Pictured above: Scott Rohe of Cheektowaga was doing well on kings off Olcott in 200 to 300 feet of water, hitting double-digit kings like this 22 pounder with spin doctors and flies.
Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Salmon fishing continues to be very good in the lake out of Wilson, Olcott and out of Fort Niagara on the Niagara Bar. It’s too late to sign up for the Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Association’s club tournaments July 20 and 21, but it’s not too late to sign up for the Wilson Bicentennial Trout and Salmon Tournament July 22. Call Mike Johannes at 523-1727. The contest is only $100 per boat and it’s a Big Fish, 3-fish tournament. Make sure you are in line for the weigh in at Bootleggers Cove Marina in Wilson by 3 p.m. There is $10,000 in prize money up for grabs as the community prepares to celebrate its 200th anniversary.
Scott Rohe of Cheektowaga did well off Olcott in 200 to 300 feet of water. His best rigger was 60 feet down, 20 feet behind the ball with a spin doctor and fly. The two face spinny and a stud fly did the trick. His 85 foot rigger also took a couple of fish as did some divers set back 180 feet on a No. 3 setting. A green Pro Troll paddle in front of a green hammer fly was the ticket. His biggest was 22 pounds. With the Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby going on until July 29, your odds of catching a winning fish are better than playing the lottery. Time and time again, possible winning fish are caught by people who did not enter the contest. Steve Nichols and his son Arri are the latest victims of fate. They were fishing east of Wilson with Capt. Mike Johannes of On The Rocks Charters over the weekend and Steve reeled in a 27-pound, 3-ounce king salmon on a 400 foot copper rod rigged with a custom painted flasher and meat. Nope, no derby ticket. The leading fish is a 26-pound, 15 ounce Wilson fish hauled in by Scott Foster of North Tonawanda. Of course, that could change this weekend with a flurry of fishing events from LOTSA and the Wilson Bicentennial contest. Bob Migra of Lorain, Ohio heard about the good king fishing and decided to give it a try. Most of their fish were 15 to 26 pounds. Yes, 26 pounds. No, they weren’t in the derby. The 26 pounder was caught in the afternoon in 140 feet of water just east of Wilson. They also caught steelhead over 10 pounds in 400 feet of water. In the meantime, Capt. Joe Gallo of Two Bulls Sportfishing hit the water last weekend outside Wilson in 250 feet of water using a meat rig on a long copper line. His reward was a 26-pound king that is in third place on the LOC board.
In the Niagara River, the dreaded moss situation is slowly starting to dissipate, giving local anglers more of a reason to chase bass and walleye both above and below the Falls.
A big bass tournament is coming to Buffalo next week when the Costa FLW Series Tournament hits Safe Harbor Marina July 26 to 28. Weigh-ins each day will be at 2 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Saturday’s weigh-in for the Top 10 anglers, based on the first two days of fishing, will be at Cabela’s in Cheektowaga at 3 p.m. The FLW Foundation will be sponsoring a Unified Fishing Derby out of Safe Harbor Marina on Saturday morning, July 28, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event is for any kids under 18 years of age and special Olympic athletes of all ages. To pre-register contact tom-bassman@hotmail.com.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Lake Ontario Report
According to Capt. Troy Creasy of High Adventure Sportfishing Charters:
The great fishing on Lake Ontario continues. It might not be the bloodbath for everybody that we had over the last two months but we were spoiled and it is still very good. The nice thing is they are spread out east to west and north to south and on any given day you can catch multiple species. The deep water is giving up plenty of chinooks and a few ironheads mixed in, and if you stay in the short water, the kings and browns have been plentiful. You can also throw in a couple bonus lake trout and steelhead as well. The spoon bite continues to be good especially early in the day, but as the sun gets high and the chinooks move a little deeper meat and atomik flies are taking most of our bites.
Oswego River Report
The water level has been up and down between 2,500cfs to under 1,000cfs very briefly yesterday. It was back up to about 1,400cfs overnight but again dropped to 544cfs this morning. Anglers are finding some bass, sheepshead and a catfish or two. Walleye fishing has slowed down with not much activity.
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:
The fishing continues to be very good on the lake. Salmon are being taken in 100-160 feet of water with spoons, flies and flashers working well. Green has been a successful color lately. There are a few brown trout in shallow water with spoons being the choice of bait. Bass are active off Mexico Point with live minnows and crayfish working well. Fleas are much less of a problem now.
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
We had a couple of anglers try their luck yesterday down on the Run. Granted minimal overcast, sunny skies and low water can definitely be tough but these anglers prevailed reporting decent success with smallmouth bass. The release at the dam remains at 185cfs with a reported flow of 234cfs at the Pineville gauge.
Oneida Lake Report:
The walleye fishing has been fairly steady with some of the deeper areas seeing good action. A few are also being taken along the weeds. Jigs tipped with a worm and blade baits are working well. Bass have been somewhat scarce but reports over the last week or so indicate in increase in activity. A few perch have been taken off the north shore and pickerel continue to be active.
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.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
It’s Sodus Pro-Am week and the fishing is fantastic so there will be some big kings coming to the weigh station on July 21-22. All the action will be at Sodus Point.
There is still time to sign-up for Captain Jack’s Big Fish Friday. Registration forms are located at Captain Jack’s Goodtime Tavern at Sodus Point.
You can also be a part of the IK a day during Pro-Am week.
1K A DAY OFFICIAL RULES DURING SODUS PRO-AM
Dates: July 18-22, 2018
Entry fee: $100.00 per boat payable to Sodus Sportsman Club (cover all 5 days).
May enter anytime by 8pm the night before. Get money to Matt Leclair, or Krenzer Marine P.O. 249, Sodus Point, NY 14555. You must completely fill out the entry form and include it with your money.
Location: U.S waters of Lake Ontario, Boats are to fish into Sodus Point (may start elsewhere but operate by water into Sodus Bay)
Don’t forget the LOC Summer Derby which runs until July 28th. The leaderboard is at www.loc.org and if you look at the Brown Trout Division you’ll see Wayne County waters dominate.
Currently, the kings are scattered with most catches coming in 60 to 90 over 300 to 500 feet of water. They are hitting flasher flies, cut bait, and mag spoons, however the usual contacts are not telling me anything. (surprise)
Bays
Sodus Bay has been the hotspot for some extra-large bass. The bucket mouths have been everywhere. Look for the weedlines and fish between the islands on the east side of the bay.
Port Bay is also home of the largemouth, with the most action at the south end of the bay. Now that the holiday boat traffic is gone, you can have quiet waters to cast. The bass are hitting spinnerbait and worm rigs.
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
The canal is probably the best place to fish if trout and salmon are not your favorite catches. Everything else swims canal waters. Bass are in Widewaters, catfish are in Clyde and Palmyra, and the crappies are still hitting under the Port Gibson bridge.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Capt. John Oravec of Tightlines Charters
We have calm waters and multiple hot spots teaming with big fish off the Orleans County shoreline!
Some fishermen are enjoying Big Brown Trout by trolling small stingers, yecks and super slim spoons over the 50′ – 60′ ledges from the Ladders all the way to the “Devil’s Nose”. Keep your spread simple, downrigger wise and make sure a leadcore longline is part of your strategy, ok! The Troutman 2 Tracker and Bucaroo boats have landed some super whopper browns this week right up to the 10 to 15 pound “football” brown trophy class!
King Salmon continue to be the wonderfully strong suit off Point Breeze! The fantastic screamin’ reel action for 5 – 18 pound average Chinook salmon has stayed consistent right at the 90′ – 120′ depths ..keep your mixed spoon /flasher fly spread down at 45 to 70 ft and Hang On! Tracker Dave reported a near 30 pound king making it one of the top fish out of the big lake so far this season!
Just recently the “Mid Waters” 200′ -300′ off Orleans County Lake are also setting up with 45′ to 65 ‘down action featuring kings and steelhead. I want you all to make sure the marine forecast is favorable while fishing with a group of other boats when you venture offshore!
Get your rig ready, check all your lines and knots ..these big fish will test your tackle. Now, come get ’em !