Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
It’s the Skip Hartman Memorial Pro-Am Tournament Week in Wilson and Olcott, set for June 5 and 6 with a bad weather day set aside if they need it on June 7. The top prize this year is over $30,000 in the Pro Division. Good luck to the field of 51 boats.
Because of the tournament, information is a little tough to come by. Capt. Mike Johannes of On the Rocks Charters has been fishing between Wilson and Olcott with his best depths between 100 and 200 feet of water. On days with little to no wind, a distinct break can be seen where the river current meets the colder blue lake water. This is where he has been having the most success. Some days it may be 110-foot or maybe 200-foot, depending on the wind. He has been fishing primarily spoons because the action is so fast. His best morning spoons have been wonder bread, bloody nose, or other white combination patterns. Spoons such as 2-face, road toad, shadow, and angry alewife have been firing later in the day. Most of his fish have been coming in the top 70 feet of water.
Capt. Anthony Ellis with Redemption Charters reports the Olcott action has slowed a bit after the big blow. When you can find fish and bait, you can have a fun day on salmon and trout. Fishing has been decent lately, still primarily a spoon bite. Some days the fish are inside 100 feet of water and the next day they could be out in 300 feet of water. Best advice right now is to get on fish, pay attention to your different apps and websites for weather, and watch the currents, water temperature, and wind. Karen Evarts with The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn reports limited information due to the tournaments starting up. Her best intel suggested good fishing between 60 and 250 feet of water for a mix of kings, Coho salmon, lake trout and steelhead. Fish can be found from the surface down to 140 feet of water but locating them is key right now.
In the upper Niagara River, smallmouth bass are taking center stage in area waterways as summer arrives. Todd Ceisner with In-Fishermen spent the morning with Capt. Frank Campbell of Lewiston and the duo was rewarded with some decent bass action. Spro spinnerbaits and jerk baits were the top baits, casting the shallows in 5 to10 feet of water. Steve Brzuszkiewicz of Marilla caught a few 25-inch walleyes on his last trip to the upper river by trolling with stick baits.
In the lower Niagara, swimbaits along with crankbaits draw attention from smallmouth bass and targeting 5-20 feet of water has been key. The river is also holding some drop back steelhead and a few lake trout are responding to MagLips and minnows off 3- way rigs. Walleyes are also starting to show in better numbers in the drifts with jigs that mimic minnows producing the most action. On June 13, there is a kid’s fishing contest at the Youngstown Public Dock next to The Wicked Worm starting at 8 a.m.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
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The wind has calmed done so charter boats can enjoy the fantastic fishing in Lake Ontario. The weather experts have predicted a great week.
Currently, the bite straight out from Sodus Bay has been in 60 to 200 fow. The mix being netted are kings, steelhead, browns, and lakers.
Spoons have been the dominate lure. Keep them bright. Stinger’s Carbon 14 is a favorite.
Bays
According to the IJC (International Joint Commission) the high water will peak this week. While fishing the Wayne County bays be considerate of shoreline property.
The Sodus Bay report has perch being scattered and usually found near the northern end of the bay. The rock bass and bluegills are along the shoreline next to the weeds.
Use worms or tiny black-chartreuse crappie jigs for the smaller panfish
The bass season starts June 15th. The regs for keeping bass are 12inches 5 fish. Sodus Bay has both small and largemouth bass.
Port Bay has perch at the channel and when the bass season opens you can catch largemouths off the land points or stick with the new weed growth.
Erie Canal
The Clyde Youth Fishing Derby was held Saturday and there was a group of excited youngsters which weighed carp, sheepshead, perch and largemouth bass. All of the fish were released.
The canal has plenty of largemouth bass and the season for keepers is two weeks away.
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:
The Orleans County area waters of Lake Ontario have lately been under mostly stable weather conditions. Mostly calm or prevailing winds have set the good salmon action back up. The forecast ahead for the rest of the week looks warming and clear with favorable winds. Next chance of rain showers for the weekend. A redeeming asset of the waters off the Oak is that even after winds and rough seas roll over is that these waters and fishable conditions return quickly – along with the fish! Most all Charter and rec anglers are reporting marking good numbers of fish again, along with bait in the mid depth areas east and west of Point Breeze. And besides some regular routine Charter traffic, over-the-all fishing and boating pressure remains pretty light. The fish seem to be here, now its your job to get those bites to result in solid hook-ups!
Capt. Jeremy S. from JDs Custom Charters reports surface temps ranging from 47 – 55 F on west winds. “A lot of Kings around in the 15 lb. range in 75 – 150 fow both east and west of the Oak. Spin doctors and e-chip flashers with A Tom Mik trolling flies have been good. Mag spoons are getting hits and some are hit and run type that aren’t there when you get to the rod. So no coincidence there are big alewives in some of the fish stomachs. Wire dipsey divers have been out 100 – 150 ft. Lakers are also in good numbers east of the Oak down toward Bald Eagle Creek.”
CJO of Tightline Charters has been on a downrigger and slider spoon program in 120 – 160 fow east to the Devils Nose with salmon up to 18 lbs. He’s taking out some previous groups becoming reacquainted with the Oak after some years off. Good to see those returning anglers!
For rec and small craft anglers they are also back into the mid-depth trout and salmon action. Time to splash in and get that shake down trip underway to take advantage of mild to moderate temps, accessible fish and not a lot of fishing pressure. For the foot soldier crowd at the Point Breeze piers, upstream Oak, inland waters or the Erie Canal there is perch, bluegill, bass, sheepshead and pike action to be had.
Oswego County
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It’s a tale of two fisheries in Oswego County waters. In the Oswego area, anglers can choose to target either king salmon or brown trout and have a great chance of catching plenty of fish. Conditions off Mexico have been much tougher.
Lake Ontario – Oswego County
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
The brown trout bite has not changed much, with fish still being found in 15 to 30 feet of water. Flatlines, short lead cores, and shallow Dipsy Divers are all producing. Stickbaits and spoons continue to be the most productive presentations.
For anglers targeting salmon, fishing has been very good in 60 to 200 feet of water, from straight out of the harbor to the east. King salmon have been mixed with coho salmon, steelhead, lake trout, and brown trout in the top 40 feet of the water column. Kings have also been taken as deep as 100 feet.
Spoons have been the primary lure, although many anglers are already finding success with flasher-fly combinations and flasher-meat rigs.
Downriggers, Dipsy Divers, lead cores, and copper setups have all been producing, with fish spread throughout the water column. To capitalize on this, anglers are deploying larger spreads to cover more water.
Lake Ontario – Mexico
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
The brown trout bite has been slow, but the fish are there in 15 to 45 feet of water. They are spread throughout the entire water column, from the surface to the bottom, so covering water is important. Running multiple rods at different depths is helping anglers locate active fish.
The lake trout bite has slowed but should begin to pick up again at any time.
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