Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
King salmon fishing continues to be good to very good on the lake. With the good is the bad though. The sea fleas have also been a nuisance. A new LOC Derby leader came to the scales out of Wilson this past week when Scott Foster of North Tonawanda recorded a 26-pound, 15-ounce king to take over the lead for the $10,000 Grand Prize. Another notable catch was a 19-pound, 4-ounce brown trout that tipped the scales for Kurt Charland of Victor while he was fishing out of Bald Eagle Marina in Orleans County. A 21-pound Niagara Bar lake trout was weighed in by Steve Klejdys of North Tonawanda this week to take over the lead for the weekly prize as he sat in 4th place. The leaderboard is posted at www.loc.org. If you want a reason to get into this month-long derby, ask Capt. Tom Pearse of Grand Island. His customer, Cole Welcomer of Harrisburg, reeled in a 36-pound, 41-inch long king salmon while fishing out of Olcott this past week. It’s not a fish story. There are pictures. No, they weren’t in the derby. If you are looking for mature kings, run flasher-flies or meat rigs 90 to 110-feet down over 90 to 140 feet of water according to Wes Walker at the Slipper Sinker in Olcott. Boaters are also picking up kings 60 to 80 feet down over 150 to 250 feet of water, fish the top 60 feet if you want to try for steelhead or Coho salmon with spoons. On the Niagara Bar, John Van Hoff of North Tonawanda had good success over the weekend fishing spin doctors and flies as well as spoons over 150 to 200 feet of water.
In the Niagara River, action has been slowed by the excessive moss. Live bait like shiners and worm harnesses can still produce some fish like bass and walleye, but you really have to work for them.
The popular Erie Canal Fishing Derby is going into its final weekend and some impressive catches have already been weighed in from Albion to the Tonawandas. How about the 22 pound carp reeled in by Lee Hathaway of Gasport or the 10 pound sheepshead hauled in by Michael Boncore of Buffalo? Rob Robel of Newfane is leading the catfish division with nearly a 10 pounder and top walleye is almost 9 pounds, caught by Joe Torregrossa of Grand Island. Richard Hawes of Lockport picked up the leading pike at nearly 8 pounds and Judy Woolson of Lockport is tops with a 1-1/2 pound bullhead. Mike Wrobel of Newfane is the bass division leader with a 3.77 pound fish.For a complete leaderboard check the website out at www.eriecanalderby.com. The derby ends at 9 p.m. on Sunday. The awards will be at the Gasport Fire Hall on July 22 starting at 3 p.m.
The Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Association has its club tournaments coming up July 20 and 21. Find out more at www.lotsa1.org. And on July 22, there will be a Wilson Bicentennial tournament for a fun event and $10,000 in prize money for a big fish, three fish format out of the 200 year old port. Call Mike Johannes at 523-1727 for info.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Lake Ontario Report
The tremendous lake fishery continues with salmon active in 100-400 feet of water. Anglers are finding a few brown trout in more shallow water. The fleas have been heavy so consider this when you are preparing your rods.
According to Capt. Andy Grisenthwaite of Broad Horizons:
The salmon fishing on Lake Ontario has been outstanding! This has been an awesome charter season so far, fish are abundant and hungry. I’ve been taking fish on riggers, divers, and coppers with a mix of mag spoons, flies and meat.
Oswego River Report
The water level has dropped again running under 2,000cfs for a couple of days. This morning it is flowing at 1,370cfs. Suggested areas to try are the river walks including behind the hotels. Bass and sheepshead are taking crayfish, live minnows and night crawlers. A few walleye are responding to large stickbaits.
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. 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:
Pulaski Area:
According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
The fishing on Lake Ontario remains outstanding. Salmon are very active in 110-160 feet of water down 70-80 feet with spoons, flies and flashers working well. Anglers are finding some brown trout in the more shallow water 15-20 feet with spoons being the choice of bait. There is also a bass bite off of Mexico Point with live minnows and crayfish working well. Just a note that the fleas are heavy so prepare your rods accordingly.
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
A duo fished the Run for the greater part of the morning into the afternoon on Tuesday reporting great success throughout their ventures, landing nearly double digit quantities of smallmouth bass and even a gar! The release at the dam remains at 185 CFS with a reported flow of 209 CFS at the Pineville gauge.
Oneida Lake Report:
The walleye bite continues on the lake with areas along the weeds producing the best results. Anglers are finding early and later in the day are seeing the most action. Jigs tipped with a worm and blade baits are working well. Anglers are finding a few bass in shallow water and along the shoals with crayfish working well. Pickerel have been active with several taken in the mix.
Sandy Pond report:
According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
There is not much going on at the pond at this point. With the weed growth and the summer boating activity on the pond, it is usually not a very active fishing period for the pond.
Eastern Finger Lakes / Central New York Fishing Report
Mike Crawford of upstateguideservice.com
Anglers are finding excellent fishing for bass in the eastern Finger Lakes and Central New York. Trout…not so much.
Hankering for a cooler full of slob salmon and trout fillets? Then hit up the Captains running out of Oswego Harbor or Port Ontario! The fishing is hot right now and their knives are sharp!
Looking to just bend a rod for a few hours in the am and not go broke? Well Smallies are hitting almost everywhere all the time.
Northern pike and Tiger Muskie are aggressive in the early morning hours on lakes and flows throughout the North Country and Central New York!
Oneida Lake, the eastern Finger Lakes, as well as the many bays of the St. Lawrence River are fairly infested with fat bronze backs that provide great summer angling action!
In the Adirondacks and parts of Central New York the water temps in the rivers and streams are unsuitable for trout fishing right now. Cool temps at night in places may allow for some summertime fly fishing, but it might be best to leave the trout alone as they seek thermal refuge and try to survive the warm weather.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
Salmon are becoming scattered…typical for the early July pattern. Off of Sodus Bay they have been between 90 and 200 feet, down 50 feet. That changes by the day and wind.
Hughes’ Marina has weighed some nice browns for the LOC Summer Derby, so you can try for the bt’s straight-out from the marina.
The kings are hitting mag spoons and cut bait off riggers and the wire.
The LOC Derby runs until July 29th and the total pay-out, including all divisions is a cool $29,000 cash.
There have been some reports that smallmouths are hitting in the lake. The perch are in 10 to 15 feet of water. You can catch them with small jigs tipped with spikes…just use your ice fishing lures.
Bays
The holiday boat traffic has disappeared, so now is the time to catch largemouths in Wayne County bays.
Fish the weedlines around Sodus and Port Bays. The weeds are thick this year so use heavy leaders.
Port Bay still has crappies action at the south end. The DEC road is open and there is an excellent ramp and a large parking lot for your trailer.
Check out the rest of the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops. www.waynecountytourism.com.
Erie Canal
Widewaters was busy with a bass tournament on Sunday. Now that it is quiet you can find the fish near the south shore of the canal.
Catfish are in pools near Clyde (which has a boat ramp) or the other end of the county at Swifts Landing park.
what is the fleas you are talking about?