Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
The final weekend of the Lake Ontario Counties (LOC) Trout and Salmon Derby is this weekend and Joe Miller of Honeoye is still leading for the $25,000 Grand Prize with a 28-pound, 14-ounce king salmon reeled in off Point Breeze in Orleans County. Both trout leaders changed this past week. In the Steelhead division, Daryl Jenkins of Factoryville, Pennsylvania gave his charter skipper Capt. Vince Pierleoni of Thrillseeker an early 60th birthday present when he weighed in a 13-pound, 6-ounce Olcott fish. For the brown trout category, Kathryn Covin of Howard, Pennsylvania took over the top slot with a 16-pound Wilson fish. The derby ends at 1 p.m. on Labor Day with the awards to follow at 3 p.m. at Riley’s Bar and Grill in Sodus Bay. Check out LOC.org for a complete leaderboard. The Greater Niagara Fish Odyssey is now over. The awards are Sept. 25 at 3 p.m. at the NYPA Wildlife Festival. There are numerous winners for both the adults and the kids. Check out the Fishing Chaos website or fishodyssey.net for a complete list – so far. Remember that it will all change when the first-place winners are put into a hat and drawn by a primate of choice by Carmen Presti with the Primate Sanctuary.
In the fishing department, the weather put the fishing on hold for a few days, but the mature king salmon are starting to show up on time. According to Capt. Mike Johannes of On the Rocks Charters out of Wilson it has been a tough grind in 90 to 200 feet of water for staging kings. The salmon have been very finicky but when you are in the right place at the right time, the bite can be very good. The water from Olcott to the Niagara Bar has been producing some big kings. It has been mostly flashers and flies, but some days flashers and meat have been best. Magnum and medium sized spoons are always an option, especially out deep. Johannes has been running riggers 50 feet down to just off the bottom. Divers have been anywhere from 100 to 220 back, depending on the day and the depth.
Niagara Bar action has been good to very good for mature king salmon according to John Van Hoff of North Tonawanda trolling aboard the Terminator. His crew primarily ran flashers and flies, and they caught mature king salmon from the Canadian line all the way to Six Mile Creek. Between the Niagara Bar and Wilson, cut bait has turned on and there were good reports of decent salmon fishing.
Capt. Tim Sylvester of Tough Duty Charters reports that the offshore bite off Olcott has been decent from the 26 to the 30 line for a mix of salmon and trout. There have been a few mature kings off the port in 100-200 feet of water, but it has been a slow pick.
In the Niagara River, Lisa Drabczyk with Creek Road Bait and Tackle reports that walleye action is still good, and the bass fishing has been consistent for the most part. For walleye, some of the river drifts are holding fish, as well as the Bar area around the green buoy marker. Bass are hitting off the NYPA fishing platform, on the Bar and around the Fort. Crayfish are the top live bait, what most people are using.
Oswego County
- Watch “The Voice of the Salmon River” on Facebook or YouTube.
- We expect a busy weekend, with $25k on the line via the LOC derby.
- Salmon River kings are still spotty, but we are hoping for a push after the white water release this weekend.
Lake Ontario – Oswego
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
The fishing out of Oswego was very good this week. We’ve had a big blow the last two days that should stir things up. The most productive water has been 80-150’ The fish have been tight to the bottom. Look for where 55-60 degrees meets the bottom.
Glow spoons have been good early; Happy Meal, Neon Gator and Glow Yellowtail are our recommendations.
And flasher fly combos also dominate our spreads. The best combos have been: White Mt Dew / Hammer or B flies, Scumline / Bam, Pig Pen / Glo B Fly, Wht Grn Dot / Stud.
Lake Ontario – Mexico, NY
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
On the other side of the plant, fishing has been similar, except that the fish have been a bit deeper. 120-150’ has been a better depth range off the river and north up to the dunes.
Most fish have been biting flasher flys; 8” and 11” flashers have been productive. Try a 30-36” lead behind an 11” flasher and you won’t be disappointed.
Salmon River – Oswego
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Just like last week, the river has been spotty.
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run, king spottings and hookups have been far and few between. A few salmon have been seen daily. But they haven’t had a decent sized push yet.
But hopefully this weekend’s white-water release will draw a few in!
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
The kings have been a tough bite; however, some trollers were catching them between Sodus Bay and Hughes’ Marina in 150 to 250 fow. The depth was 85 down over the weekend.
The salmon were hitting Moonshine Carbon 14 and other Mag spoons.
The Lake trout were on the bottom in 150 fow and hit the typical cowbell /peanut presentation.
The LOC Fall Derby started August 19th and runs until Labor Day. Make sure you sign-up for this one. The Grand Prize will put a whooping $25,000 in your pocket. All the info is on loc.org
Awards ceremony will be Labor Day at Riley’s Grill on Ridge Road the south end of Sodus Bay. Winners must be there by 3 pm.
Lake Ontario tributary regulations:
Three fish in combination and not to include more than one Rainbow Trout (or Steelhead) and One Brown Trout.
Bays
The bass fishing has been excellent in Sodus and Port Bays. The only difficulty would be the low water levels for launching boats. Port Bay has floating docks at the south and north end of the bay off West Port Bay Road.
Bay Bridge Sport Shop, Margaretta Road, and Martins (old Arney’s Marina) have launch ramps for boats.
The bass continue to hit worm rigs near weedlines in both bays. If you have the opportunity fish during the week and early in the day. Boat traffic on weekends is a challenge for bass anglers.
Erie Canal
The kayak anglers were out this weekend at Widewaters. They were targeting anything with fins!
The catfish are in the deeper pools in Palmyra and the bass have been every where on the canal. Fish the south side where the weedline are located.