Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
The Summer Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby is underway, and some big fish are starting to arrive at the weigh stations. On Sunday, Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania took a 25-pound, 10-ounce salmon to the Boat Doctors in Olcott to take over the Grand Prize lead for the $15,000 check for the largest salmon. He was fishing with Capt. Roy Letcher of Newfane with Dirty Goose Charters. The lead was short-lived however as Jack Ozyp of Wilson took over first place on Monday with a 27-pound, 11-ounce king he caught out of Wilson. Things will probably change many times over during the next month, but things are looking up. Top brown trout is a 14-pound, 9-ounce fish caught by Pete Doyon of Maine. Leading Rainbow/Steelhead is an 11-pound, 12-ounce fish caught out of the Oak by Steve Biernacki of Medina. Lucky lake trout so far is a 24-pound, 15-ounce fish reeled in by Mike Albro of Homer. The derby continues until July 27.
Coho salmon fishing in Lake Ontario continues to be outstanding, reports Gary Laidman of South Wales. He was fishing with Capt. Joe Cinelli of Grand Island this week and their target area was 260 to 290 feet of water using riggers and divers. With the divers, silver spoons worked best. Spin Doctors and multi-color flash flies worked best off the riggers with all the fish coming in the top 40 feet of water. The Cohos were all 8 to 10 pounds, beautiful specimens for this kind of salmon. Chinook (king) salmon action is slowly starting to improve, which is good news for derby anglers competing in the derby.
Capt. Mike Johannes of On the Rocks Charters hit the lake northwest of Wilson over the weekend to find warmer water after a lake roll-over and he managed a few Cohos, but it forced him to move. He ended up setting up in 150 feet of water and immediately began catching fish. He fished primarily in the top 50 feet of water targeting coho. The normal bright orange 6-inch Spin Doctors and flies on 4 and 5 color lead core line were best with some bright color spoons chipping in. On Sunday he fished the same 150 feet of water a couple miles west of Wilson. The Cohos were cooperative again and there were a few kings down below the cohos that he got to bite on Mag spoons. Mostly green and black or carbon 14 worked for Johannes. Again, Cohos in the top 50-foot. Kings were as deep as 100-foot.
Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn in Olcott reports that salmon and trout action is slowly improving but that reports have been mixed – both good and bad. Best area with the most stable water has been the 300 to 450-foot depth range off Olcott. Cohos, the occasional king, and steelhead are cooperating. In the harbors, Evarts says perch are hitting off the piers around the rocks and bluegills are plentiful at the Wilson Tuscarora bridge.
Moss continues to be a problem in the Niagara River, but according to Capt. Joe Marra of Niagara Rainbow Charters, if you work hard enough you can work through the mossy problem. At least, that’s what Bennett Doliner of Jupiter, Florida did this week. Drifting drop-shot rigs, Ned rigs, and using live bait off three-way rigs, he was able to do well on smallmouth bass fishing with Marra. It was a decent week all things considered in the river reports Alan Raymond with The Wicked Worm in Youngstown. Smallmouth bass along the river were being caught on crawfish like there was no tomorrow. Drifters were also reporting a good mix of sheepshead and walleye. A few guys at Lewiston Landing on the shore were catching a few walleyes at night.
Orleans County
Orleans County Sportfishing Coordinator Ron Bierstine:
Charters and rec anglers are covering water and hunting up some on and off good action here on the Orleans County waters of Lake Ontario. The most consistent pattern has been change! Seems like we get a day or two of stable weather and traditional summer temp patterns try to set up. Last week about mid-week it was 44 F down at 95 ft and 55 F down at 70 ft and most fish were coming at 65 – 95 ft down. Then there was another east blow end of week that ripped that all up. That sent the fleet back in search mode for the past weekend. And once again it looks like the Kings are starting to show back up.
Lately and so far for the start of this week savvy trollers are easing north and looking. Fish might be found anywhere from 250 fow or out to 450 – 500 fow. Watch the forecast and marine forecast if heading off shore. Today there is the chance of passing storms and it looks like favorable weather after that with prevailing winds. Slowly but surely all that cold spring water is getting milder and hopefully that will mean more consistent action for the summer ahead. Come on out to the Oak for your fishing fireworks for July 4th!
Capt. Jon F. from Mister Sportfishing had a good day this week with his West Virginia anglers. “The name of the game is cover water. We fished from the 25 line to the 32 line yesterday and picked off a few fish. We came back to the 29 line at about 500 fow and found 44 F down 60 ft. It was an all flasher and fly bite for us and we ended the last part of the trip strong with 8 fish.”
Boaters be aware that routine dredging (usually every 4 – 5 yrs) is taking place at the Oak Orchard River mouth. Routine dredging helps keep the harbor open for all mariners and makes for easier and safer passage. Access to the open Lake is still available but do give the working barges and tugs wide berth. They are working long and hard to clear out for their next job. We are a few days into what should be something like a 2-week effort.
Oswego County
The salmon have finally arrived in good numbers, and the brown trout seem to grow by the day.
Lake Ontario – Oswego County
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Over the past week, most boats leaving Oswego Harbor have headed offshore to target king salmon. The most productive zone has been 100 to 300 feet of water, stretching from directly north to about seven miles west.
While some salmon are being taken on spoons—such as Road Toad, UV Chart Tux, UV Gator, and Dirty Broomstick—flashers and meat rigs have been the preferred presentation. Productive flasher/meat combinations include:
- Green Jeans (green/glow) or Warship
- Chin Music (white/chrome), Warship Glo, and Green Glow
- Two-Face paired with Stud
- Scumline with Primetime
Fish have been caught as shallow as 40 feet down, but the most consistent bite has been in the 60–100 foot range.
Lake Ontario – Mexico
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Although salmon haven’t pushed into the bay in strong numbers yet, brown trout fishing has really picked up. From the corner to the plant, there’s been steady action, with some jumbo browns in the mix.
Top-performing lures have been Standard and Stingray spoons in natural patterns, including Tuxedo, UV Tux, Emerald Shiner, and Black Widow. As the sun rises higher, switching to a chartreuse-heavy spread is key—options like Circus Freak, UV Chart Tux, Pickle Seed, and Doctors have produced well.
Additionally, many jumbo lake trout are being taken farther north. Hammerhead Cowbells in Blue/Silver, UV Pickle Seed, and Catalina have been highly effective.
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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.