Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
National Hunting and Fishing Day is Sept. 23 this year and one of the biggest celebrations is the NYPA Wildlife Festival, set for Sept. 23 and 24 at the Power Vista located at 5777 Lewiston Road, Lewiston from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. It’s free to attend and co-sponsored by the Niagara County Federation of Conservation Clubs. Remember that the Greater Niagara Fish Odyssey Awards ceremony is Saturday, Sept. 23 at the Festival at 4 p.m. in the Primate Sanctuary tent. Speaking of free, Saturday Sept. 23rd is a free fishing day for all of New York State to honor NHF Day. While no license is required, you still must abide by the regulations for the body of water you intend to fish.
The dual shore fishing duo of the Mike and Mike show were back at it this week. Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls has been targeting the fast oxygenated waters in the gorge of the lower Niagara River to target fresh kings that have been entering the system. One day it’s pearl white No. 4 spinners and another day is chartreuse or a combination of the two. In addition to mature kings, he’s also been catching some chunky walleyes in the gorge. Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls managed to make it into the gorge this week, too. Silver and green No. 5 spinners worked best for him, and he actually caught king salmon on back-to-back casts. In addition to salmon, walleyes were on his catch list.
Tom Calvert of Lynchburg, Virginia was able to do some of his own casting for walleyes, fishing with Capt. Frank Campbell of Lewiston. Using KVD Elite stickbaits from Strike King, he managed to catch a limit of ‘eyes by working the current structure with a slow retrieve in Devil’s Hole. Smallmouth bass were also caught, and they even hooked into a king salmon that pulled the hooks out of the lure when it made a run upriver.
Capt. Joe Srouji of Angler Edge Charters reports that fishing has been very good for walleyes and smallmouth bass in the lower Niagara River this past week. For bass, crayfish off three-way rigs has been best. Walleyes prefer worm harnesses and vertical jigs.
In the upper Niagara River, bass and walleye action continues to be good. One hidden fishing hole is the Erie Canal, and the fall action has been good. Calvert tried his luck trolling from a boat with small body baits and no weight to catch over 20 fish. Most of the fish were feisty smallmouth bass, but he also caught channel catfish, perch, and rock bass for a great day on Monday – his first fishing experience on the canal. Water releases for 18 Mile Creek, the Oak Orchard River and Sandy Creek are now underway from the Erie Canal.
Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors in Olcott reports that they are seeing a few salmon and brown trout caught off the piers with spoons and J13 Rapala stickbaits. Try using treated sacs or skein under a float. Night fishing is best for salmon. Browns seem to be moving in and out, with a few being caught by trollers close to the shoreline. Lake staging is happening now for salmon all along the lakeshore. Evarts reported some salmon action in 60 to 80 feet of water out front with plugs, meat, and flasher/fly. Some fish are being caught in the harbor at night, too. There have been some kings staging on the Niagara Bar drop off as well.
Orleans County
Orleans County Sportfishing Coordinator Ron Bierstine:
Where do you want to catch a King? Open Lake or tributary? In the lake, the staging fish are not quite into the combat fishing zone of 20 fow, they are still out a little deeper. Trollers are primarily working the 60 – 80+ fow for mature fish. On trusted report though, there were a few salmon crashing around the rivermouth for the beginning part of this week. Look for a few of those fish to sneak into and up the Oak Orchard River with as many or more heading back out to deeper lake water until there might be some wind and wave action for stained water cover to make them feel comfortable to shoot upstream. In the Oak Orchard River, there are a few Kings at the dam where dead drifts with skein are mostly producing. And, at the rivermouth the hook-ups are still coming after a lot of casts, but hopefully getting better each day when cool weather hangs in. Any warm up and dry weather will tend to stall the action.
For the tributary action kicking off, look for rivermouth and downriver action first followed by later-on upstream fast water action. Consistent cool weather and good water flows are usually the ticket for things to get going. We already have half of that equation working favorably for us with “extra” Erie Canal water feed being released into Oak Orchard and Sandy Creek. Click here for scheduled water releases from the Canal.
Shane S. (above) got a hard strike and good battle from his King from the east pier this past weekend. He was casting a perch or firetiger jointed rapala. Earlier, the whole crew of Becky S, Butch M. and Corrina M. were out on the Troutman2 and had a good haul! They had a great time staying at the “Sunshine House,” visited several local produce stands and eateries. They say they will be back for sure!
Captain Lou Borrelli from Get the Net Charters was out in that 60 – 80 fow range this past weekend for the last trip of the season. “There were tons of bait and fish from Bald Eagle Marina to the glass house. The bite was hot early in the morning with mature Kings and a good class of brown trout. Glow spoons and glow heads on meat rigs was the ticket.”
Oswego County
Salmon River, Pulaski NY
• Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
• Click Here for the Current CFS at Pineville
Anglers have been having success around the staircase and ballpark areas fishing the faster, oxygenated water.
A large group of salmon have entered the estuary and are holding up around the route 3 bridge. With the cooler nights, these fish should start entering the river by the weekend. We’re predicting they will spread out from DSR to the mid river section.
Best baits this time of year are flies in egg patterns or comets Rubber egg imitations and foam eggs are always productive. Another fun and rewarding way to get salmon to bite is running a side planer/plug combo. M2 flatfish and K13&14 kwikfish are the baits of choice.
Note: anglers should be aware of the construction at the Trestle Pool. The south side has been flattened out and the middle pillar has been removed.
Oswego River
• Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
• Click Here for the Current CFS
Fishing on the Oswego has really picked up this week. The water went up on Tuesday and attracted a large number of salmon at the Varick Dam.
Unfortunately, not as many are being taken off the wall yet. With the warm temps they are heading up to the dam or the faster shoots on the east side. But stay tuned as the weather cools!
Note: Click here to see a map of the areas that are closed due to construction.
Lake Ontario – Oswego County
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
The lake bite has become more sporadic as more fish start to enter the rivers. But traffic is also down, so the fish have less offerings to choose from.
Boats focusing on the lake are reporting kings from 10 feet all the way out to 100.
Atomic flies, behind 8 inch and 11-inch attractors, have been doing the most damage for when boats. But when you get under 15-feet, J-plugs are a must!
Free Oswego Fishing Guide
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The 68-page guide includes a detailed overview of fishing opportunities on eastern Lake Ontario, Oneida Lake, the Oswego and Salmon rivers and a variety of other tributaries, as well as the more than 40,000 acres of public lands available for hunting.