Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
Bass and walleye fishing continues to be good on the lower Niagara River, but the better days have been the rainy, unstable weather days according to Capt. Joe Srouji of Angler’s Edge Outdoors Fishing Charters. Heat waves of over 90 degrees along with clear blue skies made things a challenge this past week, but on the days he fished under overcast skies and rain the bite was incredible. Typical dog days of summer fishing was a challenge for walleyes with worm harnesses, but they are available throughout the river system. Jigs have also been taking their share of walleye especially out on the Niagara Bar. Best colors have been purple and white, while most productive sizes are 3/4 to 1-ounce.
Bass are way more aggressive with crayfish, as well as soft plastics, all taking fish. He sees a much better size of smallmouth bass with 2.5 -3 pounders coming to the boat regularly. Practicing catch and release for smallmouth is a great way to give back to the fishery. Bass can be found from Devil’s Hole to the Niagara Bar. Crabs and shiners can be fished off three-way rigs. Artificial baits will also produce a good deal of action with the most productive presentations being drop shot rigs, Spro’s CJ Smasher, jerk baits and spinnerbaits in bright colors such as shades of chartreuse. Fish spinnerbaits in the first 10 feet of water, jerk baits in 10-15 feet of water, and drop shots in water deeper than 20 feet.
Thanks to some east wind, the inside water went cold on the surface for Sunday, reports Capt. Hank Condes of Bladerunner Charters. He ran to deeper, more stable waters targeting 350 to 420 feet of water between Wilson and Olcott. He ran all standard size spoons on riggers and divers from 40 to 60 feet down on his riggers and 120 to 150 clicks back set on high and deep divers. He found very consistent fishing, including both mature and 2-year-old king salmon, some Coho salmon, and plenty of steelhead. Timing appears to be good for both the start of the Fall Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby on August 21 (through Labor Day) and the Reelin’ for a Cure all-ladies tournament on August 21 out of Wilson and Olcott.
Capt. Anthony Ellis of Redemption Charters reports the lake water did flip over the weekend. He was able to get on some salmon and trout quickly Sunday morning, but the water was moving and changing rapidly. He had to run to deep water to find stable temperatures, and he caught everything in the top 50 feet of the water column. Just because the inside water turned cold doesn’t mean you should fish there. Charlie Young of Tonawanda and Trevor Luthart of Medina both scored on salmon and trout Sunday casting a ¾-ounce Cleo spoon from the Olcott pier.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
The king bite has been excellent with matures dominating. You can find them anywhere from 80 to 600 fow straight out from Sodus Bay. Currently, meat rigs and spoons are working the best.
Straight out from Hughes’ Marina the kings have been in 400 fow. Mag spoons are catching the salmon.
Don’t forget the LOC Fall Derby starts August 21st.
Bays
Sodus Bay fishing has been slow, which is normal for mid-August. The largemouth bass have been biting early in the morning next to the weedlines. Cast out your favorite Senko rig at the south end of the bay, or near any of the shoreline indentations or pockets where bass will be hiding.
Some perch are still at the channel.
There are some rock bass hitting at Port Bay, especially at the east side of the bay. Look for them in 30 fow with a rocky bottom.
Bluegills and perch have been small. Release them after having fun with ultra-lite gear.
A few smallmouth bass have been caught at the channel to the lake. Use minnows for bass.
Erie Canal
More fish are being caught at the Erie Canal than any of the Wayne County bays. Launch your kayak or boat at Widewaters County Park and fish the south side of the canal. On Widewaters you’ll catch panfish, huge largemouth bass, perch, and some crappies.
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:
Solid summer salmon action continues here at the Oak and Orleans County waters! There was some NE winds this past weekend that brought in some cool if not cold water, yet it didn’t seem to change what’s been largely an off-shore good bite. Most trollers are finding their action at the 27 line or around 400 fow and beyond. With less fanfare and a little slower and steadier – fish have been coming inside of that too. Some anglers remark that when you find fish its kind of like a wolf pack and that there will be more around at that spot. Then it may go a little cold until you troll into the next biting wolf pack.
Looks like a return to prevailing winds and a likelihood of shifting currents as the water temp profile tries to stabilize again. Recent Oak orchard weather buoy data will show you how quickly that water temp profile changes with conflicting currents. Savvy anglers are reading all the signs of what the spread is doing down below for speed and lure action. It matters to the fish and to avoid those not fun gear tangles! Trollers are getting their strikes on riggers and copper lines and divers with different colors working. If you have confidence in it then get it out there at the right speed and its been working.
Capt. Jon F. of Mister Charters says “fishing has been great. Started off the past weekend fishing in 70 – 90 fow for brown trout and found salmon mixed in too. Then the NE wind flipped the Lake enough to where we had to fish off-shore around the 28 – 30 lines for a great class of Kings and steelhead.”
CJO of Tightlines Charters has been into some nice mature Kings around the Bald Eagle area in 250 fow. “Kings are hitting flasher/fly rigs 40 – 50 ft down and steelhead on spoons 35 ft down. Limits are common on smaller fish for some boats but I’m so far into nice matures. We’ve been able to release some Kings for another day! Browns lately have been pretty quiet.”
PLEASE NOTE:
One of the east side boat launch ramps at Point Breeze is temporarily closed for NYSDEC spill containment and should be reopened by end of week Thursday or Friday. One ramp remains open and the west side Point Breeze boat launch ramps are open.
Oswego County
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Summer fishing remains at a peak in the Oswego County waters of Lake Ontario.
Salmon River, Pulaski NY
• Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
It’s still early to see any major pushes of fish into the river. But there has been a salmon caught on the Salmon River, as of 8/18. Oswego won’t be far behind.
With the weather remaining hot, always go straight to the fastest-moving water to find fish.
Lake Ontario
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Strike Zone Charters brown trout” width=”1024″ height=”647″ class=”size-large wp-image-200638″ /> A big brown, caught via Strike Zone Charters.
Salmon fishing remains good out of Oswego. Anglers are fishing anywhere from 100 to 600+ feet of water. There is still a good mix of younger, feeding fish, along with a few darker, mature fish starting to find their way toward the river mouth.
Meat rigs and flies behind white and chrome variant flashers have been the most productive. However, a lot of fish have also been eating magnum-sized spoons.
Anglers in the Mexico Bay area have been chasing brown trout for a couple of weeks now, with some even venturing west past Nine-Mile Point to find fish. They are catching some beautiful browns.
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
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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