Oswego County
Even with low water, steelhead fishing on the Salmon River has been on fire this week!
Salmon River, Pulaski NY
• Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
• Click Here for the Current CFS at Pineville
Steelhead can be found from the estuary all the way to the fly zone!
The DSR reports that anglers have had great activity landing a mix of brown trout and steelhead in the upper sections of the run lately. Big numbers have also been seen from Pineville to 2A. With the low water conditions, we recommend that bank angler stay below Pineville to avoid the drift boat traffic.
Float fishing has become the most common technique, but bottom bouncing and running plugs on side planners also works great.
Anglers have reported having success with a multitude of baits. Egg sacs in blue, white, and pink are all good options. As well as beads in 8, 10, and 12mm sizes, as long as they look like a natural egg. Glow bugs and estaz flies are good options too.
Oswego River, City of Oswego
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
The low flow on the Oswego has lead to good success for those fishing the low wall. Fishing beads and jig under slip floats has produced many brown trout and steelhead.
Natural color beads in 8 and 10 mm sizes are best. While white marabou jigs with a little added color are also getting the job done.
Those looking to wade will find feeding trout below any spawning salmon, from the dam all the way down to Lock seven.
And if you missed out on catching salmon this year, there are still decent numbers hanging around.
Please Consider the Following Year-Round Notice: There are mandatory personal flotation device (PFD) zones on the river. The Oswego Fire Department offers loaner life jackets at no charge through its “Loaner for Life” program. For more information contact the fire station at 35 E. Cayuga St. by calling (315) 343.2161.
• Check the current water flow
And be sure to read the recent news release about fishing access on the West Riverwalk.
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.
Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
A new tackle shop has opened at the former Youngstown Marina site on Water Street in Youngstown – The Wicked Worm. According to Alan Raymond, he will be there every Thursday and Sunday and he hopes to fill in with family members other days when he can from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Your best bet is to follow their Facebook page and communicate through the social media channels.
Fishing has picked up in the lower Niagara River, but so has the number of boats according to Capt. Frank Campbell of Lewiston. A few steelhead, lake trout and walleye are being caught on MagLip plugs in Devil’s Hole off three-way rigs. Steelhead numbers are slowly increasing but lake trout will often dominate the catch. Be sure to carefully release lakers quickly since they are out of season until Dec. 1. Beads, eggs, and MagLips are working downriver as well. Brown trout are starting to show up in the lower drifts, but they are tougher to catch when they are in spawning mode. The fish that are cooperative are picking up beads and egg sacs with live bait like minnows and shiners taking some trout, too.
Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls made it into the gorge recently for some salmon and trout chasing, casting silver and green No. 4 spinners into the turbulent water. There are still a few salmon hanging around and steelhead numbers seem to be increasing. Lake trout are cooperative as well. In the Niagara Musky Association’s Tim Wittek / John Henning Memorial Musky Tournament last Sunday, there were 31 musky chasers dealing with tough conditions, in part due to the northeast winds. Only three fish were caught all day, giving the group its final top 3 rankings. Scott Kitchen of Hamburg placed first with a 38.5-inch musky, Andy Lacko of Tonawanda placed second with a 35.5-inch fish, and Gary Shore of Kenmore managed a 27.5-inch muskellunge. Despite the tough fishing, everyone was rewarded with a healthy dose of Jojo Wilczewski’s outstanding chili at the end of the day.
Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn in Olcott reports that there are still quite a few salmon at Burt Dam and in 18 Mile Creek. Brown trout are everywhere. Steelhead and Coho salmon have also started to make their way into the creek. The occasional Atlantic salmon, too. However, low water conditions have been impacting the fishing in a negative way. Trout beads, egg sacs, egg pattern flies, and marabou jigs have been producing the most fish. Perch fishing in Wilson Harbor has also been on the upswing.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario and Streams
Some nice browns were caught along the shoreline from Sodus Bay west to Hughes. Use your spring set-ups and if you hit a pocket of browns stay in that area.
Obviously, you need to be very careful out on the lake with a smaller boat, and even if it’s a south wind caution is advised. From November1st until May1st you are required to wear a PFD if your boat is 21 feet or less.
We still need a good rainfall to open the creeks to the lake.
Bays
The Port Bay channel is still open which will bring the perch into the bay. Currently, the fish in the bay are scattered and you need to keep moving around, concentrating off the points.
Remember the winter PFD law in New York. If your boat is less than 21 feet you need to wear a PFD from November 1st until May 1st.
It’s the same situation in Sodus Bay. The perch will enter the bays in larger numbers when Lake Ontario’s water temperatures drop.
Some perch were caught near the channel and at the north end of the bay. Try deeper water (25 to 30 feet) for the larger perch.
Erie Canal
The strong south wind over the weekend didn’t affect the bass fishing on Widewaters. That is the beauty of angling the canal. The only wind to “blow” you off the water is from the west.
All the locks on the canal are now closed for recreational boats, however there are sections on the canal system where the water is not drained.
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
More unseasonably warm if not hot weather in the forecast today and tomorrow. Temps around 80°F today! Chance of only showers around mid week and then a bit of a cool down. The up and down and more warm, then cool weather sure is making predicting fishing conditions challenging, but that seems to be the prevailing weather patterns lately. I guess you have to fish when you can and take the weather as it comes! If a mild weather season prevails think of all the comfy trib fishing chances there may be this later fall and then winter.
For now fishing pressure is not that bad like on the Oak – guys are spread out away from the popular spots like the Archers and dam. The other smaller waterways may be a little more crowded relative to the size of the waterways.
Most of the angling effort has shifted away from Kings, although some green fish are still in the mix. I suspect smaller numbers of fish will continue to trickle into the Oak thru November. Brown trout action has been coming on, but the latest warm spell may be making for a tougher bite just lately in the Oak. Anglers report seeing a fair number of browns, even if they are not willing biters all the time.
Guys are also hooking up on Atlantics and a steelhead here and there. Perhaps if we had a more consistent cool down we’d see more steelhead migrations.
Flows are lowering slightly to about moderate – medium and there are lots of leaves in the water. There is some overflow water and given that existing flow pattern, there are likely both trout and salmon that have migrated up that channel.
Flows in Johnson Creek are recently bumped up (most likely from Canal feed) and I wonder if some Oak feed has been rerouted to Johnson? We await some clarification from hydro managers about the existing flow patterns. With the decent flow in Johnson, look for good brown trout action there. To the east at Sandy, flows are about moderate with reports of good action with a fair amount of anglers. Check out the small trib, big brown trout that Shane caught in the pic below. Big browns like that are what the area can offer fly or spin or float anglers.