Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Lake Ontario
Get ready to Rumble – Lake Ontario fishing style! This weekend, there will be three different fishing derbies going on, as well as a ladies tournament. First, the Fall Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby kicks off on August 18 and runs through Labor Day. $25,000 is the Grand Prize for the largest Salmon. Check loc.org for details. Also on August 18, the Second Annual Reelin’ for a Cure will be held out of Wilson and Olcott from 6 a.m. to noon. This all-ladies event will be raising funds for the Breast Cancer Network of WNY. It looks like right around 20 teams for this year. It’s a fun time for sure. Contact Stephanie Pierleoni at 481-6388 for more information or go on the event’s Facebook page. Another fun contest that starts up this weekend is the Greater Niagara Fish Odyssey Derby, set for August 19th to the 27th. Six species categories for the adults and a Grand Prize of $3,000. For the kids, it’s free to enter with loads of merchandise prizes and trophies. Sign up at any of the LOC weigh stations or at fishodyssey.net. This is for Niagara, Orleans and Erie counties. Many thanks to Jim and Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors in Olcott who do a lion’s share of the work behind the scenes, such as the website and the leaderboard. This is a great way to get the whole family out to enjoy the waters of Western New York. The Orleans County Rotary Derby is still going on and that contest will end on Sunday, August 20.
Now to the fishing. The water has been messed up a bit in the lake due to some unfavorable winds. The most stable water has been out deep. Hawg Charters and Capt. Jim Gordon headed out of Olcott this week and fished the 29 line one day and did well on kings, cohos and steelhead. All his action was on spoons in the top 60 feet of water. He repeated the performance the next day on the 27 line heading north, but the action was mostly 80 to 90 feet down. Capt. Mark Vilardo used spin doctors and flies to catch some nice kings in the 300 to 350 foot depth range, 80 to 90 feet down. Mark Lewandowski of Buffalo was fishing in 120 feet of water and took a 31 pound king so the mature fish are slowly starting to make their way closer to home. The Niagara Bar has been a here today – gone tomorrow scenario … and them back again depending on what was happening with the wind and weather.
Lower Niagara River
In the Lower Niagara River, bass and walleye have both been biting. Capt. Jake Joseph with Jiggin’ Jake’s Charters has been doing well on walleye along drifts like Stella Niagara and around the green buoy marker. Bass have also been cooperative with shiners and crabs. Reports of the first salmon are normally seen by the third week in August and there were some rumors that some were seen this past week. However the main run isn’t for another month. It should be a good one!Upper Niagara River bass and walleye action remains consistent and the Erie Canal is still offering up some fish – pike and bass. Kayakers working Wilson Harbor have been catching some pike and bass. Spinnerbaits are good to toss around the weed edges.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Lake Ontario report:
According to Capt. Ed Monette of Cannonball Runner Charters:
The fishing on Lake Ontario has just been so good over the last several weeks. Anglers are targeting two water depths – 100-200 feet or 600 feet of water. A-tom-mik flies and Twinkie rigs mixed with Michigan Stingers are getting the job done.
Oswego River Report
The water flow has been between 2,000-4,000cfs over the last few days. This morning it is running at 2,320cfs. Areas all along the river are fishable. Crayfish or tube jigs are taking smallmouth bass and sheepshead are responding to crayfish.
Notice: The bridge to Leto Island is closed, and there are mandatory personal flotation device (PFD) zones on the river. For more information, visit our website at visitoswegocounty.com and click on the Fishing Report along the top bar on the home page.
Pulaski Area and Salmon River report:
According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
The salmon fishing is phenomenal – the best we have seen in a long time. Anglers are finding vigorous action in 100-130 feet of water down about 100 feet from the surface as the fish begin pre-staging off the Salmon River. Just about any application is working including spoons, flasher and flies and cut bait. Anglers are picking up a few perch in shallow water in Mexico Bay and bass in about 20 feet of water.
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
Yesterday we had several clients on the run with a few reporting very good action on smallmouth bass in the 14-16 inch range as well as a number of fallfish. One salmon made an appearance in the very lower part of the run with a couple ghosting through in the middle section. None were caught however!
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. You can reach the hatchery at 315-298-5051, Monday through Friday 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM.
Oneida Lake Report:
Although the fishing is a little tougher this time of year on the lake, walleye are being taken in deep water trolling worm harnesses or blade baits. Yellow perch are taking minnows. Anglers are finding some bass as they follow gizzard shad.
Sandy Pond report:
According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
Conditions on the pond have become more difficult with the heavy weed growth which is typical at this time of year. Persistent anglers who adapt to these conditions will find some Northern pike and bass.
Photo by Mike Crawford of upstateguideservice.com
Eastern Finger Lakes / Central New York Fishing Report
Mike Crawford of upstateguideservice.com
August has been sweet so far and hoping the dry weather pattern holds on! Fishing on the Eastern Finger Lakes is excellent! Smallmouth bass and trout have been feeding heavy on young-of-the-year panfish fry.
Perch, rock bass, and bluegill minnows have departed the shelter of the shallow weeds, schooled thick, and moved out into the open lake basins.
While thermocline and water temps will confine trout, the lunch line is open!
I don’t use downriggers. So I focus my late summer attention on the plentiful smallmouth bass. They are aggressive, numerous, relatively easy to find, and bend light rods hard!
Which makes for happy guests and a fun time on the water!
Central New York Area trout streams are fishing excellent as well. Water temps must be taken into account when searching for trout. But flows have calmed down and the terrestrial fishing (hoppers/ants) is very good as we get into mid August.
Streams are vacant and fly fishers are enjoying excellent fishing on Syracuse area streams at present.
Take advantage of it!
Be Safe!
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
There has been excellent catches along the entire southern Lake Ontario shoreline.
Straight out from Sodus Bay the bite has been phenomenal. The mix has been 20 to 25-pound kings and some hefty steelies.
Start in 100 feet and work to 300. Two days ago, the bite was off riggers 70 to 90 down over 300 fow.
Flasher/flies and spoons have been working. We haven’t heard too much about cut bait. The spoons are green-chartreuse.
Straight out from Hughes’ Marina has also been productive for kings with most fish caught 100 down over 250 fow.
Today’s east wind might change the pattern; however, it’s not supposed to be a big blow.
Don’t forget the LOC Fall Derby which starts August 18th and ends on Labor Day, September 4th. With the fantastic fishing, the LOC leaderboard should be dominated with some Wayne County kings.
Bays
Largemouth bass fishing has been hot on Sodus Bay. Just fish the weedlines, throwing out any rig you have. There have been some smallmouths caught near the Sodus channel using minnows.
Crappies have been suspended near the south end of Sodus. Fish the edge of the heavy weedline and use bright-small jigs tipped with spikes. The crappies are down three feet over eight feet of water.
The no wake conditions remain on all Wayne County bays, so that will make getting to your preferred location very difficult.
It sounds like a broken record however, the speed on the bays is still idle. It’s a Wayne County Emergency condition.
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
There were five kayaks fishing the canal near Widewaters. The anglers were not targeting any specific species…just having fun. However, if you want to catch some nice largemouth bass, canal waters is where you go.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism
First, the location of the Rotary Derby Awards Ceremony this Sunday has been changed from the Carlton Rec Hall to the Black North.
Hope to see all of you there for a great time and I know that great food and drink will be available.
After a slow start to the derby this year, the leader board is filling up with some fantastic catches in all of the categories, and there’s still time to enter and be one of those on the leader board at the awards ceremony.
Hit and miss showers are in the weather forecast over the next week, so let’s hope for more miss and less hit.
The mid water fishing, around the 200 feet of water mark, has started to come on with mostly salmon in the catches.
The off-shore fishing has moved out to almost the border and is producing a good mixed bag of both salmon and steelhead.
The baits being used are all over the place so the best advice I can give is to use what you have the greatest confidence in and then change as needed.
Please remember that we now have two great ports to fish out of and two great charter fleets for you to book trip with, Point Breeze and Bald Eagle Creek Marina.
The marinas at Point Breeze have been working all season long to provide the very best of service while fighting the high-water conditions as has the great crew at Bald Eagle Creek Marina.
On Lake Alice, around the Waterport Bridge, catches of Bluegill are good but a lot of smaller fish in the mix.
Please remember that those smaller fish are the future catches so put them back to grow into next year’s catch.
Bass fishing on Lake Alice remains good to very good in the upper reaches.
On the lower stretches of the “Oak” a good mixed bag of the warm water species is being taken.
One gentleman I know of says that Gar pike fishing in this area are just about the best anywhere.