Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Get ready to rumble with the fall salmon run. While it hasn’t arrived in full force yet, the New York Power Authority is doing its best to make sure the fishing platform is ready to go. We just received word that they are cleaning and inspecting the popular fall fishing location and if everything goes as planned, they should reopen things this Saturday, Sept. 14. Call 796-0135 Ext. 45 to find out if it’s open.
There are a few kings swimming around according to Rich Pisa of Kenmore. He hiked down into the Niagara Gorge and tossed some spinners from shore to connect with a couple nice salmon. Look for king action to slowly start to ramp up moving forward, especially if we get a cool rain.
Bass fishing at the Clay Banks and along Fort Niagara has been good for bass this week according to Lisa Drabczyk of Creek Road Bait and Tackle. Crayfish is your best bet.
Walleye action has slowed during the day, but the night bite has been decent along the Stella drift. Don’t rule out the Niagara Bar around the green buoy marker for bass and walleye, too. Worm harnesses or a simple spinner-worm rig are good baits for walleyes. Orange, copper and purple are good colors to start with.
A few salmon have been reported off the pier in Olcott, but the main run has not started yet according to Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors. If you are trying to catch a king, start at dusk by tossing Cleos, Spinners or J-13 Rapalas. End in the morning by 8:30 a.m. For the lake trollers, there hasn’t been a big staging event going on yet. Try for kings in 60 to 80 feet of water at first light with meat, J-plugs, flasher-fly or magnum spoons. Better action has been out deep about 8 miles out from Wilson and Olcott. It was primarily a spoon bite earlier this week for captains Tim Sylvester and Jim Gordon as they caught salmon limits on spoons. Black, red and caramel colors were working for the spoon selection.
Some pike and largemouth bass were also being caught off the piers in Wilson and Olcott, usually during the day. Sidney Syracuse caught a huge largemouth drop shotting a nightcrawler off the east pier in Olcott last week while checking out the fall fishing action with her dad.
Nothing reported in Olcott Harbor or up at Burt Dam yet in the way of salmon and trout action.
Remember that National Hunting and Fishing Day celebrations will be going on at the NYPA Visitors Center in Lewiston on Sept. 28-29 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. This free event will offer fishing (with the Niagara River Anglers fishing pond), archery, pellet gun shooting, crossbows and a long list of other activities for the entire family. Put it on your calendar! Sept. 28 is another free fishing day around the state. Make sure you abide by the rules for the body of water you plan to fish. Check out dec.ny.gov.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
Lake Ontario/Oswego River Report
Typically the lake fishing season would be winding down at this point but it continues to be very good both for staging salmon and the offshore fishery. The wind is again an issue today keeping boats at the dock but conditions are expected to improve for the weekend. The lake is producing some nice size salmon with a beautiful 34.2 pound specimen caught aboard Top Gun Charters recently. Spoons, flashers and flies and cut-bait are still working.
Oswego River Report
According to Oz Angling Tackle:
After some rain over the last 48 hours the water flow reached 3,190 cfs yesterday afternoon. This morning it is flowing at 2,640 cfs. Anglers are finding a few early season kings along with a brown trout or two with no heavy push of kings as yet. Drifting an egg sac, skein, bead, or fly along the bottom is a common technique for anglers targeting early run kings at the Varick Dam. The other common technique for targeting early run kings is throwing deep diving lures off the wall. We are also seeing a variety of fish in the river including smallmouth bass, walleye, rockbass, sheepshead, channel cats, carp, and longnose gar in the river. Bottom bouncing and slip float fishing with gulp minnows, crayfish, and night crawlers has been effective for catching fish from shore over the past week or so.
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:
Yesterday most anglers reported there was good movement and great fishing within the time frame of sunrise and midday. As the sun rose higher, however, movement slowed considerably. In the lower and higher areas of the river there were reports of flurries of fish, movement in 1’s and 2’s, and there was constant fish movement throughout the day. As usual, at the end of the day, the reports were that there were considerable fish moving. With rain overnight, cooler temperatures and some overcast skies, today should be good on the run. The water flow out of Pineville is 453 cfs and from the dam 335 cfs.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
The majority of anglers we have spoken to have been mostly fishing the lower end of the river with areas such as the Ballpark, Town Pool, Longbridge/Staircase, and Black Hole producing the best action. Those that have fished the mid to upper end of the river reported fish holding in and around the deeper holes and larger runs. Anglers have been getting into mostly kings but a few Cohos have shown up over the last couple of days. The most productive patterns have been black or olive woolly buggers, black or purple egg sucking leeches, orange chartreuse or pink comets, glo-bugs and estaz eggs.
Oneida Lake Report:
Bass have begun feeding on young gizzard shad so look for bird activity and you will likely find some action. The walleye bite has slowed a bit which is typical this time of year as they begin to feed on young gizzard shad but you can still find them in up to 25 feet of water. A variety of baits are working including worm harnesses, blade baits and stickbaits.
Sandy Pond Report:
Activity is quiet on the pond which is typical for this time of year.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
The big derbies are over; however, the big fishing continues. The kings are not staging yet, so they have been scattered. Try deep (500 fow) then work closer to shore.
Straight out from Hughes’ Marina and Sodus Bay kings were in 200 fow down 70 to 90 feet. Flasher fly rigs have worked, mostly off the wire.
Some nice steelhead were being caught at that depth, hitting spoons.
Bays
The wake restrictions have been lifted. Just remember it is currently 5 mph 500 feet from shore.
The docks at Margaretta Road launch are now finished. They are 60 X 60-foot poly deck dock.
All launch sites are open in Wayne County.
Largemouths are hitting in Sodus Bay. Cast under docks with worms or drop-shot rigs. You should also fish close to the south end of the bay near the weeds. If the machines are out cutting weeds, go to another section of the bay.
Some perch were being caught at the channel at Port Bay. This is the time of year where they enter bays from Lake Ontario. Use spikes on small jigs or cast out 2-inch rubber shad bait.
Autumn is the ideal time for fishing bays. There is less boat traffic and all fish are on a feeding frenzy because of lower water temperatures.
If you need tackle Bay Bridge Sport Shop and Davenports at the south end of Sodus Bay are always opened. B-E Fishing in Ontario has everything you need to put you on the water.
Check out the rest of the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops. waynecountytourism.com.
Erie Canal
The canal officially closes the second week in October for locking boats. Section are drained, however Widewaters is not.
Currently, the bass are hitting along the south side of Widewaters and the section in Lyons. The largemouths in canal waters are 5 plus pounds.