Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
Walleye action in the lower river continues to be consistent according to Capt. Joe Marra of Niagara Rainbow Charters. Worm harnesses are still the hot bait set-up, bouncing bottom with 3-way rigs in the river or on the Niagara Bar. Water temperatures had come down to the mid-60s, but that could change with warmer weather in the forecast.
Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls is back at it in the gorge, casting chartreuse and silver spinners from shore while he pursues walleye, king salmon, and brown trout. Walleyes were the most prevalent, followed by bass, but it won’t be long before greater numbers of salmon and trout show up. Salmon are currently staging on the Niagara Bar. Tommy Holycross of Wheatfield reports that it’s been a slow start for the salmon run off the NYPA fishing platform, although a few fish have been caught. The walleye bite is decent and early morning/early evening are the best times to score. Worm harnesses with bottom bouncer weights and heavy jigging spoons work best. Smallmouth bass are still around in good numbers, and minnows seem to be working best for bass.
Karen Evarts with The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn in OIcott reports anglers are starting to see a few brown trout and salmon caught off the piers there. They are also picking up a few perch and pike, too. Out in the lake, a few mature salmon that are in staging mode are being caught and those numbers should start to increase soon. Starting on Sept. 19, the Erie Canal Corporation will be releasing water from the canal to help trigger spawning runs in 18 Mile Creek, Johnson Creek, the Oak Orchard River, and Sandy Creek. Get ready to rock.
Capt. Joe Oakes of Salmonboy Charters reports that there have been fish on the inside off Wilson and Olcott in 80 to 140 feet of water – a mix of brown trout and mature salmon. Heading out deep to 300 feet of water plus will produce immature salmon and steelhead all the way to the Canadian line. Flasher-flies and spoons are working for both options. It had been 80 to 90 feet down on the inside and 60 to 80 feet down out deep. That said, it could have changed with the recent weather issues.
Capt. Joe Cinelli of Cinelli’s Guide Service hit the Niagara Bar before storms rolled in with Gary Laidman of South Wales and Dan Ettipio of Clarence and they caught a good mix of brown trout and salmon. Cinelli reports they were fishing down 60 to 66 feet on the riggers and running small spoons (old NK28’s) with black/green and black/green/glow colors. Thermocline was around 60-foot down and the browns were hanging out right in that zone.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
Salmon fishing has been tough this week. Blowing wind and staging fish has made it a challenging time on the lake.
You can still catch some nice fish; however, you must move around. Troll outside Sodus and Port Bays in 120 to150fow down 30 to 100 feet. The kings will bite on flasher flies and cutbait.
Browns are in 30 fow off of Sodus Bay. They have been ignoring spoons.
October will be the month of trout in the streams, and pier fishing Port and Sodus Bays.
Yesterday’s rain will make Maxwell and the other streams flow, however it’s a little early for stream action.
Bays
The perch are scattered in Sodus Bay with the smaller variety dominating. You need to move around to catch some jumbo perch.
It’s the same situation at Port Bay. The best bet at that bay is to use a 2-inch grub near the channel.
Sodus and Port Bays still have some fantastic largemouth bass fishing. It’s the best time of year, and the bays are quieter with less recreational boat traffic after Labor Day. The bass have put the feeding bag on and are hitting Senko worm rigs.
Erie Canal
Widewaters is not only the largemouth spot on the Erie, the panfish have been hitting close to the shore. The kayak anglers have caught sunnies, bluegills and a few crappies.
All the locks on the canal are open until mid-October.
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:
Lake Ontario action for the past weekend and beginning part of this week was mostly shut down thanks to high winds and storms. Charters and recs are headed back out there today searching mostly beyond near-shore. Warm water be darned though this time of the year, Kings could be found staged up in 60 – 80+ fow – or shallower. So watch the temp probe less for matures this time of the year and maybe try a near shore troll. There are some salmon seen crashing outside the rivermouth at the O-dark thirty hours. Hot and dry and bluebird weather forecast ahead and the subsequent clearing water might make it tough in the near future and stealth tactics or casts could be the order of the day. Upstream trib action not taking off just yet, rivermouth casters will be the first to intercept the first scouts of the season.
Here’s to some quality Orleans County and Oak Orchard fish this warm water season and more big salmon and trout in the cold water trib season upcoming!
2024 Fall LOC Derby Results
In the Fall LOC Derby that concluded over the past Labor Day weekend, there were some high-on-the-leaderboard fish caught out of the Oak. Bill Hilts Jr. reports that second place in the Salmon Division was Edward Hetrick of Edinburg, PA with a 29 lb 3 oz King. He was fishing out of his 17 foot Sylvan Backtroller with partner John Verba of Zelienople, PA. They won 2,500 and an extra $500 for catching the largest salmon while being a member of LOTSA. “We were trolling a green J-plug 95 ft down over 130 fow on Aug 27” said Hetrick. “The fish hit so hard it almost spooled my Penn 310!” Hetrick has been fishing in the derbies a long time. His best fish was a 35 pounder in the old ESLO Derby. This year he recorded a 5th place King in the Spring LOC, a 3rd place steelhead in the Summer LOC and the 2nd place King this Fall.
Also caught out of the Oak was the first place Brown Trout in the Fall LOC. It was a 15 lb 3 oz beauty reeled in by Kristine Grager of Lyndonville (pictured below). She was fishing with her husband Capt. Mike Grager of Get Hooked Sportfishing. The big brown was worth $2,500 plus $250 for big fish of the day. “We were fishing in both the LOC and KOTO when storms chased us off the Lake,” said Grager at the awards ceremony. “We went back out later for my personal best brown trout. We were in 70 fow and the Moonshine Green Hulk 14 spoon was on the bottom, using our downrigger to get it there. We thought it was a lake trout.”
2024 King of the Oak Results
In the last leg of the King of the Oak (KOTO), Capt Chris Vogt and the U-Betcha Team took the August win. For the KOTO season, 3 legs combined the Yankee Troller team took first, U-Betcha second place and Intimidator third place. Congrats to all the winners and thanks to the volunteers and Ernst Lake Breeze Marina for helping and hosting. See you in 2025 for even more Oak Orchard big fish action!
Oswego County
Lake Ontario – Mexico
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Lake fishing might be finished for the season, not least, due to the past weekend’s “mega blow.” With winds 30-45+mph and waves 10-15’, temperatures have homogenized.
Our recommendation is to look for the coolest water you can find and target fish where that layer meets the bottom. Option two is to head offshore and target next year’s salmon and steelhead.
Tight lines everyone!
Salmon River, Pulaski NY
• Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
• Click Here for the Current CFS at Pineville
Fish have continued to spread through the entire river. This has led to great angling results throughout the entire system.
There were reports of big pods in the mid river around the Sportsman Pool. A push of cohos made it up last week, so you should find them in the upper river. Reports out of the DSR sound promising too, with lots of fish moving in as the big winds raged.
Kings are starting to pile up in the estuary, so we expect steady pushes for the foreseeable future.
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.