Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
In the Niagara River, Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls did well off of the NYPA Fishing Platform in the Niagara Gorge this week when he caught king salmon, bass and walleye using No. 4 spinners from the structure that reopened over the weekend. It had been closed for most of the summer due to the high water levels in the river and Lake Ontario. Mike Marisa of Johnstown, Penn. caught a king salmon on treated egg skein, one of the first we’ve hear about using that approach. Lisa Drabczyk of Creek Road Bait and Tackle says that glow spoons and spinners have been working well from shore under low light conditions in the gorge.
Good bass action the past week, especially for the fishermen that participated in the Lower Niagara River Sportfishing Challenge last Thursday and Friday. Crabs and golden shiners were the best live baits. A few walleyes were also caught. The single best catch was a 10 pound brown trout reeled in by Gary Hall of Niagara Falls while drifting a minnow. Winner of the Challenge was Mike Oliver of Amherst when he caught 24 bass over two days to score 2,400 points based on 100 points per bass. He was also part of the Grand Champion team when Brian Quinn of Massachusetts caught a dozen smallies, a walleye and a sheepshead to take the title with Oliver with 3,705 points. Their captain was Jeff Draper of Grand Island. The big winner was the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation when more than $90,000 was raised. It brought the total to over a million dollars in 10 years of events.
In the upper Niagara River, Capt. Mike Capizzi of Niagara Falls was doing well on bass in front of Strawberry Island using a crayfish off a three-way rig. He started in front of West Marine near the Canadian line and drifted his bait in 15-20 feet of water.
For Lake Ontario, the fish are still in transition in the lake as the salmon and trout slowly make their way closer to the streams and river. Chris Trzaska of Buffalo connected with 3 brown trout this week casting Booker spoons off the Wilson pier.
Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors in Olcott reports that the brown fishing has been good at Wilson off those piers. Greens and glows are best colors for spoons and spinners. Use No. 4 spinners with lots of dots. Salmon have been caught off the piers in Olcott, but not in any big numbers. A few browns, too. Salmon are jumping in front of the piers at Olcott and the night bite is back on in 20 to 40 feet of water with orange and firetiger Cleos, Moonshines, Bookers or J13 stickbaits. In the harbor, J13 stickbaits are producing some nice northern pike for casters. Some perch and bass are being caught in the creek, too. Out deep, in 450 to 500 feet of water, some salmon and trout action was being reported but it’s been slower. Blacks, whites and red colored spoons; flasher-fly or meat rigs will take fish, too.
Remember that there are a few big events coming up next weekend, Sept. 28 and 29. On Sept. 28, NY will be offering another free fishing day around the state. It’s also National Hunting and Fishing Day and the NYPA Wildlife Festival will be held both Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 28 and 29 at the visitors center located at 5777 Lewiston Road, Lewiston next to Niagara University from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Lots to see and do for the whole family, and it’s free!
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
Lake Ontario/Oswego River Report
According to Capt. Andy Bliss of Chasin’ Tail Adventures:
The lake fishing out of Oswego is still good. A small pod of salmon have moved into the harbor area. So you can fish the harbor for spawning fish or head offshore for next year’s class of salmon and steelhead. If you are looking to do more lake trolling in the Port Ontario area, the fishing in front of the Salmon River has really heated up the last few days.
According to Strike Zone Charters:
The fishing over the last few days has been great with the exception of Monday
Oswego River Report
According to Larry’s Salmon Tackle:
The river flow has varied reaching about 4,500 cfs on Monday and dropping back to just over 1,000 cfs on Tuesday. Yesterday it was running at 1,970 cfs but has dropped to 1,300 cfs this morning. The salmon fishing did pick up somewhat over the weekend in the Oswego River. Thundersticks and beads are the choice of baits.
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:
Wednesday started with a cold morning which turned quickly into a gorgeous day. Anglers experienced exceptional fishing with lots of movement and multiple hookups. As the sun rose, movement only diminished a small bit across the run. However as late afternoon hit, fishing quickly picked up with hookups hitting the double digits. An angler returned from the run saying he saw nothing but huge fish in the upper and middle areas of the run. The Cohos that we have seen the past several days seem to have moved up river. Again today, a couple of browns were taken. The water flow out of Pineville is 420 cfs and from the dam 335 cfs.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
Yesterday the anglers we spoke with who fished the DSR reported having another very good day with a steady movement of kings. In the lower end of the river anglers also reported getting into kings at the Black Hole, Staircase/Longbridge, Town Pool, Ballpark, and Papermill. In the mid to upper end of the river anglers reported fish holding in and around the deeper holes and larger runs such as the Sportsman Pool, Pineville, Trestle Pool, Ellis Cove, Schoolhouse Pool and Lower Fly Fishing area. The most productive patterns have been estaz eggs, sucker spawn, beadhead woolly buggers, fish skull zonkers, conehead bunny muddlers and egg sucking leeches.
Oneida Lake Report:
Anglers have been finding mainly calm conditions on the lake over the last few days. Sunny, pleasant days are in the forecast through later on Sunday. The walleye bite over the last few days has been a bit slower although they can be found in a variety of depths from close to shore, in shallow water and out in areas of 30 feet of water. The walleye night bite has also been productive. Anglers are finding some bass and perch have been reported along the north shore. Worm harnesses, blade baits and stick baits have been working well.
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 lake flipped so there should be some action from the Maxwell Creek area or from the piers at Sodus Bay.
Most charter boats are out of the water, with a few Wayne County captains fishing the Genesee River.
The kings have been in 100 fow, and there has been plenty of hooks on the graphs, however this is the time of year that that they aren’t hungry. Try cut bait or spoons and fish the marks. There are plenty of fish. You just need to get them to bite.
The browns have been close to shore and if we get more rain, they will enter the streams, following the kings. It’s transition time for Lake Ontario fishing.
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.
The bass continue to bite in the bays. The season runs till November 30. The limits are five fish at least 12 inches.
Currently the bass anglers are using the same routines, throwing rubber worms under docks, or casting the weedlines. They are on the bite this time of year. The perch have been near the north end of Sodus Bay, close to the channel.
The Port Bay channel has also produced perch and some large blue gills.
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.
Anglers were catching some crappies from the shore near the Port Gibson bridge and the bass fishing has been excellent.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Capt. John Oravec, Tight Lines Charters
Through the past end of week and weekend, there were some cooler temps, showers and gloom so more Kings seemed to be on the move. There should be good river mouth conventional gear action right through the beginning part of this week. The forecast is for warmer and clear so not sure if the recent uptick in near shore big Lake O movement will prevail or translate to upstream movement in the Oak. A few more anglers are out and about with the most legitimate action concentrated nearer the river mouth. Still the small to medium concentration of fish is at the dam, and that could be building slowly each day if harvest is not that heavy. As far as lower river movement or staging action – no concentrations of fish are yet noted. I see a few fish porpoise through here and there and haven’t seen yet the boiling concentrations of fish like at the Bridges. Staging behavior may be changing so anglers may need to take that into consideration.