Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
It was another week of outdoor media in Niagara Falls USA and this time it was Misty Wells of the Discovery Channel’s “Let’s Take It Outside” making a return visit with her daughter, Hudson. Captain Joe Marra of Niagara Rainbow Charters hosted Wells in the lower Niagara River and the resource didn’t disappoint with a mix of steelhead, lake trout, and smallmouth bass. Marra concentrated on the Devil’s Hole area for the trout, utilizing MagLip plugs off three-way rigs. Smallmouth bass were cooperative on Ned Rigs down river. The action all took place in a 3-hour period and should make for a great episode to showcase the Niagara County area. In Lake Ontario, Captain Joe Oakes of Salmonboy Sportfishing out of Wilson showed the television show crew what a world class fishery the area is known for. Both Misty and her daughter Hudson tussled with beautiful Chinook salmon in the high teens in addition to several others including some large Coho salmon despite some tough conditions. According to Oakes, Coho salmon action continues to be great. They can be found in 30 to 350 feet of water. Spoons and flasher-fly combos are working best. For kings, Oakes is doing best on spoons and meat rigs 60 to 120 feet down. In Olcott, Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn emphasized the excellent Coho salmon fishing. She said a hot bait has been peanut flies made by 3L. Dreamweaver 6-inch orange spin doctors and Northeast Troller are working well, too. Best meat options for kings have been Diabolical and A-Tom-Mik with corresponding rigs in black, blue, and purple, as well as with Mag spoons. Steelhead have also started hitting around 200 feet of water around scattered bait pods. This is Skip Hartman Memorial Pro-Am week, so information is a bit tough to come by. The Don Johannes/Pete DeAngelo Memorial 3-Fish/Big Fish contest is Thursday, May 29 this week. If you want to get in, sign up at The Boat Doctors or call Mike Johannes at 523-1727.
In the Upper Niagara River, Matt Wilson of Lewiston reports decent bass action over the holiday weekend. They worked stained water conditions to their advantage, seeking out shallow back eddies where they could position themselves in deep water casting to shallow flats. Swimbaits were key, using Keitech 2.8-inch size in darker colors like Goby and Electric Shad. Drop shot rigs took a few fish, too. Casting a ¼-ounce weight with a Z-Man scented jerk shad was another bait that worked.
Get ready for National Fishing and Boating Week June 1-8. Take a kid fishing!
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
After a lousy batch of wind, calm is predicted for this week, so launch the boat and catch the trout and salmon. The kings have been hard to find, however steelies and cohos have been in 100 to 125fow. They have been hitting meat rigs and spoons. Try increasing your speed to 3 mph for steelies, cohos, and Atlantic salmon.
Rochester Lake Ontario temps today are 45 degrees.
Bays
The perch are still in the bays, chomping on anything that’s white. Keep the grubs 2 inches and make sure you use fresh spikes.
After a holiday week you’ll have the bays to yourself.
The rock bass fishing has been excellent in Sodus Bay and the pike have been hitting on the east side of LeRoy Island.
The best place to launch is Bay Bridge Sport Shop on the south end of Sodus.
The pike season opened Thursday May 1st. The limit is 5 fish with a 22-inch minimum.
New York, the open season (harvest) for largemouth and smallmouth bass, collectively known as black bass, runs from June 15 to November 30, with a catch-and-release season from December 1 to June 14.
Sodus Bay will be the place to be when the bass season opens.
Erie Canal
Launch at Widewaters for boating access and plenty parking for the trailers. Currently, the bite has been bluegills, sunnies, and crappies. The kayak anglers were out on Memorial Day when the wind was absent, and the sun shone brightly.
Conditions permitting, all portions of the New York State Canal system are scheduled to open Friday, May 16, 2025, for the annual navigation season—marking the 201st consecutive year of travel along New York’s Canals and the 200th anniversary of the original Erie Canal’s completion on October 26, 1825.
There are no tolls or fees for recreational use of the Canal system this year.
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:
Slowly but surely we are inching toward more Spring-like weather and hopefully a little more consistency in the trolling action. It was a little bit cold and rainy over the past holiday weekend, but it didn’t deter some guys from getting out there on the Orleans County waters. Yes, the fleet is still finding lots of cold water out there – you know it’s a late spring when the west winds blow and it still feels cold! But we are on the backside of the longest stretch of consecutive prevailing westerly wind days maybe in months, so inevitably that bodes well for moving great water back in front of home port at the Oak!
We’ll look to keep that trend of better water moving in from the west going, and the latest catches are coming on with a few more smaller Kings in the mix. This week’s weather looks like only light lake breezes through about Wednesday, so that should keep the overall warming trend going. Chance of rain or showers for end of week, but accumulations are not expected as heavy as last week’s rain.
Capt. Mike G. from Get Hooked Sportfishing says, “The bite has been mostly cohos and young salmon in 60 – 120 fow. There are lakers on the bottom in 80 – 130 fow for guys who want to fish for them. Use caution, there have been some logs and sticks out there in 50 – 70 fow east and west of the port, so be careful going through there.”
Capt. Mike L. from Intimidator Charters has had “good action on a mixed bag of fish anywhere from 50 – 120 fow, and the smaller spoons have been best. Bites have been anywhere from top to bottom.” Sometimes when fish are finding lots of bait and are full, maybe they think they can fit in that one last bite of a smaller spoon – and lucky angler, you are on the other end!
Capt. Bob Stevens from Sunrise II Charters fished the holiday Monday and found “ lakers, Kings, and coho in 80 – 120 fow. Nice action east and west of the Oak.” Let’s hear it for the nice cohos this year, keeping the bite going. Hoping we can see some of those maturing into tackle busters later on!
Oswego County
Brown trout fishing has been on fire in Oswego County waters!
Lake Ontario – Oswego County
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
The brown trout bite remains exceptional. Even with the added pressure from this past weekend’s Sonny’s Brown Trout event, most boats reported strong action while searching for a tournament-winning fish. Focus your efforts in 7 to 25 feet of water, which continues to be the most productive depth range. To the east, Four Mile Point has been the top spot, while heading west, the stretch from Rice Creek to Eight Mile has also produced consistent results. Spoons are currently outperforming stickbaits, with a mix of bright and natural colors both proving effective.
Lake Ontario – Mexico
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
The brown trout have finally started to show up in Mexico Bay. The area near the high rocks on the east side of the plant has been producing consistently over the past week. Target depths of 15 to 30 feet using a combination of stickbaits and spoons; spoons fished shallow on short cores and riggers have been particularly effective. On the east side of Nine Mile, clearer water conditions have made natural colors the preferred choice. Meanwhile, anglers pursuing lake trout are still seeing strong numbers, with larger fish being caught regularly.
Request a Free Fishing Map for Salmon River!
Designed to slip into your pocket, this map covers popular public and private fishing locations, as well as boat launches. The best news: it’s completely free!
Contact the Oswego County Tourism Department:
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.