Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
The fishing on the lower river remains steady for smallmouth bass with the spawn past peak and fish beginning to show signs of feeding in deeper water as the regular black bass season opened on Monday. Live bait such as shiners and crayfish fished off 3-way rigs should entice bites in 10-25 feet of water now that it’s legal. The best areas will be drop offs at the end of drifts like Stella and the Coast Guard. There is some moss to contend with and, additionally, alewives have entered the river to spawn. Move around to target moss-free areas. Walleyes are also starting to show up in catches with worm harnesses taking most of the fish. Walleyes have been feeding in the same areas where the bass are, so expect a mixed catch in most areas.
Walleye and bass action in the upper Niagara River continues to be decent for Steve Brzuszkiewicz of Marilla. Once again, he limited out with 6 walleyes and also caught 5 catch-and-release bass Monday morning by 9:30 a.m. Smallmouth bass were up to 19 inches long. Walleyes were all nice eaters. He caught all the fish on a stickbait, but things were complicated by the presence of increasing moss.
Out in Lake Ontario, Capt. Joe Oakes of Salmonboy Fishing Charters in Wilson reports fish seem to be scattered from 90 feet out to 400-plus feet of water. There is bait everywhere and finding it hasn’t been an indication of being on fish lately. Best baits have been mostly spoons. Look for temperature breaks for best results. His target area has been 20 to 80 feet down using anything in green; white and black have been working.
Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn in Olcott reports fishing is a bit tough now due to the area winds. The kings being caught were full of alewives. Trollers are getting a few steelhead, too. Use NK 28 or other standard size spoons. Moonshine spoons with the UV tape are working best. Some nice smallmouth bass are being caught in Olcott Harbor.
In the Orleans County Open, which requires teams to catch five salmon and five trout, there were a few local connections. The Tomahawk team led by Capt. Jonathan Ross of Hamlin dominated the event with a score of over 481 points. Also on the team was Capt. Roy Letcher of Olcott. Second place was Vision Quest led by Capt. Pete Alex of Erie, Pa. with 415 points. He runs his charter operation out of Wilson. Third place was Legacy led by Capt. Rob Westcott of Hamlin with 413 points. Westcott won the Pro-Am last weekend in Niagara.
For the kids: This Saturday (June 20) is the free Wilson Conservation Club Kids Derby. Fish any Niagara County waters from 8 a.m. to noon. Measuring at the club immediately follows. Father’s Day is the Widewaters Kids Derby in Lockport hosted by the Moose Lodge. June 27th and 28th is a free fishing weekend in New York. June 27th is Hooks for Harry Kids Derby in Olcott from 8 a.m. to noon at the Town of Newfane Marina.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
2026 LOC DERBY DATES
*Summer-June 27th-July 26th
*Fall-Aug 21st-Sept 7th
Sodus PRO-AM
Main Event: July 18 – 19
1K a Day July 15 – 19
Big Fish Friday July -17
Lake Ontario
Yesterday’s blow from the northwest was not a calm wind. Charter boats were “Blown Off” for the day.
Today the best bet is for brown trout in 80 fow catching them with bright uv spoons.
If the kings are still around after our aggravating wind and waves, search for them in 140 to 170 fow down 75 to 80 fow.
Flasher flies, spoons, and meat have worked.
Bays
The bass season started yesterday June 15th. The regs for keeping bass are 12 inches 5 fish. Sodus and Port Bays have both small and largemouth bass.
The Senko rigs are still the dominate lure to catch bass. Use a Texas Rig for hooking your soft plastic stickbait.
The largemouths can be found in weedy areas and underneath the docks on both Port and Sodus Bays.
Some smallmouths are being caught near both channels in both bays.
There are still perch in Port Bay. Move around if you have a challenging time locating them. Fish in deeper water and look for drop offs on your fish finders.
Currently, there is plenty of bait in both bays. This keeps the perch where the food is and they have not entered Lake Ontario yet.
Erie Canal
It’s bass time at Widewaters. The Largemouths are on the south side of the canal. Five to six pounders have been caught casting near the weeds.
The county park has plenty of space for trailers and the ramp is excellent with a kayak launch.
The Erie Canal is now open and will close on October 14th.
There is an excellent DEC site that lists all the boating launch areas in Wayne County: dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/boating/launch-sites/wayne-county
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. On 1298 Route 104 is Ontario Country Max and 625 E Main St. is Palmyra Country Max.
Orleans County
Orleans County Sportfishing Coordinator Ron Bierstine:
June open Lake big water trolling action out of the Oak seems to be solidly in the “transition” phase as they say. Not to say that some boaters aren’t doing pretty well, and the Orleans County Open fishing derby held this past weekend did record some good boxes. There were top anglers fishing as usual and a few other anglers fished and competed hard while ending up with smaller boxes. The Orleans County Open 5 salmon and 5 trout PRO format with extra credit for steelhead makes for some interesting strategy for all the boaters competing. Often as is the case, the Oak Orchard Open at his time of the year is going to separate out some good anglers while others are just going to enjoy the competition and bettering their skills for next time.
On the PRO side there were 20 teams competing in the Orleans County Open, and 11 teams in the AM column. Sat and Sun where both full fishing days with mostly cooperative weather until around weigh-in time on Sunday when the heavy rains and winds hit. All boats were in by that point though but final weigh-in and prize give away had to be held under the cover of a bulk boat storage barn. Thanks to Ernst’s Lake Breeze Marina for hosting as well as all the volunteers, contributors and sponsors for helping put together the event. Thanks to NYSDEC creel survey team for their hard work in collecting samples.
Top 5 finishers in the Pro division were Tomahawk in 1st, Vision Quest 2nd, Legacy 3rd, Mister 4th and Thrillseeker 5th. All these teams had pretty good consistent day 1 and day 2 boxes.
For the win Team Tomahawk put together a solid plan of securing good Lake trout first off. Then day 2 steelhead action proved real good securing that extra credit. With some good Kings rounding out the box they sat solidly in 2nd place after day 1. Their day 2 box was the best of the tourney and so placed them ahead by a solid 60+ points for the win. They employed a full mix trolling spread and tweaked it throughout. Check out their FB post to see what worked best for them.
On the AM side Reel Slick II came in 1st, Deep Abys 2nd, Slam Pig 3rd and Rochester Reel Repair 4th. The AM division uses a format of a 3 salmon and 3 trout box. The winners generally had good point boxes for both days and jockeyed around some before final tally. Most all trollers finding success in the Orleans County Open found their fishy water east of port.
In the first leg of the King of the Oak (KOTO) held on Fri there were rough waters with tough salmon action. That we know of no one came in with a full 3 salmon box. Looks like Legacy Sportfishing got first place and see the results below. Two more KOTO events to go so come get in on the fun for Oak Orchard bragging rights!
What will happen for the rest of June and the “transition” period? Hard to say but no doubt the winds and weather will giveth and taketh some! Look for seasonable cool weather according to the long range forecast for what’s left of June. There’s the chance for off and on storms through this mid-week period and stronger winds by end of the week.
Oswego County
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Fishing remains excellent. The biggest challenge right now is deciding what species you want to target.
Lake Ontario – Oswego County
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Fishing has been excellent west of the Port of Oswego, from the college westward in 30 to 70 feet of water.
- Short leadcores, downriggers, and divers have all been producing fish early.
- Dark patterns such as Black Widow, UV Tux, and DWB have been effective during the morning hours.
- As the sun gets higher, Mongoose, Can’t Afford It, and Circus Freak patterns, in both UV and hammered finishes, have been producing well.
Salmon have been scattered from 90 to 400 feet of water and are being caught 25 to 100 feet down.
- Five- to ten-color leadcores, divers, and downriggers have all been taking fish throughout the water column.
- Spoons have been productive, but meat rigs and flies have been more effective at targeting deeper fish.
Lake Ontario – Mexico
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
- Brown trout fishing has really picked up recently.
- The most consistent action has been in 40 to 80 feet of water from Catfish Creek to Nine Mile Point.
- Fish have been found from the surface down to 50 feet.
- Standard and Stingray-size spoons have been the most productive presentations.
- Dark patterns have worked best early, with brighter selections becoming more effective as the day progresses.
As water temperatures continue to rise, the lake trout bite to the north should only improve.
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