Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
Lower Niagara River fishing is showing signs of Fall even though water temperatures and weather patterns say otherwise. The salmon fishing is slowly picking up for boaters as treated egg skein drifted off three-way rigs have been producing some decent kings in the Devil’s Hole area. Charters have been reporting up to 5 hook-ups per trip with increased action each passing day. Some brown trout have also entered the river but are being seen rolling more than being caught. Bass and walleye have remained steady with live bait and worm harnesses presented on three-way rigs as the top presentations for both species. Take note that lake trout season is now closed in the lower river and Lake Ontario until Dec. 1.
Alan Raymond with the Wicked Worm in Youngstown reports smallmouth bass are still hitting along the banks of the river and he was catching them on inline spinners recently. Shane Stark from Crackhead jigs was catching kings and walleyes in Devil’s Hole on his jigs and spinners. Guys at the NYPA fishing platform are starting to catch more fish using various methods. Boaters on the Niagara Bar are catching salmon from jigging and smallmouth bass are hitting on the Lake Ontario side of the Coast Guard station.
Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls is back at it in the gorge and the past week he caught plenty of walleyes, rainbows and king salmon on white jigs and chartreuse No. 4 spinners. Not much has changed with the clear conditions and warm water temperatures. The best time to fish right now is around daybreak and into the first hour of daylight, as well as at the end of the day at sunset.
Out in the lake, Capt. Mike Johannes of On the Rocks Charters didn’t try for staging mature kings because numbers are limited. The offshore fishing has been spectacular lately. Over the weekend he did his best fishing between the 26 and 27 lines, approximately 400 to 450 feet of water from straight out of Wilson to about 6 miles west. When you are in the right area, it’s difficult to keep lines in the water. Johannes was catching kings between 6 and 10 pounds, with some beautiful chrome steelhead. Most were between 6 and 12 pounds. His riggers were at 36, 51, 56 and the probe was at 65 feet. The down temperature was critical. He trolled north until he hit a hard break where the down temp went from 51 to 43 degrees. It was all spoons with the Moonshine bad toad working best but he also caught fish on two-face, road toad, get-r-done super slim, pink panties super slim and burnt bread.
Capt. Pete Alex of Vision Quest Sportfishing also headed offshore for the best bite. Alex has been generating an average of 25-35 bites per offshore trip with limit catches common. It’s been a combo of mixed classes of steelhead and 2-year-old kings with an occasional mature fish in the mix. Best bites have been between 350 to 420 feet of water north to northwest out of Wilson. The fish have been typically down 45 to 100 feet of water in the water column. Regular sized Dreamweaver spoons have been the most consistent size and are indicative of the bait fish now. When Alex has been targeting mostly salmon, he is leaning towards a heavy flasher/meat and flasher/fly program to try to keep the steelhead off our baits. This helps but we’re still catching steelhead, even in those colder down temperatures. Alex says to look for suspended Alewife schools and stay in that area. Bait is key to this offshore success. He has been targeting 46-to-60-degree water and is finding kings and steelhead mixed into those temperatures.
Karen Evarts with The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn in Olcott reports salmon are slowly starting to come through the piers, probably due to increased water flow from the Erie Canal. A few salmon have been caught at Burt Dam, too. Best action is still in the lake and fish can be caught from 60 feet of water to 400 feet of water for both salmon and steelhead. Fish deeper for more consistent action with spoons working best.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
There have a few kings caught in the Sodus Channel, however we need water flow to have any staging kings enter for pier fishing, or to troll close to Maxwell Creek. This year’s drought has left all the tribs and bay channels with no water flow.
If you still have a smaller boat in the water, try trolling close to shore, Be careful of the wind. It’s calm today; however, it’s predicted to blow northeast the rest of the week.
Currently, Maxwell Creek is nothing but stones.
Bays
There are some smaller perch being caught in the bays…but the water is still too warm to have a decent catch. Rock bass are hitting on the east side of Port Bay.
The largemouth catch has been great in Sodus Bay with the Senko rigs dominating the best bait. Some pike were caught on the north side of LeRoy Island. Regs for northerns are 18-inches and a five fish limit. The pike season closes on March 15th.
Sodus Bay boats can be launched at the Margaretta launch on the west side of the bay or Bay Bridge Sport Shop at the south end.
Port Bay has the south and north DEC launch sites from West Port Bay Road. Both are in great shape for boats with enough parking for the trailers.
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
The bass have been hitting along the southern side of the canal. Some crappies are caught in Widewaters. You can also find some pull-offs, enabling some shore fishing from Route 31.
Docks in Wayne County are usually pulled after Columbus Day, which is October 13, 2025.
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:
By sun tan standards the weather sure is agreeable, by fall fishing standards not so much! We’ve had some amazing warm and clear and calm and sunny and dry days lately – and the near term forecast looks about the same. Chance of barely a cool down over the mid-week period, then warm again. No real good chance for any precipitation for about a week. The area remains in a droughty period.
Thanks to Erie Canal enhanced water feed for the Oak, Johnson and Sandy those tribs are fairing way, way better then would be expected due to the dry conditions. Those flows for almost med in the Oak and mod in the smaller waterways are allowing for the action we are having despite the warm weather. With a little cool down and added precip things could really pick up. Night time temps have been dropping back so water temps are at least not spiking hot.
So as much as we’d like to see a more serious cool down with some precipitation to fire up the trib and near shore Lake action, anglers are still getting into some good Kings on and off. At the Waterport dam there are pretty good numbers of fish reported, with the best bite usually early or late in the cooler temp periods. Otherwise in the bright and heat of the day its reported the fish aren’t in a biting mood. Downstream fast water spots aren’t yet holding many salmon that we know of. Please keep in mind though, that any fish at the dam has had to come through the downstream spots, so you just have to be there when they are migrating through. If they decide to hold for a bit in a slot or run then a drifting angler has a shot. Lately not a lot of fish reported crashing around in lower river staging spots. Small numbers may be stealthily moving thru or more then likely most fish are still staged in the Lake.
There is a decent number of small craft boaters around Point Breeze working the Oak rivermouth like on the weekends. These casters and trollers and jiggers have reported some good action at times. The same bluebird calm weather though will make for a tougher bite out there when clear and calm water prevails – and so the low light or at night periods become the best option. Today there is a bit of a forecasted NE wind that could make for a little stain to the water. A prevailing W wind or something SW would sure help clear out a lot of weeds that have been troublesome at times.
Stay tuned, the spawning salmon and soon to follow trout action should only improve as things might cool down and get a little wetter!
The St. Mary’s Archers Club 2025 public access fall season parking will be from Oct. 10 through Nov. 11. Parking is $10, with gates opening at 4-5 a.m. and closing at 4 p.m. A lunch will also be served this year. For updates, visit the Sportsman’s Archery Club of St Mary’s Inc Facebook page.
Oswego County
Fishing has been challenging recently, with bright sun and a lack of rain making conditions tough.
Salmon River, Pulaski NY
• Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Early this week, a strong push of kings and cohos moved through the DSR. By the weekend, these fish should be spread from town up to the Sportsman. With cooler nights, water temperatures are beginning to drop, which should encourage the thousands of salmon staging outside the river mouth to move upstream.
Lake Ontario – Oswego County
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Under current conditions, salmon are holding around the river mouths. The most productive water has been 20–50 feet in front of the Salmon River. With this week’s strong northeast blow, conditions should cool and bring fish closer to shore.
Oswego River
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
A good pod of kings has already made its way to the dam. Unfortunately, they bypassed the deep channel, leaving wall anglers with limited opportunities. With water levels remaining low, salmon will likely continue heading directly to the dam.
Please consider that there is significant construction on West 1st street, plan accordingly.
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. Click here for the current water flow.
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.