Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
On Lake Ontario, in the 41st Annual Skip Hartman Memorial Pro-Am Salmon Tournament last weekend was shortened to just one day. Winner of the Pro Division was West End Sportfishing led by Captains Taz Morrison and Mike Johannes with a 12-fish tournament limit that scored 248 points. Runner-up was Team Thrillseeker and Capt. Vince Pierleoni with 229 points. In the Amateur Division it was the Seriously Hooked team, led by David Hartman and his two sons Riley and Michael, to win by two points over second place Nature’s Bounty. They are direct descendants of the tournament’s namesake, Skip Hartman. Fishing between Wilson and the Niagara bar is still on fire reports Johannes.
There’s still a lot of very nice size and cooperative coho salmon in the area. Usually, 60 to 150 feet of water is a good place to start. Of course, every day is different mostly due to how the wind affects and moves the Niagara River current. Six-inch Spin Doctors and small flashers with flies seem to be working the best. Variations of orange and green in the top 30-foot have been good. During our scouting for the Niagara Pro Am we found some mature kings hanging out in 150 to 250 feet of water. In fact, their catch included a 30-pound and a 26-pound king. We fished deep with riggers between 100 and 130 down. Wire divers took our best fish 250 and 300 feet back. We fished paddles and meat on all our rods. White/green paddles with white/glow twinkie rigs and glow heads was the ticket. Water was constantly moving so the main thing is to make sure that you are in an area holding fish. Watch your electronics. A lot of teams caught good fish off the Niagara Bar in 250-300 feet of water. Johannes and Morrison fished about 5 to 6 miles west of Wilson. The Seriously Hooked team fished out deep northeast of Olcott to catch 4 king salmon and then needed a Coho to complete their limit. Also on their team was Carl Bruning of Gasport, formerly of the late Carl Martin’s Dublin Up team. This year’s tournament was dedicated to Martin.
The lower Niagara River action was improving before last week’s cold front shut the action down. With warmer temperatures, look for the action to rebound with both warm and cold-water species still available. Look for both steelhead and lake trout to respond to minnows and MagLips while smallmouths, walleye, and silver bass are reacting to jigs. The whole system is holding a mix of fish so move around until you find active fish. Alan Raymond with The Wicked Worm in Youngstown says that bass fishing has been good from the NYPA Platform to Fort Niagara. Use Ned rigs, tubes, and jigs paired with swim baits. The NYPA Platform Access Elevator will be closed for electrical work on Saturday, June 7. In the Upper Niagara River, Tyler Siegmann of CGF Guide Service reported a decent bass bite in the upper Niagara over the weekend. Ned rigs and drop shots rigged with 3-inch Powerbait minnows were the ticket. Bass were active for the first few hours but once the sun was high the bite shut off. Matt Wilson of Lewiston also did well on Sunday in the upper river. The bite was a little picky so he threw on all swimbaits with one of his hand painted football head jigs in 1/4 and 3/8-ounce with baits ranging from Crush City Mayor swimbaits, Keitech and Great Lakes drop kicker minnows in 2 -1/2-inch size. Finesse is key right now to mimic the emerald shiners. The big takeaway from Sunday was finding areas that had chunk rock with soft sandbottom mixed in.
This Sunday, the Pendleton Lions Club Kids Fishing Derby will be held at West Canal Marine Park in Pendleton from 9 a.m. to noon.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
You can still catch early morning browns close to shore…east and west out of Sodus Bay. Yesterday, the wind was predicted to be 8 to 10 mph out of the west; however, it was not. It blew around 15 mph from the northwest.
Today, we have a nice 4 mph south wind and supposed to be calm until the end of the week.
If we get some mudlines, fish in and out in 20 fow. Use bright chartreuse stinger spoons. The sun rises at 5:27 am, so be on the water @ 5 am.
Some kings were out in 150 fow, however the catch has been many cohos.
Bays
Perch fishing has slowed, however they can be caught in Sodus Bay near the channel, around the islands, deeper water north of Oak Park, and over by the bridge to LeRoy Island.
Best bait is 2-inch grubs- white. Whatever you use make sure the rubber has a chartreuse tail.
Bullhead fishing has finished for the year, but the rock bass are biting. Water temperatures in Sodus Bay are a chilly 54 degrees.
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
Crappies are being caught near the Port Gibson bridge. The best location is under the bridge if angling from a boat or casting out from the shore.
Use small jigs with spikes under a bobber. Make sure you suspend your presentation as crappies are never on the bottom.
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:
Could it be that we are finally breaking toward warmer weather?! Drier weather?! Less easterly winds?! Time will tell, but we have, for sure, just recently put together the most consecutive prevailing westerly wind days that we have had in months. Gone, hopefully, are the 40°F nights! The forecast looks favorable ahead for warmer temps and good winds. A downright hot spell is in the forecast for this mid-week period, and then seasonably warm for the end of the week and weekend with a chance of rain or showers.
The recent westerly winds haven’t come without some pain, though. Those prevailing winds have been stiff enough that it’s kept trollers of the Lake recently. There were small craft advisories through most of the past weekend. Now we can hope for light to moderate winds to help continue to move good water and good fishing to the Orleans County waters. There has been exceptionally light fishing pressure to date. We expect that to change with the Oak Orchard Open Pro/Am and KOTO contests this weekend. And recent reports of King action coming on better to the west optimistically mean that salmon action will slide east to the Oak Orchard area just in time for derby time.
Here’s the most recent prognostication from Capt. John O. of Tightlines Charters. “When the weather settles down, there will be more fishing action. Lots of rough waters with the worst May ever at Point Breeze. There’s barely been 2 days of consecutive fishable weather! The strong W and NW winds that have kept anglers off the Lake will push warmer water to Orleans County. It’s been a slow bite, but the sonar screens look promising. Reports include some Kings 50 – 60 ft down and lakers as deep as 90 ft. Teenage Kings and the cohos that have been providing some action all spring were in the top 35 fow. Successful boats have been fishing straight out of port to the Johnson Creek bluffs.”
Capt. Rick H. of Crazy Yankee Sportfishing says anglers can register for the KOTO at Ernst’s Lake Breeze Marina. The Oak Orchard Open takes place this Saturday and Sunday, June 7 and 8, 2025. Come join the fishing competition at the Oak!
Oswego County
It may feel like Groundhog Day, but brown trout fishing remains excellent across Oswego County. While Oswego continues to produce consistent action, the Mexico area has really come alive in recent days.
Lake Ontario – Oswego County
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
The most productive zone has been 10 to 30 feet of water, particularly to the east of the harbor. If you’re heading west, stay tight to the shoreline. Spoons have dominated this past week, with both standard and Scorpion sizes producing fish. The water to the east remains off-colored, so bright spoon patterns have been most effective. Top-performing colors include Can’t Afford It, Jailbreak, Lake Erie Flu, Blue Dolphin, and EZ’r Limits. There have also been occasional reports of a stray salmon or two showing up a bit deeper.
Lake Ontario – Mexico
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Brown trout activity has significantly increased in the Mexico area, particularly from the high rocks to the buoy line. Target depths have been between 15 and 30 feet. In clearer water, more natural-colored spoons have been working best. Productive patterns include black/silver/white, UV Tux, Emerald Shiner, and UV Alewife.