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 on 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). In the LOC Derby that ended last Sunday, the Grand Prize winner for the $15,000 check was Paul Nienaltowski of Michigan with a 27 pound, 8-ounce king out of Wilson while fishing the Niagara Bar. He was using a Diabolical meat rig. First place in the Salmon Division was a 25 pound 5-ounce king out of Wilson, reeled in by Lee Beaton of Clifton Springs. Big brown trout was a 16 pounds, 12-ounce fish out of Olcott – weighed in by Dave Rafle of Pennsylvania. Top lake trout was also out of Niagara County, a 22 pound 10 ounce from the Niagara Bar – reeled in by Brian Marketich of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Water color is still 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. Congrats to Tom Allen and his A-Tom-Mik team for winning the Wilson Harbor Invitational Tournament last Saturday. They caught six fish – the tournament limit – to record the top score among 46 boats total. One of his hot baits was a new A-Tom-Mik meat rig. The Don Johannes and Pete DeAngelo memorial big fish-three fish contest was held today in the high winds. The wind kept some teams away for sure. The winner was Big Cat led by Greg Catrabone with a big fish of 20.04 pounds and a three fish total of 85.74 based on 10 points per fish and a point per pound. No details were revealed because tomorrow is the next contest. The Lake Ontario Pro-Am Tourney is May 19-21. We’ll have a full report next week. Good luck to all you tournament fishermen and women.
Lower Niagara River
fishing action is still good in Devil’s Hole where boaters were using minnows and egg sacs to take trout off three-way rigs. Steelhead, lake trout, silver bass and smallmouth bass are still all being caught from boat and shore. The New York Power Authority stated that the fishing platform was closed down again on Monday due to high water levels. It will remain closed until water levels recede. Before you head down fishing there, you might want to call 796-0135 Ext. 45 to see if it’s open. Yellow and silver jigs were working for Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls earlier in the week when he caught 30 silver bass, 6 smallmouth and a laker. No problems at the Lewiston launch ramp but Fort Niagara is having some issues with the high water. The south ramp is closed. As waters continue to rise, the north ramp could be closed soon, too.
Upper Niagara River
Fishing action has been good for a mixed bag of fish the past week. Decent walleye have been caught along with bass and lake trout. Good numbers of lake trout are showing up as bass casters target catch and release smallmouth.
Mike Crawford of upstateguideservice.com
Sunny days mid week brought anglers out on area lakes en masse this week to try their luck. Rising water temps and dry weather find the area streams in good shape for trout fishing as well.
The activity continues to build on the lakes here in Central New York and the bass and walleye fishing is excellent. Several of the eastern Finger Lakes and Oneida Lake now offer off season bass angling, catch and release.
Slow presentations are working the best for sluggish smallies. Blade baits seem to be producing best for walleyes in deeper water during the bright days.
Panfishing is very good now and while big fish are always the goal, when it comes to eating, the yellow perch is tough to beat.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Oswego River Report
The water flow in the river has been under 20,000cfs for the last few days. This morning it is flowing at 17,100cfs. 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:
What a season so far. The brown trout action is off the charts. South winds going into the weekend made the fishing quite a bit tougher for us. Sunday the water moved and cleared up pretty well making for some happy faces.
According to Capt. Troy Creasy of High Adventure Sportfishing Charters:
The brown trout bite has been nothing short of fantastic. We slipped out for lakers and they were everywhere.
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 on Lake Ontario is very good right now with browns being caught from Catfish Creek all the way to the Oswego college in 12-25 feet of water. The best lures have been Michigan Stinger standard size goose and tonic along with the Die Hard spoon. Run the spoons off the downriggers back 50 feet, down 8 feet. Lures such as small Smithwick stickbaits and Bay Rat goby stickbaits off the planer boards back 100-125 feet have also worked well.
Salmon River:
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
The water level dropped again over the weekend and finally a stretch of mild conditions is expected this week. We still have a few drop backs hanging around and the lower end of the river has been producing the best action. Areas such as the Town Pool, Longbridge/Staircase and Black Hole have produced the best action early in the morning and later in the day. Depending on the day anglers who fished the DSR have reported getting into a mix of drop backs, Atlantic salmon and smallmouth bass. For those anglers who are float fishing, beads have produced the best results. For those anglers who are fly fishing, swinging streamers with sinking leaders has been most productive.
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
Yesterday guests reported decent activity with the smallies but a little quiet with the dropback steelies with four coming to hand. Several guests reported catching yearling Atlantic smolts which were reported to have been stocked recently. Flows remain at 500cfs.
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:
With the opening of the season, anglers have reported getting into some walleye in both shallow and deep water. Round gobies are abundant in the lake which is making it more difficult to attract walleye. Trolling worm harnesses or using artificial lures rather than live bait may be successful.
Sandy Pond report:
The high water is causing some issues in the Sandy Pond area. The DEC boat launch is closed until further notice.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
The early morning brown bite is hot. A trip today boxed out with 12 BT’s by11:00 am. They were in 10 feet of water east of Sodus Bay, all the way to Port Bay.
They were off the boards and riggers and hit a mix of Bay Rat stickbaits. Black and silver and also perch were the colors. The water temps were 40 degrees with a Northwest wind kicking-up.
The charter captains from Sodus Bay are saying that the browns are the best they’ve seen…color and size.
You can also fish off-shore for lakers and steelhead. Fishing Lake Ontario has been fantastic.
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 now closed. Again, the speed limit on all bays is idle.
Bays
High water continues to put a damper on launching boats for bay fishing. The ramp at Margaretta Road is open for Sodus Bay, however there is nothing open for Port Bay.
Fish the lake until the levels subside on the embayments.
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
The canal is not as flooded as bad like the bays and lakes, however there are section with high levels. You can launch at Widewaters and fish east or west. West is the best, fishing past Port Gibson. You can also find plenty of spots along the shoreline.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism
The next few days will have temperatures in the 80’s and then drop back to more seasonal temperatures.
Fishing on Lake Ontario has been up and down but more up than down.
In close Brown trout seem to be the catch while out just a little deeper it is a mixture of Lake trout near the bottom in 80 feet of water and then Coho salmon and Chinooks in the upper portions.
I have one report of a 22-pound Atlantic salmon being taken a few days ago.
On the lower stretches of the “Oak” the Perch bite has been fairly consistent as well as some early bass action but bass season doesn’t open until the third Saturday in June, so for now it’s catch and release.
On Lake Alice fishing is picking up with catches of Rock Bass, Perch, Bluegills and Crappie all being taken even though the lake is still slightly high and dirty.
I know that many ports are in rough shape due to the high-water levels but all of the marinas within Orleans County have been putting in overtime raising their docks and are open and ready to offer the full service that you have come to expect from them.
In short, the open sign is lit for all boaters and fishermen alike.
Captain’s Cove has lost their tackle shop at the bottom of the hill but fear not, the new shop at the top of the hill will be open in the next few weeks.
Last Sunday Bald Eagle Marina hosted the LOC Spring Derby Awards Ceremony which was well attended.
If you get a chance, visit them to see what a great job they have done bringing that facility up to date with all services available.
Speaking of Bald Eagle Marina, with their opening again the Oak Orchard Open has changed their name to Orleans County Open to include Bald Eagle Marina.
You will now have the choice of fishing out of either port in Orleans County for this great event which takes place on June 10th and 11th this year.
Also, the Condor Derby will take place on June 9th.
It’s amazing what can be done when a community works together towards a common goal.