Pictured above: Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls with a big rudd off the NYPA fishing platform. Photo provided by Bill Hilts
Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Salmon fishing in the lake is moving along at a steady clip and the Niagara River action is improving.
In the Niagara River, it won’t be long before the first salmon will be making their way through the system. In the meantime, bass and walleye will have to suffice. Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls hit the Artpark shoreline for some action and he managed to catch 5 bass using 2-inch tubes in 2 hours of fishing. Then he hit the New York Power Authority fishing platform and caught some huge rudd by tossing those same 2-inch tubes. In the 13th Annual Bass Derby run by Independent Living of Niagara County at Lewiston, George Rohr, fishing with Capt. Arnie Jonathan of Lockport, reeled in the first place bass with 15 minutes to spare – a 3.72-pound smallmouth that hit a crayfish.
In Lake Ontario, Salmon have started to show the early signs of staging with mature kings available in 80 to 150 feet of water during the morning; maybe even closer than that with J-plugs, meat and flasher-fly before the sun comes up. Out deep, it’s been easy picking for a mix of salmon and trout. Scott Rohe of Cheektowaga hit the water Sunday with Mike Erdt of Williamsville and they went 8 for 11 on kings with the biggest being a 23.4-pound salmon that hit a flasher-fly combo. There was no specific pattern as they hit fish on the riggers at 45-55-65 feet and off the divers 120 and 220 feet back. Spoons, flasher-flies and cut bait all caught fish. In the Orleans County Rotary Derby in which Niagara County waters are eligible and Olcott is a weigh station at The Slippery Sinker, the current Grand Prize leader is a 26 pound, 14-ounce king salmon weighed in by Mike Schaeffer of Sligo, Pa. Top Rainbow trout is a 12 pounder reeled in by Dan Heglin of Gardner, Mass. First place lake trout is 17 pounds, 12 ounces caught by Brian Gambell of Hilton. There’s plenty of room for improvement though and still lots of fishing left through August 19.
The next LOC Derby is August 17 through Labor Day. Grand Prize for the biggest salmon is $25,000. Find out more info at www.loc.org. The Greater Niagara Fish Odyssey is set for August 18 to 26 and people are already starting to sign up. Kids 15 and under can fish for free. Check out www.fishodyssey.net. The Reelin’ for a Cure ladies tournament to benefit a cancer-related charity is August 17 out of Wilson and Olcott. Put together a ladies team and compete for just $250. If you need a boat, tournament organizers may be able to find one for you. Entry fee is $250. Contact Stephanie Pierleoni at 481-6388 for more information or go on the Reelin’ for a Cure facebook page or website. The 5th Annual End of Summer Free Kids Fishing Derby will take place on August 25 at Widewaters Marina in Lockport. Registration starts at 8 a.m. and fishing will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lots of prizes! See you there!
Eastern Finger Lakes / Central New York Fishing Report
Mike Crawford of upstateguideservice.com
The busiest time of the year is here! UGS guides have been enjoying the company of vacationing families looking to get out on the water, catch some fish and enjoy the scenic waters of the Finger Lake, Adirondack and Central New York regions!
Water temperatures in the Syracuse area creeks are too warm for trout fishing. But the same creeks offer good fly fishing for smallmouth and carp in their lower sections.
The water in the lakes is in the 70’s to low 80’s at surface and thermocline is well established. Overcast skies, fronts and steady wind have kept the fish active on the lakes for the last few days.
Each summer season I enjoy teaching kids how to fish. It is the best part of guiding!
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Lake Ontario Report
Anglers are continuing to find good fishing on the lake. Kings and a few trout have been active in a range of water depth from 100 to 500 feet. Just this week a couple of nice 30+ pound salmon have been reported. Cut-bait, flashers and flies, and spoons have been working well.
Oswego River Report
The water level had been running between 1,000-2,000cfs over the last couple of days. Due to some rainfall in the region, the flow reached over 3,000cfs early today but is down to 2,610cfs late this morning. Anglers are finding a few walleye, bass, sheepshead and a catfish or two along the river.
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 the Woody’s Tackle:
The fishing on Lake Ontario continues to be good. Brown trout are active in 30-50 feet of water. Some smaller salmon are being found in 80-150 feet of water. There has been an active bite in up to 500 feet of water with some nice size fish being taken.
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
We had a handful of anglers fish the run Tuesday morning before the rain came, indicating moderate success with smallmouth bass. No anglers ventured down onto the Run yesterday. It’s certainly getting to be about that time, hopefully soon enough we will have our first reports of salmon here on the Run! The release at the dam remains at 185 cfs with a reported flow of 281 cfs at the Pineville gauge as of this morning.
Oneida Lake Report:
Anglers are continuing to find some walleye early and later in the day with worm harnesses, jigs tipped with a worm and blade baits. Look for a bass bite along the shoals and weed beds. Anglers have been finding perch off the north shore and some pickerel.
Sandy Pond report:
Activity on the pond has been slow with a few bass being taken along the weed beds.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
“Hot time, summer in the city, back of my neck getting dirty and gritty.” That’s the Lovin Spoonful’s take on summer. We call it Summer slamming salmon time, and the fishing continues to be the best in decades.
Hit the water and leave the city because the fish are 25 pounds and they are hitting lake-wide. Straight out from Sodus Bay they are in 200 to 150 feet of water, down 70 feet. They have been hitting J-Plugs, spoons, and cut bait.
The set-up has been riggers, wire, and some lead core. The temperature breaks have been around 80 feet, however, that changes daily.
Don’t forget the LOC Derby which starts August 17-September 3rd. The prize structure and information is at loc.org
Bays
Port Bay has largemouth action along the entire shoreline of the bay. On a quiet day, without boat traffic, you can catch the hogs along the weedlines with crank bait, spinner bait, and rubber worms.
Sodus Bay also has action with largemouth, pike and perch. The perch are hitting near the channel, while some pike are being caught east of LeRoy Island. You need to get on these bays early as boat traffic will interfere with fishing. Or…you should fish during the week if you can.
There are some walleye coming next to the islands on Sodus Bay. The bay has three islands. Use bucktail jigs tipped with worms for walleye.
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 bass are huge in the canal, some going five to six pounds. You can also catch panfish and cats in canal waters. The catfish will hit shrimp or cut bait, or just throw out worms.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Capt. John Oravec of Tightlines Charters
There is a lot of great fishing going on this week off the “Oak” in Orleans County. One group of fishermen, charter and “Rec” boats are coming back to port happy by trolling 55 to 135 ft of water, mainly east of the harbor from the west end of the flats to the “Devil’s Nose”. Actually, I think that if anglers launched at Bald Eagle, they will find a pile of big fish right out front and save a lot of fuel in the process.
FYI, if you have a hankering for pudgy brown trout try smaller stingers, slims and the like. Downrigged and slow trolled weaving from 50 to 60. If a hot morning bite is your cup of tea, set up at daybreak then set up at 120 ft overall, get your speed right and watch the rods fly! One special tip: these king salmon are on the feed, low light activity is crazy. Try not to waste this prime time running gobs of lines early. Put down 2 or three riggers, vary your leader, drop back lengths, mark fish, vary your speed and direction and get in on the action!
Update! A little bird told me yesterday that several boats had crazy fishing fun out on the “30 line” on a big mixed bag of Chinook and whopper Steels 55 to 75 down with a 12-pound weight. This location corresponds to roughly 450 feet to 550 feet of water for any newcomers. I believe this area will become very consistent, next week as well.
Remember to go over your rig for all safety equipment which includes fresh flares, working VHF marine radio, and a fully charged cell phone. There are certain basics for a solid offshore fishing trip plan including an AM start, staying with the fleet, weather updates, plenty of fuel and an adequate crew to handle the action. This zone is shared by both up bound and down bound freighter lanes so always be aware of shipping traffic. Go to www.Boatnerd.com for updated vessel locations and vessel names.
Orleans County waters are now a double banded red-hot fishing area. Have fun, be safe and please cull your catch, keeping larger adult fish and just the fish you wish to enjoy on the table.