Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Congratulations to all of the derby and tournament winners! In the Wilson Harbor Invitational tournament last Saturday, it was Tom Allen’s A-Tom-Mik team winning the $20,000 check by scoring 162 points – based on 10 points a fish and a point per pound – for his 6 best salmon. Runnerup and earning a check for $10,000 was On The Rocks led by Capt. Mike Johannes of Ransomville. In the LOC Derby, the 28 pound, 10 ounce Oswego fish held up for the $15,000 Grand Prize – caught by Daniel Manti of Cortland. Salmon were being caught all around the lake. More than half of the salmon winners came from Niagara. Niagara Falls USA also produced the first place lake trout and the leading walleye. In the laker division, Steve Klejdys of North Tonawanda took top honors with a 22 pound, 5 ounce fish caught on the Niagara Bar. For walleye, it was Harry Crannell of Queensbury winning the division with a 12 pound, 1 ounce fish he also caught on the Niagara Bar. Capt. Chris Vogt of Albion won the brown trout division with an 18 pound, 1 ounce fish caught out of Bald Eagle Marina in Orleans County.
Lake Ontario
After a crazy couple of weeks of salmon fishing on the lake, things slowed down a little bit as the waters need to set back up again following a northeast blow. Most consistent action has been to the northeast of Wilson and Olcott in 250-plus feet of water. Capt. Mike Johannes of On the Rocks Charters, coming off a second place finish in the Wilson Harbor Invitational tournament last weekend, reported he had to go a bit deeper on Tuesday morning. His best rigger was set at 80 feet down, divers were back 150 and he was hitting fish with 200 feet of copper wire out, too. Best baits were a sea sick waddler and a 2-face spoon. Everything was magnum size. Earlier, most of the fish were up high in the 30 to 60-foot range, with divers working the best getting spoons out away from the boat. Lake trout were stacked up on the Niagara Bar again, but there weren’t too many salmon around according to reports. Next big events on the angling calendar include the Don Johannes-Pete DeAngelo Memorial Big Fish-Three Fish Contest on May 31 and the 34th Annual Lake Ontario Pro-Am Salmon Team Tournament June 1-2. Check out www.lakeontarioproam.net. Deadline to register for the Pro-Am without a penalty/late fee is May 25.
Niagara River
Lower river trout and bass action continues to be good for boaters. Using three-way rigs, bounce bottom with minnows to take steelhead or lake trout. Lakers up to 17 pounds were reported this past week. Bass are hitting swimbaits and tubes. White and silver jigs will work off the NYPA fishing platform for trout and bass. Silver bass were hitting along Artpark from shore. The Lewiston Landing area is still producing walleye at night on plastics. During the day, bass and sheepshead have been hitting zoom swimbaits according to Gianni Etopio of Youngstown.
In the upper river, some big rudds have been hitting jigs, bass are all over the place and some walleye were hitting around Unity Island. For smallmouth bass, use tubes or swimbaits around Strawberry or Motor islands. At the head of the river, bass were being cooperative there, too.
Have a great holiday weekend!
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Lake Ontario Report
The lake fishing continues to be very good. Anglers are finding a very active brown trout bite in 20-40 feet of water with stickbaits and spoons. King salmon can be found in deeper water with anglers having success in 100-175 feet of water with spoons working well. Lake trout are active in about 120 feet of water.
According to Capt. Tom Burke of Cold Steel Sportfishing Charters:
The fishing is just spectacular on Lake Ontario. The only hard decision is which species to target. Along with plenty of brown trout there are kings upon kings!
Oswego River Report
The water flow rose significantly over the last two days running at 10,200cfs this morning. This makes many areas along the river difficult to fish from shore. Behind the hotels is a suggested place to try. Boat anglers have been trying the waters north of the Rte. 104 bridge. Walleye are being taken with large stickbaits and anglers are finding sheepshead and a few smallmouth bass. Remember it is catch and release with artificial lures only for bass.
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.
Salmon River Report:
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
It was a truly beautiful day on the water yesterday. Good water levels and little wind. The half dozen anglers that joined us, while enjoying the conditions, had a slow day. No reports of any steelhead being brought to hand and fewer numbers of smallmouth bass than we have seen lately. The bass, of course, are still here, but seemed preoccupied with spawning activities. Water remains at 350 cfs from the reservoir.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
Over the last couple of days the action has slowed down and only a few anglers have been fishing. The occasional drop back is still being caught in the mid to lower end of the river, but the majority of them have returned to Lake Ontario. Anglers have had the most success swinging black and olive woolly buggers in the faster water. Covering lots of water has also been the key to producing the best results. If you want to get in on the smallmouth action (catch and release), we have good numbers of bass holding in the deeper holes of the mid to lower section of the river.
Oneida Lake Report:
The walleye action is continuing on Oneida Lake. Anglers are fishing in 10-15 feet of water early in the day and moving out to the 20-35 foot depths as the day goes on. Blade baits and jigs have been working. Pickerel fishing has also been good with stickbaits and crankbaits. Anglers are also finding some bullhead action in the evening.
Sandy Pond report:
There has been walleye and northern pike activity reported on the pond with stickbaits, crankbaits and jigs working well.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
The spring king bite is still on with some of the cleanest looking salmon being caught in years. The entire south shore of the lake has seen action.
Off Sodus Bay, the depth has been 80 to 100 feet- straight-out- east or west. Green dots on any spoon seem to be the hot lure.
The fish are really slamming lead line back 200 to 300 feet.
Today’s surface temps in Wayne County are 48 to 50 degrees with some warmer pockets near Chimney Bluffs.
The browns are close to shore; however, the mudlines have disappeared with the south wind. That’s why anglers are targeting kings in 100 feet.
The Memorial Day weekend weather looks pretty good for lake fishing. Winds are supposed to be minimal, but that…of course… can change.
Bays
Pike fishing has been fantastic on Sodus Bay. You should fish between the islands or use pike minnows on the north west side of the bay A nice 38-inch pike was caught over the weekend.
Port Bay has pike, usually at the south end of the bay. The perch have been off the points and at the north barrier bar area.
The DEC docks are in place, so launching is a simple process.
Erie Canal
The canal has been flooded so there is a lot of action with the different currents creating a feeding frenzy with hungry fish. You can launch a boat in Clyde, Lyons, Newark, and Macedon.
The canal waters are loaded with fish.
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