Upstate New York Fishing Report for July 28, 2016

Greater Niagara Region

Bill Hilts, Jr.

Lake Ontario And Tributaries

Salmon and trout action continues to be very for trollers and Karen Evarts at the Boat Doctors in Olcott reports limit catches by many of the charter captains. One in particular was Capt. Jim Gordon of the Hawg who has been doing excellent on a mix of kings and steelies anywhere from 100 to 400 feet of water, depending on the day and the winds. Sometimes he will fish a little bit west (as far as the red barn); sometimes a little bit east. Using a Hog Wild spin doctor and a Dreamweaver (DW) Kryptonite (green and gold) fly, he’ll run those set-ups off this divers 170 to 180 feet back on a No. 1.5 setting for salmon. N and D Cutbait (AKA The Good Stuff) has also been working like dynamite. For steelhead, he’ll run the divers 100 to 150 feet back on a No. 3.5 setting with his best bait being a DW super slim “spook” spoon in black-white-silver. For his riggers, the spooks are working there, too, set down 50-60-70 feet. Fishing has been the best he’s seen in years. A little closer to the Niagara River, John Van Hoff of North Tonawanda had another banner weekend targeting kings. Saturday it was between 4 Mile and 6 Mile in 120 to 140 feet of water, 50 to 80 feet down using DW cut bait and DW Twinkie rigs. They only ran four rods. Sunday it was 200 feet of water from 4 Mile to the Red Can on the Niagara Bar. The LOC Derby ends at 1 pm on July 31. Where are you Niagara lake trout guys? There was a 32 pound salmon caught in Sodus last weekend that would have taken over the Grand Prize … not everyone on the boat was registered!! Check out the leaderboard at loc.org.

Lower Niagara River

Bass and walleye are starting to pick up. No results on the NRAA bass contest but we did hear from Lisa Drabczyk at Creek Road Bait and Tackle that there’s been some action around the fort and the green can. In addition, Yellow Sally rigs turned a few mid-sized walleye at the Stella drift this week so that aspect of the fishery is starting up. The Whirlpool Stairs are open again for gorge trekkers. Get down there and catch some bass from shore on spoons and spinners. The 11th Annual Bass Fishing Derby to benefit Independent Living of Niagara County is August 7 at Fort Niagara. Call 284-4131 Ext. 146 for more info. The 40th Annual Greater Niagara Fish Odyssey Derby is slated for August 20-28 this year and the prize structure has been increased to honor the four decades of derbies. Go to fishodyssey.net. Registration page is live and registrations are at most of the outlets.

Upper Niagara River-Erie Canal

Best action has been for sheepshead and silver bass around Ontario and Ferry Streets from shore. Smallmouth bass can be caught with regularity from boats. There is a restricted area off Strawberry Island on the inside due to nesting bald eagles. In the Bassmaster Bracket Tournament held on the upper Niagara River last week, it was the legend – Kevin Van Dam of Michigan – winning his 23rd Bassmaster contest in the unique catch-weigh-release live time event. In the finals against Brett Hite of Arizona, a change in the rules saw the two bass catchers try to reel in as many fish as they possibly could in the time allotted. In the end, Van Dam hauled in 11 fish for a total weight of 20 pounds, 3 ounces. Hite tipped the scales with 13 pounds, 9 ounces on seven bass. KVD’s main baits were Strike King tubes, drop shot rigs and jerk baits. There was a little controversy going on when KVD caught a fish out of the boundaries, but that fish was disqualified. In the Erie Canal Fishing Derby, it was John Justice of North Tonawanda winning the boat, motor and trailer in the special drawing of winners at the Gasport Fire Hall last Sunday. Justice earned the right to be in the drawing by catching a 3.8 pound bass. Other first place winners were Shawn West of Lockport with a 3-1/2 pound walleye; Albert Whaley of North Tonawanda with a 7.9 pound pike; Joe Cwiklinksi of Depew with a 2.9 pound bullhead; Patty Young of Kent with a 9.8 pound catfish; Craig Udell of Gasport with a 20 pound carp; and Ron Robel of Wheatfield with a 8.4 pound sheepshead. In the youth division, Kyler Nowak of Lockport won the Grand Prize bike. He caught the top walleye at 1-1/4 pounds. Other junior division winners were Jakob Bensiger of North Carolina with a 3.1 pound bass; Tim Hughes of Amherst with a 4.9 pound pike; Emma Hermam of Medina with a 1-1/2 pound bullhead; Cassandra Sanney of Lockport with a 5.6 pound catfish; Ava Udell of Gasport with a 17-1/2 pound carp; and Colby Lawrence of Sanborn with a 3.3 pound sheepshead. The Third Annual End of Summer Free Kids Fishing Derby is set for Wide Waters Marina in Lockport on August 13 from 10 am to 2 pm. Awards to follow at 2:30 pm.

Oswego County

Mary Ellen Barbeau

Lake Ontario report

According to Capt. Kevin Davis of Catch the Drift:
Earlier in the week we had a wide variety of fish and sizes around. Four Atlantic salmon in two trips, that never happens. Kings of all sizes with the mother load of skippies. Looks awesome for the next couple years.

According to Capt. Andy Bliss of Chasin’ Tail Adventures:
Fishing has been tougher after the latest blow. Salmon are spread out between 130-400+ feet of water. ATOMMIK flies and cut bait rigs have been the best. Whites and greens in the morning and chromes when the sun comes out are the suggested color choices.

Oswego River Report

The water level has not varied much over the last few days running between 800-1400cfs. This morning the flow is 1,080cfs. Anglers are finding a few walleye, catfish and smallmouth bass. Stickbaits, cut bait and nightcrawlers are working well.

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 brown trout bite has been good off the high rocks in 90-100 feet of water. Kings are active in 250-300 feet of water off Nine Mile Point and areas out off Oswego. Spoons are working well for the trout and flies/flashers are taking the salmon.

Salmon River report

According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
Two anglers fished the run earlier this week and were able to bring a few smallmouth bass to hand. The size has clearly diminished suggesting that most of the larger fish have made their way back to the lake. One angler yesterday caught 12 smallmouth bass on “Gulp” minnows with one being a nice 15 inches. The river flow remains 185cfs at the dam.

Oneida Lake Report

The walleye bite remains tough with the abundance of May flies, gobies and gizzard shad ruining their appetite for bait. Anglers are finding a few in 20-25 feet of water on blade baits with stickbaits working out a bit deeper. Bass are being taken along the weed beds and around the shoals with drop shot rigs and live bait.

Sandy Pond report

According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
The pond is heavily weeded with little fishing taking place.

Wayne County Fishing Update

Chris Kenyon

Lake Ontario

-Remember if you are fishing the LOC Derby…make sure everyone on board is registered. A nice 32 king was in the money; however, everyone wasn’t signed-up. Don’t let this happen to you.

Lately, the kings have been hitting in 175 to 200 feet of water down 70 to 80. That of course changes with the wind blowing water temps around.

Most of the advice coming from the anglers that are on the water is to vary your speed, understanding the currents that create havoc underneath the surface. Kings have been hitting meat, spoons and flies. Green and silver spin doctors are working with the flies.

They have been catching mature kings straight out from Hughes’ Marina and Sodus Bay.
Find the bait or the big hooks and vary what you throw at them.

Bays

The Wayne County Youth Derby has ended and the awards are this Sunday, July 31st at the Sodus Point fire hall. The fun starts at 11 am.
The LOC Summer Derby awards will be the same day at Captain Jack’s Tavern. It’s open to the public so if you want to see $10,000 given to a lucky angler stop down at the Point.… that action starts at 4 pm.

Largemouth bass are coming from Sodus and Port Bays. Just fish the weedlines and uses any artificial bait.
They are also catching a few crappies at the south end of Port Bay.

Check out the rest of the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops. 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 waters have produced a bunch of cat fish near Palmyra. You can launch at Clyde, Lyons and Newark or fish from the shore. There have been many local bass fishing contests from the Widewaters in Newark.

Orleans County

Orleans County Tourism
There are only a few more days until the end of the Summer LOC Derby this Sunday, but still enough time to enter and win one of the great cash prizes that are up for grabs.

Next up will be the Orleans County Rotary Derby running from August 6th to the 26th this year.

On Lake Ontario the storms of earlier this week have shaken things up just a bit.

Cold water moved to the inside waters causing fish to move out as far as the 30 line.

Not sure just how long it will take for conditions to return to more normal, but I suspect it won’t be too long.

Even with all of that some great catches are being reported from those outside waters.

On Lake Alice the Crappie bite seems to have slowed a bit fishing from the bridges but the bass bit is as heavy as ever.

There is still an occasional Walleye being caught but not with any consistency.

As always the Erie Canal provides a broad spectrum of fish species for all to enjoy, offering a great place to enjoy all that the canal has to offer.

Salmon River

Michael De Rosa – Zero Limit Adventures – Tailwater Lodge
Very hot and very dry weather continues. The Tug Hill Plateau had a less than normal snow fall, a dry spring and July’s rain has been less than one-half normal. We did have a spate of rain for a couple of hours on the 25th but NOT enough to have any effect on the fishery! Water flow has remained at 185 cfs, the minimum flow for this season.

There are still Smallmouth Bass throughout the river but the larger bass have worked their way back to Lake Ontario. There are continues to be good evening hatches and there are numbers of parr steelhead and landlock salmon working back to the lake.

The Upper (Redfield) Reservoir continues to fish well for Bass, Walleyes and Panfish and is experiencing very little pressure.

Keep an eye on the weather reports as a significant rain event will bring Landlocked Salmon into the river.

The Tug Hill Fishing Club continues to produce quality fish for our guests to enjoy during these warmer summer months. Evenings have been fishing the best with a much better top water bite.

Monday evenings in August the Tailwater Lodge and Zero Limit Adventures offers free casting instruction to beginners, please feel free to stop out and try your hand at casting a flyrod if you don’t have one we have plenty to share. We meet under the awning at the lodge at 6:30 PM.