Pictured above: Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls caught numerous smallmouth bass last week tossing white and yellow jigs on the NYPA Reservoir
Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Just a quick reminder on water levels: There is still a state of emergency along the Lake Ontario shoreline for high water levels. This isn’t really going to affect the fishing that much, but the Niagara County Sheriff is asking that boats creating a wake stay at least 500 feet from shore. This doesn’t include trolling. Caution is advised for floating debris when you are out in the lake moving around. The problem seems to be launching. The best spot to be right now is the Town of Newfane Marina in Olcott. Fort Niagara has an open launch but you need boots up to your knees or above. Golden Hill State Park launch is closed and Wilson-Tuscarora Park is day to day (but you need hip books for sure). The Spring LOC Derby (www.loc.org) is entering into its final weekend and it’s still not too late to enter. The current Grand Prize leader for the $15,000 check is now Paul Nienaltowski of Michigan with a 27 pound, 8 ounce king out of Wilson. No sharing of information there – too many fishing contests coming up. First place in the Salmon Division is a 25 pound 5 ounce king out of Wilson, reeled in by Lee Beaton of Clifton Springs. Big brown trout at 16 pounds, 12 ounces is out of Olcott – weighed in by Dave Rafle of Pennsylvania. Top lake trout is also out of Niagara County, a 22 pound 10 ounce from the Niagara Bar – reeled in by Brian Marketich of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Most of the salmon seem to be in 80 to 120 feet of water. Water color is a factor and you may have to go deeper. Most of the fish are coming on spoons, but flasher-fly and cut bait rigs are also working according to Wes Walker at The Slippery Sinker in Olcott. The Wilson Harbor Invitational Tournament is Saturday. The Don Johannes and Pete DeAngelo big fish-three fish contest is May 18 – sign up at any of the LOC Derby weigh stations in Wilson and Olcott. The Lake Ontario Pro-Am Tourney is May 19-21 – sign up at www.lakeontarioproam.net. The deadline is May 15 at 5 p.m. Good luck to all you derby fishermen and women.
Lower Niagara River
fishing action picked back up again in Devil’s Hole earlier this week- the place with the cleanest water. In Devil’s Hole, boaters were using minnows to take trout off three-way rigs. Some had double-digit days. The high water levels in the river have not had a huge impact on the area fishing … so far. The problem has been with water clarity. It is slowly clearing up downriver. However, a recent report from the New York Power Authority stated that the fishing platform was closed down again on Monday due to high water levels. It remained closed until water levels receded. Before you head down fishing there, you might want to call 796-0135 Ext. 45 to see if it’s open. Steelhead, lake trout, smallmouth bass and silver bass can still be caught off the shoreline in Devil’s Hole. White and silver jigs were working for Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls earlier in the week when he caught lake trout and silver bass. Young 13 year old Gianni Etopio of Youngstown hooked into a big largemouth bass this week while fishing for perch off Lewiston Landing. Nice catch! In the Upper River, Parker Cinelli of Grand Island hit a monster smallmouth from shore on a tube jig this week that stretched over 21 inches long.
If you want to learn more about the fishing in Lake Ontario, you’ll want to attend the next LOTSA meeting May 11 in Lockport starting at 7 p.m. They will be holding a round table session with their members. The Lewiston smelt festival is set for May 5. Cooking starts at 5 p.m. For more details on that, go to the niagarariverregion.com.
Mike Crawford of upstateguideservice.com
Photo provided by Upstate Guide Services
The rain and ensuing high water continued to plague much of the Eastern Finger Lakes and Central New York region this past week. Area lakes were high and turbid and while fishing has been very good for casters and trollers, it will get better as the turbidity decreases. most of Trout streams were high and off-colored making fly fishing challenging, but providing good angling for spin casters and bait fishing. The opener of pike season found anglers struggling with high and turbid conditions on Oneida Lake but excellent catches of walleye were reported. Walleye fishing will only get better in the days ahead. Oneida Lake is the King of Walleye lakes in Upstate New York and offers excellent fishing for these delicious fish. Navigating Oneida Lake anytime of the year can be difficult. The extreme high water of late finds floating debris to be an added danger. Several licensed captains operate safe and successful guide services on Oneida Lake.
As water temperature climbs in the lakes and ponds to the north the trout fishing is excellent and native Adirondack Brook Trout have my attention this week.
For more information about Backcountry Brook Trout fishing in Upstate New York please visit my blog at http://upstateguideservice.com/2017/05/10/backcountry-brook-trout/
While many anglers stayed away from the Salmon River this week, thinking flows to be high and difficult, Robin Sheltra of Strike Zone Charters https://www.strikezonefishing.com/ guided Scott from California to not one but 10 steelhead this past Wednesday.
Job well done Scott and Robin!
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Oswego River Report
The water flow in the river has been around 20,000cfs for the last several days. This morning it is flowing at 19,900cfs. With the high water level there is not much activity to report from the river.
Lake Ontario report:
According to Capt. Kevin Davis of Catch the Drift:
When the wind has allowed us on the lake this week the fishing has been Excellent with a capital E. We even captured the first king of the season which looked awesome for early spring. A couple of mornings we had trouble getting all the rods out – it was that good. There are plenty of browns and some large lakers.
According to Capt. Andy Bliss of Chasin’ Tail Adventures:
Tuesday was a first for me. We landed every trout and salmon species that swims Lake Ontario – Atlantic, brown, laker, king, coho, rainbow and steelhead. Fishing is on fire right now.
*Notice: The Spring LOC Derby will run until May 14. Just a couple of things with regard to the high water levels. Please note that all of the weigh stations and registration locations are open. Please be careful as there is the possibility you may encounter floating debris in the lake. There is a 5 mph speed limit in the bays and there is a no wake order within 500′ of shore. This does not affect trolling along the shoreline.
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 and Salmon River report:
According to Fat Nancy’s Tackle Shop:
The brown trout fishing is heating up with the best bite coming from Catfish Creek to the high rocks in 10-25 feet of water. Successful lures have been Michigan Stinger diehard and pickleseed off the downrigger back 50 feet, down eight feet. Bay Rat and Smithwick lures off the boards have also been working well.
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
Yesterday guests reported a fish here and a fish there. A few fresh young steelies were caught along with a few mature drop backs. A handful of bass and a carp were also reported. Most fish were caught on swung flies but a few were taken on beads, jigs, and spinners. Anglers also reported a very strong hatch of blue quills in the afternoon along with a few hendricksons. There are still stealhead spread throughout the river system so we expect to see drop backs for a while if the water temperature stays good. The water flow is running at 750cfs.
Notice: The Salmon River Fish Hatchery building continues to be closed due to construction. The grounds, including picnic area and fish ladder, are still open dawn to dusk. We anticipate construction to be finished early summer. If you are planning a visit, we suggest calling the Salmon River Fish Hatchery in advance. You can reach the hatchery at 315-298-5051, Monday through Friday 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM.
Oneida Lake Report:
Just a reminder that walleye season is open. Anglers are reporting a yellow perch bite on minnows and a few bullhead are being reported. Anglers are also taking advantage of the catch and release bass season and seeing some action. Use caution when boating as there will likely be debris in the water with the high water level.
Sandy Pond report:
There is some activity taking place on the pond. Anglers are finding a good perch bite and some crappies. Walleye season opened on Saturday.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
The 2017 LOC Derby continues and will run through May 14th with the awards ceremony at Captain Jack’s Tavern, Sodus Point. Check out the leaderboard during the action loc.org
High water is obviously an issue, however the awards for LOC has been confirmed for this Sunday at Sodus Point.
The launch site at Margaretta Road on Route 14 is open for anglers who want to fish the LOC Derby.
The lake fishing has been great. The one good thing (only one) about high lake water is the creation of mudlines along the shoreline. Browns love to hide in stained water.
Charter boats are concentrating straight out from Sodus Bay, fishing 8 feet of water in the morning and then slipping-out to 140-160 for steelies and lakers.
Most charters are using planer boards, wire and riggers to capture the fish. Black and silver are the colors.
Because of the high-water situation, the speed on the bays is idle. It’s a Wayne County Emergency condition. There is no restriction on Lake Ontario.
Both the north and south DEC ramps at Port Bay are open. Again, the speed limit on all bays is idle.
Bays
Again, high water is the topic of the day. There are still a few launch sites available for the bay anglers. Once on the water, try trolling for pike near LeRoy using spinnerbaits. Or set-up using pike minnows.
Bay Bridge Sport Shop is also open for bait and tackle. They are on the south side of Sodus 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.
Erie Canal
Fishing the canal in the spring will put some nice crappies in the box. You can try your luck along the shoreline parallel to Route 31, or launch at Widewaters. Use caution because of the current, as the historic waterways has been affected by the wet spring.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism
The weather for the rest of this week seems to be cooler temperatures and just a slight chance of rain through the weekend.
Temperatures should rebound into the 60s next week which indicates more favorable winds and plenty of sunshine, that’s the big orange globe in the sky during the daytime.
High water conditions still exist but when boats do get out on Lake Ontario they are picking up a good mixed bag of fish.
With the Spring LOC Derby in full swing a big surprise is that there are only 4 Chinook salmon on the leader board to date and all of them are from the west end of the lake.
Brown trout and lake trout catches are spread out across the lake and Walleye catches remain mainly on the east end of the lake.
With 4 days still left in the derby, there’s still plenty of time to get your name on the leader board and some cash in your pocket.
On Lake Alice, water levels have dropped somewhat and water clarity is slowly improving.
Bullhead, Bass, Crappie and Bluegill are all being caught but not in any great numbers yet.
On the lower stretches of the “Oak” steelhead and an occasional brown trout are being taken and with the cooler temperatures for the rest of this week, this trend should continue.
Watering of the Erie Canal seems to be on hold awaiting some repairs on a section just west of Albion.