Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
Capt. Dave Scipione of Scipione’s Fishing Charters reports the river and Niagara Bar have been producing BIG walleyes in both numbers and size. When the wind allows, the Niagara Bar has offered consistent limit catches of walleye. His biggest one of the season came recently in the Stella Niagara drift at 10.5 pounds. He has been using his custom worm harnesses with a gold blade and pink or orange beads. On the Bar, work the ledge to past the green can, and cover depths from 40 to 17 feet of water. Keep working east and west to find active fish. The fishing will turn on and off throughout the day so if it’s not spectacular when you first get there, be patient it will eventually turn better. Try to release larger fish (24 inches and over) as they are almost always female. The larger females will produce many more eggs than smaller ones and this will help to sustain future populations.
Tommy Holycross of Wheatfield reports that walleyes are his primary target species this time of year and Devil’s Hole, the NYPA Fishing Platform and Artpark locations have not disappointed. He notes decent catches at all three locations with a 7-plus-pound walleye at Artpark as the highlight. Bottom bouncer weights with worm harnesses or paddletail jigs worked best for him.
Fishing doesn’t get much better in Lake Ontario for salmon and trout in Lake Ontario according to Capt. Matt Bedient of 716 Sportfishing. The Olcott captain has been running offshore in 400 to 500 feet of water, concentrating in the top 55 feet of water. His catches have included king and Coho salmon, as well as steelhead. In the mornings, typical glow and Carbon 14 spoons work. As the sun rises, go with brighter colors. Standard and magnum sizes are both working. Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn reports there has been some decent brown trout action both east and west, mostly on a spoon bite. For kings, there is a meat bite that has been very strong. Green colors have worked best. Capt. Tom Pearse with Reel Adventures Sportfishing reports that fishing has been red hot just east of Olcott in 450 to 500 feet of water. There has been plenty of king salmon action with some steelhead and Coho salmon mixed in. The fish are hitting spoons in the upper part of the water column. Some of the larger king salmon are hitting meat rigs from 80 to 100 feet down. Over in Wilson, Capt. Joe Oakes of Salmonboy Sportfishing reports fishing is very good right now in 400 plus feet of water for a mix of salmon and steelhead. Spoons in the top 60 feet of water are working best.
In the Niagara SPCA’s Second Annual Fishing Fur a Better Tomorrow walleye tournament held August 1, it was Joe Oliverio of Lewiston winning the $1,500 first place prize with two Niagara Bar walleyes weighing a total of 14.78 pounds. He fished the Niagara bar with white/silver worm harnesses with hammered Colorado blades. Second place went to Brad Weigand of Wilson with two fish totaling 14.76 pounds, earning a check for $1,000. He was jigging artificial lures on the Niagara Bar. Third place and $500 went to Pat Foote of Grand Island with 14.52 pounds for two ‘eyes. He, too, was fishing the Niagara Bar using homemade harnesses outfitted with orange beads and chartreuse willow leaf blades. Included in his two fish was the big fish of the tournament, an 8.87-pound walleye. There were 22 boats in this year’s tournament, raising funds for the local SPCA.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
The kings have been offshore in 150 to 700 fow. The depth changes daily, however if you mark them…go get um!
The meat rigs are working the best with some action with flasher flies.
Some browns are also being caught in 50 fow.
Most of the action has been straight out from Sodus Bay.
Don’t forget the LOC Fall Derby starts August 21st.
Bays
There have been perch caught close to the Sodus Bay channel. Some smallmouth bass have also been netted at the channel.
Largemouth bass have been everywhere in Sodus. Fish the weedlines, close to shore areas, and at the south end of the bay. Use your Senko rigs.
The water has cleared on Port Bay, and the rock bass have started to hit on the east side of the bay. The panfish are fun to catch using ultra-lite gear. Use 6’ 6” rods with your reel spooled with light 10lb. braided line with a 6lb. Vanish leader.
Place your 1-inch grub up 12 inches from the sinker and put a silver bass belly on the hook. The gobies cannot steal your bait.
Try that “Corky” rig or go with your own set-up. Have fun!
Erie Canal
Cast out into the water next to the locks and catch a wide variety of fish. The closing and openings of the locks stir the bottom. There are pull-offs next to some locks adjacent to Route 31.
Some pike were caught on the south side of Widewaters, where the weeds are thick. You can also catch some crappies suspended from the bottom.
The largemouth bass are on the south side of Widewaters and under the Port Gibson Bridge where the canal narrows.
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.
2026 LOC DERBY DATES
*Fall-Aug 21st-Sept 7th
Get in on the action and win your share of the $140,150 in Cash Prizes in the 2026 LOC Event. Check out leaderboard
We’ll keep the link to the leaderboard so you can see all the action during the fall derby.
Orleans County
Orleans County Sportfishing Coordinator Ron Bierstine:
The Orleans County open water Lake action for Kings remains real good. There are still some nice steelhead in the mix too. But for the most part with both recs and Charters able to target, locate, have cooperate and box out usually early – why wouldn’t you try for these nice plump Kings that still seem heavy on the bite and feed!
One rec angler said the fish are usually taking the hooks deep. Kings and steelhead have alewife tails sticking out of their gullet yet they are still biting. And they are fighting crazy good. The sizes are good and averaging something better then last year. Guys are getting slamming strikes just setting rods or reeling in trying to break down! This good raft of fish and pods of bait out front of Oak Orchard and nearby waters has been consistent as of late, so hopefully anglers can get in on it before staging time when some fish may start easing toward home tribs like to the east.
BIG Salmon! Photo courtesy Elliot T.
The local Live Linz boat, a nicely appointed Tiara found their fish from about the 27.5 – 30.5 line mostly north of port. “Down temp at 55 ft was 48 F. Bam fly with a green geezer paddle and cut bait on green A-Tom-Mik heads on a 160 – 180 dipsey took fish. Any green UV spoons seemed to be working. The riggers were set from 50 to 75 ft down.”
Capt. Bob S. from Sunrise II Charters says “the fishing is on fire! A little bit off shore from the 26 – 29 line there are a lot of nice active fish – steelhead and Kings. For me it’s gold spoons on the riggers 40 – 70 ft down and paddles and flies on the divers.”
Oswego County
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Summer fishing remains at a peak in the Oswego County waters of Lake Ontario.
Lake Ontario – Oswego County
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Anglers are finding great success catching salmon from 115-500 feet of water.
The best plan of action as of late is to take a northwest heading starting in 150 feet of water. If you find a depth holding lots of fish, work that depth and stay on that level. Others are making long passes from 150-500 feet of water before turning around and heading back.
Spoons, flashers/flies, and meat rigs have all been proven producers. Put out a mixed spread and fine-tune based on the fish’s preference for the day.
Lake Ontario – Mexico
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
With the salmon comfortable on the west side of Nine Mile Point, most anglers are still targeting brown trout with great success. However, don’t be surprised if you have a few kings invade your spread.
Starting this week, you should begin seeing more and more kings infiltrate the bay. Start working the summer water and stage within a few miles north and south of the mouth.
Cormorant Reporting
Courtesy of NYS Sea Grant
New York Sea Grant announces new survey tool to track birds’ populations and impact
August 7, 2026. New York Sea Grant, a collaborative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is inviting the public to document the presence, activities, and impacts of double-crested cormorants. Double-crested cormorants are a native, fish-eating, federally protected migratory bird species. New York Sea Grant partnered with Wayne County GIS to develop an online reporting tool at https://nyseagrant.org/cormorant for the public to upload photos and report observations of double-crested cormorant numbers, nesting, and feeding activities. The survey includes options for logging the birds’ impact to natural habitat, water quality, infrastructure, and recreational usage.
The survey developers strongly encourage users to submit photos to show the birds’ activity and impact.
Read more about the project here
Request a Free Salmon River Fishing Map!
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
Click Here to Order a Free Guide
The 68-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.
Click Here to Order Free Information, or email tourism@oswegocountyny.gov