Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
The Summer Lake Ontario Counties Salmon and Trout Derby is into its final weekend and the new Grand Prize leader is Del Casterline of Mountain Top, Pa. with a 27-pound king salmon he caught out east in Lake Ontario. Current leaders for other categories continue to be 13 pounds for steelhead reeled in by Jason Monkelbaan of Wheatfield; nearly 14 pounds for brown trout weighed in by Fred Angold of Rochester; and just over 23 pounds for lake trout, caught by Paul Evanek of Lansing. Check out the leaderboard at loc.org. Capt. Joe Oakes of Salmon Boy Sportfishing reports that salmon and trout action continues to be good with fish being caught from 100 feet of water out past 400 feet. Spoons, flasher-flies and meat are all taking fish 70 to 100 feet down. Bait seems to come and go. There is lots of bait first thing in the morning then it just disappears. There are fish both east and west of his port of Wilson. Basically, find some open water, set-up and catch fish. Karen Evarts at the Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn in Olcott reports good action from 90 feet to 300 feet of water, deep enough to get to where the water changes. Meat was the big bait item for kings this week. Browns are being caught in closer, steelhead out deep. It’s a busy tournament weekend with the LOTSA events starting Friday and the Sonny’s contest also starting on Friday. Stop in to register.
Capt. Joe Marra of Niagara Rainbow Charters reports decent action on walleyes in the river and on the Niagara Bar using worm harnesses. Use your trolling motor to give you enough speed to turn the blades on the harnesses. Bass fishing has been slower, but it should start to pick up soon in the lower river.
Capt. Connor Cinelli of Grand Island has been fishing both the upper and lower Niagara River. He has been catching lots of smallmouth bass mixed in with sheepshead around the roundhouse and emerald channel areas in the upper river. It’s been crayfish and Ned rigs for the best bite. The walleye fishing down below has been good, bottom bouncing harnesses on the Stella and the Bar. He has seen some decent smallmouth action drifting crabs along the cliffs just this week.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
The kings have been east of Sodus in 120 to 225 fow down 90 feet. Spoons seem to be the most productive.
Flasher flies and meat rigs are also hot. The kings are really hitting everything, Vary your trolling speed.
Be careful if you’re on the water. Some serious weather patterns have been moving into our area during the afternoon hours. Use your radar app.
With this fantastic fishing make sure you sign up for the summer LOC Derby. It started on Saturday, June 29th and will run until July 28th. Check out the web link below. Don’t go out trolling for salmon without registering for the LOC.
Grand Prize salmon as of 7/19 weighed-in at 27 pounds caught in Oswego waters by Liquid Plumber…nice going Del!
First Place in the Lake Trout division so far is a 23.5-pound fish caught in Wayne County waters.
Bays
The largemouth bass are hitting in Port and Sodus Bays. During the quiet morning try some topwater rigs. Cast next to the weedlines.
The very popular Senko worm rig packages come in all colors. Rig them weighed Texas style and watch the bass hit.
Perch are scattered in both bays, however if you move around you can find them. Try the northern islands in Sodus Bay and fish the deeper water off the points in Port Bay. Grubs work the best. Use a 2-inch grub with a chartreuse tail. Tip it with spikes.
The Wayne County Youth Fishing Derby started June 21st and runs until July 28. Check out the web for more information.
The awards ceremony is August 4th at the Sodus Point Firehall. Stop by…it’s a lot of fun.
Erie Canal
Bass in the Widewaters are huge, Catch them by shore, boat, or kayak. Use spinner baits next to the south side of the canal. There are also crappies suspended in the Widewaters section. The county park is an excellent place to launch boats or kayaks.
Launch sites for Sodus: Bay Bridge Sport Shop. Launch at the Margaretta. It’s on your right on Route 14 just past Martin’s Marina.
Launch sites for Port Bay: Barrier bar road at the north end of West Port Bay Road and the south end DEC site. The north barrier bar road is very bumpy. Take it slow.
Bait for fishing is available on the south end of Sodus at Davenports and Bay Bridge Sport Shop.
On Port Bay Jarvis Bait Farm is open on Brown Road. The signs are on East Port Bay Road at the junction of Brown Road.
Toadz Bait is near the end of West Port Bay Road.
Notable Freshwater Fishing Regulation Changes
The following list offers a summary of the most notable fishing regulation changes resulting from the adopted rulemakings described above.
- New statewide regulation for rainbow trout, brown trout, and splake in lakes and ponds. The season will now be open year-round, with a five-fish daily limit, any size, with a “no more than two longer than 12 inches” harvest rule.
- Statewide Atlantic salmon regulations will now allow for a year-round open season.
- Ice fishing is permitted on all waters in New York unless specifically prohibited with the exception of Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Warren, and Washington counties where previous rules remain.
- New specific dates replaced floating dates for statewide season openers to include:
- May 1 – Walleye, Northern Pike, Pickerel, and Tiger Muskellunge.
- June 1 – Muskellunge. (Note that in 2022, DEC will allow for the fishing of muskellunge beginning the last Saturday in May to accommodate previously planned fishing trips);and
- June 15 – Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass.
- A five-fish daily walleye limit in Oneida Lake.
- A new regulation to limit the growth of the walleye population in Skaneateles Lake. No daily possession limit; 12-inch minimum size limit, open year-round.
- The statewide sunfish daily harvest limit has been reduced from 50 to 25 fish: and
- The statewide minimum size limit for crappie has been increased from nine inches to ten inches.
Orleans County
Orleans County Sportfishing Coordinator Ron Bierstine:
Fishing, trolling, boating in the Orleans County waters out of the Oak and Point Breeze remains top notch! Rec anglers and charters are coming in with great King salmon catches and now, more recently, the bag is filling out with more steelhead and browns. Hawg Lakers are still there too for most that want to target them. Summer is upon us with all the hot and stormy weather that can come with that. But it hasn’t deterred many anglers as usually, the storms are passing in nature. The boating traffic at times reflects the great fishing, but like we’ve said before, it hasn’t seemed to put the fish that much off the bite. Look for chance of passing storms for this mid week period with clearing for end of week, then continued warm with chance of a break in the humidity for the upcoming weekend.
The second leg of the King of the Oak (KOTO) tourney came off well for this past Saturday, July 20. Competitors filled out their point spread well and coolers were full of big fish! Capt. Dan Jochem with Escape to the Oak Charters brought in the big fish of the tourney. The big handsome King was taken on a greasy chicken wing spin doctor with a stud fly trailer. They found dipsey action in 150 fow 222 ft out. According to the smart troll they were working about 65 ft down.
Capt. Jonathan Forder from Mister Sportfishing says “the fishing has been great. We have had great King, Coho and steelhead fishing. Brown trout are in the mix too when we are working shallower water. Fish are in 80 – 300 fow. Find the group of fish you want to work and go get ’em!” Dave and Josh from Warsaw, NY just enjoyed a great trip with Mister Sportfishing. Hey they’re practically locals! Great to see folks from all over enjoying the open Lake action.
Oswego County
The 2024 season on Lake Ontario will go down as one of the greatest of all time! One Captain put it like this: “everyday lately is like a normal year’s best day of the season!”
Lake Ontario – Oswego
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
The best salmon fishing has been from 140-450.’ Temperatures have been steady throughout the week. 85-90’is where we have found the 53* water. So set your rigs below that level.
We recommend:
- 400-500’ coppers
- 245-300’ divers
Meat rigs have been taking a lot of fish. White combinations early with chrome patterns taking over in the sun. Other anglers have been using nothing but spoons with great success. Magnum spoons have been the best.
Lake Ontario – Oswego, Mexico, Port Ontario NY
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
The brown fishing in Mexico Bay has been nothing short of fantastic! The best bite has been in 70 to 90 feet of water. We recommend fishing 5 to 10 feet off the most active fish.
Standard and stingray sized spoons have been most productive. Darker colors and glows early, with brighter colors, like chartreuse, when the sun comes out.
A few kings have been mixed in with the browns to keep things interesting. But those looking specifically for salmon have been finding the most luck by running west of 9-Mile.
Tight lines everyone!
Free Oswego Fishing Guide
The updated Oswego County Fishing and Hunting Guide is now available online and in print. The guide features a new cover and an expanded listing of fishing guides and charters.
The 67-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.