Eastern Finger Lakes / Central New York Fishing Report
Mike Crawford of upstateguideservice.com
The mighty king salmon of Upstate New Yorks’ fabled Salmon River can be a challenging trophy fish to catch!
Sometimes you have to think outside the box!
Descending water temperatures have the warm water fish feeding hard in the lakes. Smallmouth bass and panfishing is excellent right now!
Lake-run trout such as steelhead and brown trout have migrated into many tributaries following the heavy rains we experienced late last week.
Fly casters and spin casters are having success as the water levels decline.
Have a safe and enjoyable Autumn season!
Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Salmon and trout continue to trickle into places like 18 Mile Creek. This last rain should help.
Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors reports that some fresh salmon made the run to the dam in the last couple of days but there were crowded conditions last weekend. Eggs or egg imitations are working best. Some salmon and trout have been caught off the piers in both Wilson and Olcott. Spoons, spinners and eggs are working best. Jim DeGirolamo of Derby headed out into the lake over the weekend in 320 feet of water and caught some nice silver salmon, but most of the reports have been spotty out there. Wind has been keeping people off the lake.
In the lower Niagara River, while a few salmon are being caught, most anglers are focusing on trout or bass in the lower Niagara River according to Lisa Drabczyk at Creek Road Bait and Tackle.
Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls was 4 for 7 on steelhead off the NYPA fishing platform in the gorge last weekend casting spinners into the turbulent water. A few salmon were caught over the weekend. Meanwhile along Artpark, shoreline casters and drifters have been using eggs, beads, spoons and spinners to take a mix of steelhead and brown trout. In fact, some pretty big browns – caught and released for the most part. Mixed in with those fish are lake trout. Remember that lake trout season is closed in New York until the end of the year.
Musky action is picking up in the upper river as water temperatures continue to drop. It should be in the upper 50s now. Members of the Niagara Musky Association are gearing up for the Tim Wittek Memorial Musky Tournament on Nov. 3.
The Department of Environmental Conservation will be holding public meetings to give an update on the state of Lake Ontario’s forage base. The meeting in Lockport will take place on Nov. 13 at Cornell Cooperative Extension, 4487 Lake Ave., Lockport starting at 6:30 p.m. There will also be an online presentation on Nov. 14 for anyone who can’t make the meeting. Check the DEC website out at www.dec.ny.gov for details.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
Oswego River Report
The rainfall last week increased the flows to a point where fishing off the wall is limited to only one or two spots. The flow has been running between 10,000-13,000 cfs for a few days. It did drop some yesterday with the flow at 10,400 cfs. However, it has risen 12,300 cfs this morning. Hopefully we will see it drop making more areas accessible.
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:
The release from the dam continues to be 750 cfs with the flow at Pineville at 989 cfs. Anglers reported a tough day of fishing yesterday. Some reports indicated a few fish brought to hand, while others went home empty handed. Reports were a mixed bag with kings, browns and steelies, but none in any great numbers. Just before sunset, one guest reported catching 5 fresh kings in the middle section of the run.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
The few anglers we spoke with yesterday reported getting into a mix of kings and steelhead depending on where they fished. Anglers in the lower end of the river reported getting into a few steelhead and said that the water clarity had improved and the amount of leaves was not as bad as the previous day. In the mid to upper end of the river anglers reported getting into mostly kings along with a few steelhead mixed in. Anglers were also able to get into some kings in some of the smaller local tributaries. Anglers who were fly fishing had the most success dead drifting with estaz eggs, sucker spawn, glo-bugs, steelhead stones, flesh flies, egg sucking leeches and woolly buggers. Anglers who were bottom bouncing with spinning gear or float fishing had the most success with pink and blue egg sacs, pink worms and trout beads.
Oneida Lake Report:
With the cooler temperatures the night walleye bite has slowly picked up. Casting stickbaits from shore just before and after dark is a suggested application for walleye this time of year.
Sandy Pond Report:
The pond is quiet this time of year.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
There is more action in the streams. The rain we had last week and the precipitation due today encourages the trout and salmon to swim up-stream.
The dark kings have entered Maxwell and other streams in Wayne County. The browns are also in the tribs, although not in the numbers we have historically seen.
The trout are hitting egg sacs, beads, and small bright spoons. The kings are only attacking what bothers them as they are not eating anything. Remember …it is illegal to snag fish.
Bays
The perch are in the bays; however, they are still scattered. Try 2-inch Power Bait (emerald shiner) or small chartreuse jigs tipped with spikes.
In Sodus, they can be found off the points in 20 to 25 feet of water. The Port Bay perch have been scattered in water at the south end of the bay. Fish deep this time of year.
Bass fishing this time of year is excellent. Fish the docks or weeds. All launch sites are open on Port and Sodus Bays. The regular bass season closes the last day of November.
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. B-E will be closing after decades of offering bait and tackle for anglers fishing this region. Keep an eye-out for some tremendous sales.
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 closed last week for boat traffic, however that won’t interfere with fishing certain sections.
Canal waters are running in the high 60-degree temperature which is perfect for bass fishing, Fish the south side of the waters where the weedlines are thick.
The bass boats were out near Widewaters on Sunday. They were fishing the middle of the canal and the south shoreline.