boating three mature kings, a mix of steelhead and a few other fish. He caught fish on spoons and flasher-fly set-ups. J-plugs and cut bait rigs will also work for you if you are targeting staging kings on the inside. Over on the Niagara Bar, fishing action had been very good for staging kings. Yablonsky found cool water down 40 feet on the ledge, from the red can to the green can, before the lake flipped over. Trolling the outside of the ledge is a good spot for staging fish with all of the baits mentions, but some of those fish are already starting their river run. Some kings are being reported off the piers at Olcott at night and early morning, but the best is yet to come. Glenn Bird of Barker was leading the Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby for over a week with a 30 pound, 11 ounce salmon that he caught west of Wilson. When the lake rolled over from a northeast wind over Labor Day weekend, he thought he had it – the $25,000 Grand Prize. That’s when fate stepped in and allowed Ken Ruszklewicz of Mexico, NY to reel in a fish one pound better on Sunday Sept. 6 to take the top prize and push the Angry Bird into first place in the salmon division. For Bird, he still ended up with a check for $5500, plus $500 from the Fish Odyssey and $700 from LOTSA for the largest salmon caught by a LOTSA member (and witnessed by a LOTSA member) – so it wasn’t too bad. Second place salmon also came from Niagara County, a 30 pound, 8 ounce fish caught by Chris Veitch of PA while fishing the Niagara Bar. First place in the Rainbow/Steelhead division was also reeled in off the shores of Niagara County, an 18 pound, 15 ounce fish caught by James Nowakowski of East Aurora while fishing off Olcott with Capt. Matt Yablonsky of Youngstown. In the brown trout division, there was a complete change of the top three the final two days, leaving previous leaders Karen Cinelli of Newfane and Thomas Wallace of Ohio in 4th and 5th place respectively with their Niagara County fish after combining to lead for over two weeks. The winner of the $2.700 check was Dave Maliszesky of West Henrietta with a 15 pound, 4 ounce fish caught the final Sunday off Hamlin Beach.

Lower Niagara River

A Lake Ontario roll-over usually means good bass fishing at the mouth of the river and many fishermen are normally in tune with that scenario. In the river itself, fishing action for bass continues to be hot and cold. Tube jigs and live bait are the two best attractions for fish to hit according to Capt. Frank Campbell. Best bass areas have been from the clay banks to the mouth around the green can. Walleye are still available in the lower section from Stella down to the Coast Guard, as well as around the green can. Worm harnesses top the list of best baits. As far as salmon, there have been a few more reports of kings off the fishing platform, especially in the corner near the No. 1 generator. One individual claimed hooking up with three in one platform visit. The countdown is starting for the NYPA Wildlife Festival, set for Sept. 26-27 at the Visitors Center in Lewiston. There will be a kids fishing contest again this year.

Upper Niagara River

Bass fishing continues to be the most consistent offering for anglers, around Strawberry Island, at the head of the river and in the west river. A word of caution if you are fishing in Canadian waters – be it the Emerald Channel near the head of the river, Thompson’s Hole, Staley’s Reef or around Navy Island to name but a few favorite bass spots: make sure you don’t have any shiners, crabs or leeches on board. In addition, if you have worms, make sure they are not in dirt. Law enforcement from Canada has been writing tickets for this infraction. Some walleye are being taken in the hole in front of Strawberry Island. Shore fishermen are picking up a few fish around Ontario Street and at Broderick Park. The Greater Niagara Frontier Fishing and Hunting Show is Sept. 19-20 at the North Bailey Fire Hall in Amherst.

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 up and down over the last few days. This afternoon it is running at 1,810cfs. There still are no salmon in the river. An angler reported there are a good number of walleye up between the Post Office and Bridie Manor. Bass, sheepshead and catfish can be found along the river with crayfish and nightcrawlers working well.

Lake Ontario report:

According to Capt. Mike Conroy of Proteus Fishing Charters:
The salmon season continues in Oswego but it has been a great challenge. Not much rain, a lake surface temperature of 76 degrees and the river temperature has made our King salmon very stubborn and unpredictable. The best action has been early morning and late afternoon from the five stacks east to Bayshore, the staging area for Oswego salmon. Tuesday the best action for me was 45-55 down over 55-75 feet of water using UV echips, cutbait and chartreuse chips with glow A-Tom-Mik flies. Try to stay away from boats and don’t worry about temperature as the fish are thinking spawning and will come out of warm water this time of year.

According to Capt. Andy Bliss of Chasin’ Tail Adventures:
Fishing remains inconsistent. We’ve had a few really good trips but a few tough ones. Fish were in close in 55-80 feet of water but the temperature has been driven down by yesterday’s west winds so start your search a little deeper. Flasher/fly combos have been working better as of late. White green dots with hammers, b fly and TG,
white mountain dew/ b fly glo or glo hammer, hammertime/b fly and red/green flies have all been good.

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

The lake fishing has been inconsistent but there have been some taken in 60-80 feet of water off the Salmon River. Yesterday the stretch of hot, humid weather broke with rain and a good west wind. We will have to see how things set up over the next couple of days with cooler temperatures and a little rain in the forecast for the weekend.

Salmon River:
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
A fish here and a fish there has been the message this week. Lower water levels didn’t have the result we were hoping for and earlier this week the bright sunny skies and warm water temperatures continued. However, yesterday brought some rain and a drop in temperature with the high in the 70s today. There is also some rain in the forecast so hopefully this will help move some fish into the river.

Oneida Lake

The hot, humid weather continued earlier this week as did the slow bite. A cold front pushing through yesterday broke the 90 degree temperatures with 70s in the forecast for the next several days. Anglers are finding a few walleye mainly in the 30 foot water range and some smallmouth bass. There is an abundance of gizzard shad which may be affecting the bite. Suggested baits are tube jigs and stickbaits.

Sandy Pond report

According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
There is no activity to report on the pond.