Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
With the heavy rains and cooler temperatures this week, salmon action has taken off in Olcott on the piers and is now starting up 18 Mile Creek at Burt Dam according to Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors in Olcott. Pier fishing for kings, as well as the occasional Coho, brown and steelhead, was good off the east pier over the weekend but switched over to the west pier earlier this week. Casting spoons and spinners is one option; fishing egg skein under a float is another. Small boat trollers are working the harbor with J13 Rapalas in firetiger or blue-silver. Those color patterns are also working for spoons and spinners being tossed off the piers. Up the creek, egg skein or egg sacs are both working for salmon. So is natural color 8 mm beads fished under a float for trout like browns and steelhead. They are not found in any large numbers yet, but action can be good. Over in Wilson, the pier at the foot of Route 425 is producing a few salmon and trout. In the harbor, the perch action has been decent. There are still some pike hanging around, too.
Lower Niagara River fishing has been good to very good for salmon in the Devil’s Hole area for boaters drifting globs of treated egg skein and fished with a three-way rig. Shore casters are also placing skein under a float to pick fish up, but spoons, spinners and rattlebaits will also produce fish. Glow in the dark Booker Lil Gem spoons are working for kings under low light conditions from shore and salmon are being caught all the way up to the whirlpool.
On Oct. 4, DEC will be holding a public presentation on the 2019 king salmon stocking numbers with background on how they reached this decision through forage base trawls. The meeting will be held at Cornell Cooperative Extension Niagara, 4487 Lake Avenue (Route 78), Lockport starting at 6:30 p.m.
For you junior hunters out there, this weekend is the special Youth Firearms Big Game Hunt Oct. 6-8. Next weekend Oct. 13 and 14 is the youth hunt weekend for waterfowl and pheasant. Check out the DEC website at dec.ny.gov for all of the details and requirements. A lottery drawing for waterfowl blinds at Beaver Island State Park of Grand Island specifically for the youth hunt will take place on Oct. 12 at the Beaver Island Clubhouse at 6:30 p.m. sharp.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
Oswego River Report
According to Oz Angling Bait and Tackle:
Fishing on the Oswego River has been good. Anglers at the dam have been catching mostly kings with some browns and rainbows mixed in. The most effective offerings at the dam were pink egg sacs, skein, and estaz flies. Anglers fishing off the wall are having great success on kings and rainbows using skein and deep diving lures. Float fishing with skein on the Oswego River has become a popular tactic for targeting king salmon during the fall over the past couple years. The skein bite will continue to improve as the water temperature drops throughout the month of October.
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. 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.
Salmon River Report:
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
This morning the water flow is 335cfs / 482cfs at Pineville. The water temperature is 57º as of early this morning, air temperature 54º degrees, overcast with some rain moving through the area. The River Patrol report indicates that there are “lots of fish in both channels” of the estuary and that they are moving into the run in small pods. The lower area is seeing a “good amount” and “quite a bit of” fish moving through, the middle section is also seeing fish movement, and the upper area continues to produce steadily. A mix of steelhead, cohos, and kings have been brought to hand this morning by our clients with steelhead primarily in the upper section.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop:
Overall we had mixed reports from anglers yesterday, some groups did well and had plenty of action while others had a slow day. In the mid to upper end of the river anglers reported fish holding in the deeper holes and larger runs. In the lower end of the river the best reports we had came from anglers who fished the DSR. Anglers reported getting into mostly kings along with a few cohos. Over the last couple of days the most productive patterns have been estaz eggs, woolly buggers, black egg sucking leeches, glo-bugs and comets.
Oneida Lake Report:
The cooler temperatures which have moved into the area will likely spark a bit more walleye activity. Look for the night bite trolling in shallow water or fishing from shore to pick up as the fall temperatures move in. Anglers are continuing to find a few walleye in deeper water during the day. Look for bass along the weed beds. Worm harnesses, jigs, crankbaits and blade baits are working well.
Sandy Pond report:
The pond is typically quiet this time of year.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
Some charters are still trolling Lake Ontario waters for salmon, completing the best fishing in decades. Some two-year-old kings are coming from 300 to 400 feet of water. Last week the temps were 65 degrees on top and the same temperatures down to the bottom, and hard to find the breaks.
Steelhead and browns are also being caught. The steelhead are 20 to 40 feet down over 300 feet.
Pier fishing has been excellent with some matures coming from the Sodus Channel and the smaller Port Bay outlet. Cast out heavy spoons.
The recent rainfall (today) might open the end of Maxwell Creek, so the kings, browns and steelies can enter. There have been some browns in Hughes Marina’s lagoons, which are connected to the lake.
Bays
The perch are in Sodus Bay. They are being caught near the channel in 20 feet of water. They have been catching them near the islands.
Bass season is open until November 30th, the last Friday in the month. The weed cover on Sodus is very heavy, especially at the southern end. Use extra pound-test leaders.
Erie Canal
Bass fishing has been excellent on the canal. Fish the southern side of Widewaters or just about anywhere on the Erie.
The launch sites along the Erie are all open. The canal officially closes October 10th for the season, however not all section will be drained for the year. The water at Widewaters will remain at the current level.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Bierstine of Oak Orchard Tackle and Lodge
At this time, Brookfield Power has let us know that the planned repairs at the Waterport Hydro for this week have been cancelled. Normal run of the river flows should prevail at something like medium to medium+ thanks to precipitation this morning. Still cool temps today with a slight warm-up forecast for the rest of the week and chance for more showers. Heaviest recent precipitation has been south of the area so no blow out events are expected here although the other smaller area tributaries should see a small rise in flows. Excellent conditions for salmon and trout migrations. Thru last night there was definitely some salmon movement thru the lower river course with some fish seen crashing around at the river-mouth and at the Bridges. No doubt, further upstream to the last of the slow water, there are boiling and staging fish too. Continued good action is at the dam and close by downstream. For this beginning week period so far, the fishing pressure other then at the dam is not too bad. Anglers may also now be able to spread out thru the other area smaller tributaries too with reasonable water flows there. Reports also of some browns, rainbows/steelhead and cohos hooked already too. Good chances for salmon hook ups from the rivermouth all the way to the dam right now using your favorite legit technique. A forecasted switch around to NW winds should help move more Lake fish closer in shore and/or into the tributaries.