Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
Smallmouth bass are into the spawn and should peak with the next full moon. Bass have been available on a variety of baits including Ned rigs, tubes, spinnerbaits, and dropshots in natural colors. Targeting shallow water (3 to 10 feet) produces the most bites but bigger fish are being taken deeper (15 to 20 feet). Live bait will be legal to use when the black bass season opens on Sunday for all current catch-and-release waters. Some trout are still available throughout the river system with the water temperature still below 60 degrees. Most productive presentations have been minnows or MagLips fished off three-way rigs. The moss is just starting to show up and really isn’t a factor at this point.
Alan Raymond at The Wicked Worm in Youngstown says there are plenty of bass to be caught and the best lures have been Ned rigs, jigs, and tubes. Some lake trout are still available in the Devil’s Hole area. Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls celebrated his birthday this week when he hit the upper river with 2-inch pearl tube jigs. He landed several rainbow trout and a dozen smallmouth bass on a cloudy day from shore. The visibility was close to 10-foot.
Coho salmon fishing remains good with fish being taken in the top 50 feet of water on spoons and flasher-fly combinations reports Capt. Joe Oakes of Salmonboy Sportfishing out of Wilson. Best bottom depth has been 120 to 300 feet overall. Kings continue to come and go with the best lures being spoons and meat rigs. It does appear that we are heading into the June transition time when salmon and trout will start to scatter. The next big derby will be the Summer LOC Derby June 28 to July 27.
Congratulations to the Legacy team led by Capt. Rob Westcott of Hamlin in the Orleans County Open last weekend for the Pro Division, as well as the Roll with It team in the Amateur Division who repeated as the champs. Second place in the Pro Division was Team Thrillseeker and Capt. Vince Pierleoni out of Olcott. Westcott and company fished in 75-180 feet of water. There was a decent surface and down break in 100-125 feet of water and the fish were just inside and just outside it. Cut bait and flashers were the answer for the salmon on divers and on a deep downrigger; high Dreamweaver Super Slim spoons on shallow riggers for steelhead; and Hammerhead cowbells and Gambler rigs for the lake trout in the mixed format contest.
In the youth fishing department, Saturday is the 40th Annual Niagara County Kids Fishing Derby sponsored by the Wilson Conservation Club from 8 a.m. to noon in any county waters. Measuring will take place at the club located on Route 425 in Wilson.
Sunday is the Father’s Day kids fishing derby at Widewaters Marina in Lockport from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
June 21 is the Hooks for Harry Memorial Kids Derby in Newfane/Olcott on 18 Mile Creek from 8 a.m. to noon. The measuring station will be at the Town of Newfane Marina.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
The Stinger UV Alewife appears to be the spoon taking kings and cohos. Try starting in 250 fow and work deeper.
Straight out from Hughes’ Marina and west towards Bear Creek has seen some action for kings and cohos.
Meat rigs have also been working for salmon.
Eighteen days before the summer LOC!
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Bays
June 15th is the opener for bass fishing. Sodus Bay will be the place to be to net some largemouth bass. Fish the weedlines with 5- inch Senko wacky worm rigs. For some useful info about Sodus Bay fishing talk to anyone at Bay Bridge Sport Shop or Davenports…both at the south end of Sodus.
Currently the perch are near the channel at Port Bay. Use 2-inch grubs with a chartreuse tail. You can also catch some nice perch off the points in the bay.
The Sodus Bay perch are scattered, and some anglers are catching some nice size fish on the south side of the LeRoy Island bridge.
The rock bass are still hitting next to and underneath docks. With light gear they will give you a nice fight.
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
Kayaking fishing for bluegills, perch, and crappies at Widewaters makes for an exciting time on the canal waters. After our recent rainfall, the canal is a little muddy. The current is swift so make sure you have your pdf on.
Conditions permitting, all portions of the New York State Canal system are now open. This is 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:
The past weekend here at the Oak featured the Orleans County Open Pro/Amon Sunday and Saturday, and the first leg of the King of the Oak (KOTO) on Friday. It was great to see a buzz of fishing activity here around the Orleans County waters! Thirty-three (33) teams, including 21 Pros and 12 Am’s fished the Open, and twenty-two (22) teams fished the KOTO. Salmon action has been coming on a little better, and it was good for most boats through the end of last week and for the KOTO. That action coming on was coincidental with better water temps and prevailing winds. Then the Lake “does what it does” as they say and threw a curveball with east winds building through the weekend. It wasn’t enough to keep anglers off the water, but basically you could say most guys headed to the west on Friday for their best action, then Saturday found guys searching for the fish they had found Friday, and finally on Sunday, guys wound up going east to get their bites. Everything was changing day to day!
In the Orleans County Open for the Pro’s it was the Legacy team (Capt. Rob W.) in first place, Thrillseeker (Capt. Vince P.) in second place, and U-Betcha (Capt. Chris V.) in third place. The Legacy team’s win was decisive as they had good boxes both days, unlike some other teams that featured a good box for just one day. Capt. Rob W. said, “Fished from my home port of Bald Eagle. The tourney days were spent fishing from Devils Nose to the glass house in 75 – 180 fow. A good surface and down break was in 100 – 125 fow and the fish were just inside and outside of it. Cut bait and flashers were the answer for the salmon on divers and on a deep rigger. High DW ss spoons on shallow downriggers worked for steelhead, and hammered cowbells and gambler rigs took our Lakers.”
For the Am’s in the Orleans County Open, it was team Roll With It in first place, Rigger Mortis in second place, and Shotgun in third place. The Am teams found the same changeable fishing conditions from day to day. The Rigger Mortis team, docked at the Orleans County Marine Park, took the big fish award with a near 21 lb King. They said they dropped one good fish that could have put them over the top for first. Andrew C., team leader, said, “On Friday, Kings and steelies were great west of Green Harbor in 120 – 250 fow. Spoons on the surface and down to 110 ft worked. Some Kings came on meat on 100 – 120 ft riggers. On Saturday, we went back and everything was gone! Sunday was again poor screens to the west, so we headed east to the Flats and glass house in 90 – 120 fow. There was a lot of bait on the bottom and suspended. The big King came on a white flasher/hammer fly.”
In the KOTO, where all boats are equal, it was the Oh Baby team (Matt L.) in first place, the Richmond VI team (Dave W.) in second place, and the 5 More Minutes team (Tony C.) in third place. This was just the first leg of future KOTO tourneys, so you can still get in on the bragging rights for Oak Orchard. It’s been a slow and somewhat up-and-down start to the trolling season, but everyone is looking forward to the action ahead with lots of good summer days! Come on out to the Oak!
Oswego County
Fishing remains fantastic across the board! Brown trout action continues to be strong, and now even a few salmon and steelhead are beginning to show up.
Lake Ontario – Oswego County
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Brown trout fishing remains excellent in 10 to 30 feet of water, though as temperatures rise, the active zone may shift slightly deeper to 15 to 40 feet.
Those targeting the offshore fishery will find consistent bait and fish activity in 80 to 250 feet of water.
Steelhead have been found in the top 30 feet.
Salmon have been holding between 30 and 100 feet down.
A mix of spoons, flasher-fly combos, and meat rigs have all been productive. Fish are spread out, so cover water and run your confidence setups — there isn’t a single hot spot right now.
Lake Ontario – Mexico
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Brown trout fishing has picked up over the past few weeks in 15 to 40 feet of water, especially from
Catfish Creek to the High Rocks.
Short leadcores, slide divers, and downriggers have been the most effective presentation methods.
For anglers targeting June lake trout, head north toward Stony Point. These fish are typically holding in 130 to 170 feet of water.