Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Lake Ontario And Tributaries
Fishing for salmon and trout was on fire over the long holiday weekend, evidenced by the leaderboard of the Summer Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby for starters. John Van Hoff of North Tonawanda targeted the waters off Wilson in 100-plus feet of water and in two days of fishing had 60 releases!! He ended up catching 30-something salmon and some nice steelhead, including one that made it onto the board of the LOC Derby. It didn’t seem to matter what he threw at them as far as his spoon selection, or how he fished them – riggers, copper lines, dipsy divers. It was the best fishing he’s seen in years. And if you are going to be fishing in the lake, make sure you are in the derby. Ask Capt. Paul Czarnecki of Tri-State Charters, the featured speaker at the next Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Assn. meeting on July 14 in Lockport. He boated a 32 pound king over the weekend, but the customers failed to register for it. The current leader for the $10,000 check is still Tim Condes of Wilson with a 29 pound, 8 ounce king caught on a flasher with cut bait. First place in the Salmon Division is Cory Kyovsky of Branchview Heights, Ohio with a 29 pound, 2 ounce king out of Wilson. Second place is a 28 pound, 5 ounce king out of Olcott reeled in by Nicolas Curtiss of Overland Park, Kansas. It hit a Spin Doctor and Fly while fishing with Capt. Vince Pierleoni out of Olcott in 180 feet of water. He was also the top youth catcher for the salmon division so far at 15 years old. Top brown trout is out of Wilson, a 17 pound, 6 ounce fish caught by Thomas Gies of Ann Arbor, Michigan, caught on an Ice Shadow Moonshine spoon over 220 feet of water, 45 feet down on a rigger with Capt. Dan Evans of Wilson. Yes, out deep targeting salmon. Current lake trout leader is Bob Turton of Sanborn with a 23 pound, 7 ounce fish from the Niagara Bar. He was trolling a Kwikfish lure. First place steelhead is a 16 pound, 3 ounce fish hauled in by Francis Holly IV of Wilson while fishing out of his home port. Yes, all of the current leaders are off the shores of Niagara County! The derby continues through July 31 so there’s plenty of room for improvement and plenty of fish to catch! Go to loc.org for a complete leaderboard update.
Lower Niagara River
Moss is still a factor but it seems like things are slowly starting to subside. Lisa Drabczyk at Creek Road Bait and Tackle in Lewiston reports the better action has come around the Coast Guard station and the green can, but it’s been difficult. The slack water near the Fort Niagara launch ramps has produced a few bass, as well. A few walleye have been reported, too. Remember that the NRAA Bass Contest is July 23. Register at Creek Road Bait and Tackle in Lewiston or check out the website at niagarariveranglers.com for details.
Upper Niagara River-Erie Canal
Moss is still an issue but manageable. Hopefully things will be clear for the new bracket tournament being held from Grand Island to the Peace Bridge by Bassmasters July 19-22. Only 8 boats and no formal weigh in – everything is weighed on each boat live time. Watch next week’s Outdoor Beat with BASS writer Don Barone as he covers the circuit and the new tournament. It starts Wednesday (the show) at 4 pm. The big news is the 26th Annual Erie Canal Fishing Derby underway through July 17. While fish have been coming to the scales early on, there’s plenty of room for improvement. Big bass is a 2 pound fish caught by Albert Whaley of North Tonawanda; biggest pike so far is a 6.7 pound fish reeled in by Michael Boncore of Tonawanda; Amy Schultz has the top bullhead at .79 pounds; Ed Lane of Lockport is leading the catfish division with a 3.79 pound fish; first place carp is 14 pounds, caught by Richard Udell of Gasport; and the sheepshead leader is Jacob Velesko of Middleport with a 8.28 pound bomber. No walleye yet. Go to eriecanalderby.com.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Lake Ontario report
According to Capt. Troy Creasy of High Adventure Sportfishing Charters:
Yesterday was another beautiful day on the big pond. The morning trip we did pretty well; the afternoon trip we worked hard to land three decent ones. There is plenty of bait around even though we are hearing otherwise. I have seen several year classes as well. Spoons and flies are still the attention getters for High Adventure. Some fish are in the colder water but many are out of temperature chasing bait. Looks to be a good month if conditions hold.
Oswego River Report
The water level has not varied much over the last few days running between 800-1300cfs. This morning it is flowing at 1,070cfs. With this low flow fishing has been slow. Anglers are finding a few smallmouth bass and walleyes. Worms, minnows and stickbaits are suggested baits.
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:
Conditions got a little scrambled after the big blow we had last Friday. There is a good brown trout bite in 100 feet of water off the Salmon River and at Nine Mile Point. Anglers are finding a mixed bag with salmon and steelhead active along with the browns. Flies and flashers along with spoons are working well. Smallmouth bass are active in Mexico Bay in 28-40 feet of water with soft shell crabs, minnows and nightcrawlers getting their attention.
Salmon River report
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
There has not been much activity on the run over the last day or two. Earlier in the week we had reports of some smallmouth bass and brown trout action. The water temperature is in the 70s with the flow at 185cfs at the dam.
Oneida Lake Report
According to Bartel Road Bait & Tackle:
The walleye bite continues to be most active in the early morning in about 24-32 feet of water. Sonar and bladebaits are working well. Worm harnesses are also working in shallow depths of 15 feet. Anglers are reporting bass action using crafish or drop-shot plastic baits.
Sandy Pond report
According to Woody’s Tackle:
The pond is getting heavily weeded making it difficult to fish in most areas.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
Tim Thomas from Finders Keeper was trolling around LO water last week and here’s the scoop. This report pretty much tells the story. The summer kings are back in Wayne county waters.
Started the first day of the LOC today out of Sodus in hopes to put a fish on the board and we got the job done! Headed west out of the shoot at 6:00am and set down over 100 fow in front of Maxwell marking a few fish near the bottom. Ran a spread of 3 riggers (85/95/105) with mupped Stinger UV Diehards on the deep rigger, Stinger UV Black Tuxedos on the 95 ft rigger, and various spoons on the high rigger, and 4 wires varied from 220′-330′ on the bottom divers (1-setting) and 360-525′ on the upper divers (3 setting) pulling Rhys Davis meat rigs with N&D Sporting Goods strips and Spin Docs/A-Tom-Mik flies. Ended the day at 1pm when that front came ripping through! Finished the day 4 for 10+ (21 & 19 lb. kings, 10 lb. laker, and a 7 lb. steelhead), with quite a few rigger shots with nobody home and another decent king lost from a pulled hook. Both deeper riggers took shots on the UV Diehards and UV Tuxedos, wires with Mullato spin doc/silver meat rig and UV white/green dot spin doc/Hijacker fly also took multiple shots. Worked west almost to Hughes 115-200 fow with the 115-135 fow range being the best, and down speed ranging from 2.8-3.4.
Bays
Lots of largemouth bass action even with the holiday boat traffic. The early bird catches the worm. You should fish at first light and concentrate along the weedlines. Use spinner baits or weedless plastic lures.
Sodus is a very large bay so there are places to fish without all the boat traffic. Some smallmouths were caught near the channel which is good news.
Currently it is calm without the relentless winds, however tomorrow will start a summer heat wave. Get out early if you like bay fishing.
If you need to rent a boat they are available at Davenports, Bay Bridge Sport Shop, and Warren’s Hook, Line &Sinker at Sodus Point.
Check out our Facebook page for the latest catch in our Wayne County Youth Derby.
The event for the youngsters started June 11th and runs until July 24th. All the info is on the front of our county web page.
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 Widewaters parking lot was full with bass boat trailers. I counted about 24 trucks d the launch. It must have been a contest and the canal would be the perfect place to fish for bass. Wow…it has some monsters.
Salmon River
Michael De Rosa – Zero Limit Adventures – Tailwater Lodge
A period of hot, bright sunny days with temps in the mid to upper 80’s. Water flow has remained at 185 cfs, the minimum flow for this season. This has resulted in an update from the NYS DEC:
“Due to low water levels in the Salmon River Reservoir and the extended dry weather, this weekend’s (July 9-10) whitewater release on the Salmon River has been cancelled.
Brookfield Renewable will be monitoring water levels for the next whitewater release scheduled for July 23-24. For water levels on the Salmon River, please visit h2oline.com with Salmon River site code 365123.
There are still Smallmouth Bass throughout the river and Brown trout from earlier stocking a Douglaston Salmon Run, 2A Bridge and Pineville. The Upper (Redfield) Reservoir continues to fish well for Bass, Walleyes and Panfish.