Pictured above: The new LOC Summer Derby leader is this 28-pound, 10-ounce king weighed in at Wilson by David Salvalzo of Derby. Holding the fish up is his witness Alicia Joyce.
Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
The hard east winds last weekend mixed things up like a washing machine according to Capt. Mike Johannes of On the Rocks Charters. On Tuesday he fish in 200 to 350 feet of water straight out from Wilson and put his temperature probe down 80 feet. It recorded 44 degree water. An hour later it was 64 degrees. While he marked good numbers of fish on his electronics, getting them to hit was tough. They did managed to catch 2 kings over 20 pounds. Flasher-fly rigs and 400 copper line set-ups produced the big fish. The Wilson Bicentennial tournament was postponed last Sunday and was rescheduled for July 28. Contact Johannes at 523-1727 for information. The Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Association held its club tournaments last Friday and Saturday. According to one of the coordinators for the event Kyle Hovak: “Fishing was lights out for a lot of teams. Mag spoons tended to be what the bigger fish hit – riggers down 40-50-60 feet. Long lines – copper/10 color lead cores with spoons pulled a lot of fish. We fished more flasher-fly and Dreamweaver big foot paddles with meat deep. Caught a ton of fish but they tended to be in the 15-pound range. Most guys trolled north-south until they found a good class of fish.”
Winner of the LOTSA 323 contest was Reel Therapy and the Wills brothers Larry of Lewiston and Tim of Niagara Falls. The contest is to catch 3 big salmon and weigh them in over two days of fishing, but you only get to weigh in 3. Figuring out which 3 is tough. Playing Hookey and Jeff Smith caught 3 nice kings on Friday and weighed them in for a weight of 65.67 pounds. Weather didn’t look good Saturday and they rolled the dice. Meanwhile, the Wills brothers hit the Niagara Bar on Friday and hit a 22-pound king on a magnum glow Warrior spoon 65-feet down over 120 feet of water. They caught a bunch of other fish, but they were all smaller. With the east wind on Saturday, they ran east and fished east of Olcott in 100 to 200 feet of water. Right away Tim hit a 26-pound king (his biggest ever) on a spin doctor and a homemade fly that Larry put together. The last hour of the fishing contest they threw down another magnum glow Warrior spoon 75 feet down over 150 feet of water and they hit another 20-pounder to overtake the Playing Hookey squad with a 3-fish total of 68.83 pounds. The 26-pound fish is currently in 7th place in the LOC Summer Derby. A new Grand Prize leading fish came in this week, too – a 28-pound, 10-ounce Wilson fish reeled in by David Salvalzo of Derby. The Derby ends on Sunday at 1 p.m.
In the Niagara River, the waters are starting to clear from moss according to Capt. Joe Marra of Lewiston. He also had a surprise catch this week when David Meidel of Kenmore caught an 8-pound steelhead on a crab while fishing for bass. The 13th annual WNY Independent Living Bass Fishing Derby is set for August 5 out of Lewiston. For more info call 836-0822 Ext. 146.
Remember that the Costa Fishing League Series Tournament will be held this week on Lake Erie out of Safe Harbor Marina in Buffalo. Weigh in on Thursday and Friday will be at Safe Harbor Marina in Buffalo starting at 2 p.m. Saturday, the weigh in will be at Cabela’s in Cheektowaga at 3 p.m.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Lake Ontario Report
According to Capt. Andy Bliss of Chasin’ Tail Adventures:
After the recent southern blow the salmon fishing has been very scattered. But as of yesterday afternoon things are starting to set back up. Kings have been found in 50-700’ just not in any concentration. What this blow did do is create some great brown trout fishing in 20-50 feet of water from Oswego to the Little Salmon River.
Oswego River Report
The water level had been averaging around 1,000cfs for several days. With the recent heavy rain in the region, the flow has risen to 5,970cfs this morning. Anglers having been finding a number of walleye fishing at night although most of them are small. A few bass, sheepshead and a catfish or two have also been taken.
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:
A stiff off-shore wind has dropped the water temperature and scattered the salmon. Several anglers have been very successful with brown trout over the last couple of days in up to 50 feet of water. Spoons are the choice of bait. Live minnows and crayfish are attracting bass off Mexico Point.
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
From hot and dry conditions for several weeks to monsoon rains over the last couple of days. Dare I say it – which the south east winds brining colder water closer to shore at this end of the lake combined with increased flows from the rain, it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw a salmonid of some kind (Atlantic perhaps) over the next few days. Those anglers braving the weather found smallmouth bass more active likely due to the increasing water flows from runoff. Bass up to 18 inches were landed on swung streamers. The water release from the reservoir remains at 185cfs but the release at Pineville is up to 323cfs.
Oneida Lake Report:
The wind and heavy rain have been an issue at times over the last few days. When conditions allow, look for walleye with jigs tipped with a worm and blade baits. The bass bite had picked up so look along the shoals and weed beds. Anglers have been finding perch off the north shore and pickerel are still active.
Sandy Pond report:
Activity on the pond has been slow with a few bass being taken along the weed beds.
Eastern Finger Lakes / Central New York Fishing Report
Mike Crawford of upstateguideservice.com
Welcomed rains and accompanying low pressure system has been parked on us here in Central New York for the last few days.The creeks and streams and lakes and fields needed the rain.
Heavy rain put an end to a long stretch of gorgeous sunshine-filled July days that had fish in the inland lakes somewhat stagnant and warmed the creeks too much.
The recent change in weather has been good for the fishing. I enjoy fishing in the rain. A good soaking makes you appreciate things like dry socks, gore-tex jackets and the cab of a pick-up truck parked at the launch.
Rain or sun. The best time to fish is whenever you can.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
The strong winds from the Northeast not only canceled day two of the Pro-Am, they pushed the warmer water deep. Currently the good temperatures are in 400 to 500 feet of water.
The lake flipped leaving 50 degrees closer to shore.
The kings have been 80 to 100 down over the deep water of 500 feet. They have been hitting spoons, meat, and flasher flies. Fishing is still fantastic… you just need to do a little searching.
Who knows what’s going to happen with the predicted hot weather and T storms later this week. Maybe things will settle down towards the weekend.
Bays
Anglers are still hammering the largemouths at Sodus. Just fish the weedlines using Zoom baits, spinners or top water lures.
The perch are out of the bays and still in 8 to 10 feet of water in the lake. They’ll hit small jigs tipped with spikes.
They are catching bluegills at the north and south end of Port Bay. The north barrier road has been graded. It’s still bumpy, however not as bad as last month.
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
Canal fishing is producing largemouths and panfish. Remember when the wind is blowing hard it really doesn’t affect canal waters.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Capt. John Oravec of Tightlines Charters
The Lake Ontario waters off Point Breeze – simply put – are teaming with big king salmon after a big nor’easter storm caused the inside water to roll over. A classic upwelling, the salmon are feeding closer to the shoreline and near the surface!
I heard from a duo hailing from New Jersey and West Virginia that they had super action in close, plus one of the biggest salmon yet for 2018 – a 40″ 27 plus pounder!
Another group of trollers plowed thru fog only to find lots of schoolie kings and scrappy steelhead 30 to 40 feet down over 400 feet depths. Hot lure-wise, the consensus is: spoons! Spoons! Spoons! Try to simplify a lure spread with a couple downriggers and a trailing 10 color leadcore or 250 ft. copper flatline /the water is very clear less can catch more.
Your local tackle shops have the prime baits and accessories to repair all the breakage during salmon wars like this! Be careful when running offshore. Have plenty of fuel, safety gear and stay in sight of the boat fleet.