Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Lake Ontario And Tributaries
The LOC Derby is starting to wind down, ending on Labor Day. Grand prize leader for the $25,000 is still the 33 pound, 13-ounce king salmon weighed in by Richard Clark. To make the leader board, you need a fish better than 30 pounds, 3 ounces! There’s a new brown trout leader out of Wilson as of this week. Earl and Scott Foster of Wilson, a father-son fishing team, were fishing out their home port trolling Bay Ray lures when they scored on two dandies – a 17 pound, 4 ounce fish for Earl and a 15 pound, 13 ounce fish for Scott. Bigger fish are still out there! Go to loc.org for details. Salmon are stacked up on the Niagara Bar right now according to Capt. Matt Yablonsky of Youngstown. Flasher-fly, cut bait, plugs and spoons will all catch fish. The same will work for you off Olcott where you have the option to target staging fish in 30 to 120 feet of water or go deep for a mixed back of salmon and trout. Same baits mentioned earlier will work in close; primarily spoons offshore. After recent rains jacked the CFS in 18 Mile Creek to 175, we did see a few pier casters hook up with salmon at night by casting Cleos out into the lake. A few browns are being reported, too. The best is yet to come. Another successful Fish Odyssey is in the books! Grand prize winner in the Adult Division was Matt Dunn of Newfane with his 31-pound, 5-oz. pound salmon. In addition to his $4,000 Grand Prize check, he also won $500 from the Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Assn. for the largest salmon caught by a LOTSA member and $100 for big salmon of the day. Dunn won the Grand Prize in the drawing at the awards ceremony at the Newfane Town Hall. Other divisional winners were Dennis Stabler of Lockport with a 17 pound brown trout; Patrick Barber of Niagara Falls with a 17 pound, 5 ounce lake trout; Nick Calandrelli of Lewiston with a 25 pound, 10 ounce carp; Dave Muir of North Tonawanda with a 6 pound, six ounce smallmouth bass; and Steve Majka with a 12 pound, 10 ounce walleye. Some outstanding catches came to the scales, a tribute to the local fishery. In the Junior Division, it was 5 year old Alyssa McGrath of Niagara Falls winning the Grand Prize with a 10-ounce panfish. She won a $100 Cabela’s gift card, a nice plaque, a rod and reel and tackle box. Other winners in their respective divisions were: Alex Heath of Sanborn with a 26 pound, 13 ounce salmon; RayLee Peterson of Home, PA with a 9 pound brown trout; Abigail McGrath of Niagara Falls with a 4 pound, 13 ounce smallmouth bass; Matthew Kelsey of Attica with a 13 pound, 7 ounce carp; and Ethan Brolinski of Lewiston with an 8 pound, 7 ounce walleye. Take time to remember the person that we honored this year – the late, great Jeremiah Heffernan, a local charter captain who did much to promote the local fishery.
Lower Niagara River
The walleye bite has been pretty consistent for some; not for others. In the Niagara River Anglers Assn.’s Lower River Walleye Contest, 25 contestants were vying for some decent cash prizes, and in the end, it was Steve Majka had the hot hand with two fish totaling 13.86 pounds. Majka also caught the big walleye in the Fish Odyssey at 12 pounds, 10 ounces at the mouth of the river, power trolling an orange and gold worm harness to take his biggest walleye ever. Back to the NRAA event, Mike Fox of Lewiston reeled in 12.07 pounds of walleye for second place; third place went to Capt. Steve Drabczyk of Lewiston with 11.87 pounds. Big fish for the contest went to Charlie Hoy with an 8.07-pound ‘eye. More than $1,000 in prizes were given out to the winning anglers. We mentioned Nick Calandrelli’s 25-pound, 10-ounce carp and that was caught in the lower river, too … while fishing in the NRAA contest with a worm harness. It was caught on the Jackson Drift. Bass fishing on the Bar has been spotty, but the lower river has been pretty good. Kim Stricker of Hook ‘n Look TV Show on the Outdoor Channel was on the water Tuesday to take some dandy smallies around Lewiston and film a show that will air in February. The cool thing about the show is that it includes underwater footage that takes you into the world of the fish and pinpoint specific holding areas. They will also talk about the importance of current.
Upper Niagara River
Bass – both smallmouth and largemouth – are available for boaters and shorecasters. Finding holding areas like flats or deep holes will be key to success. If you do venture into Canadian waters, make sure you call yourself in to notify the Canadian authorities of your intentions. Worms are the only live bait you can use and they can NOT be in dirt. It’s a pretty painless process, but they do mean business if you violate the rules over there. Sheepshead seem to be everywhere, from both boat and shore. Softshell crabs are the best bait for those, but they have also been hitting tubes.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Lake Ontario report
The salmon are continuing to work their way into the eastern end of the lake. From the number of boats off the Oswego Harbor this week, a good number are staging off the river. The top 20 salmon weighed in so far for the Fall LOC Derby are 30 pounds or more with the leader at 33.13 at this time.
According to Capt. Troy Creasy of High Adventure Sportfishing:
Last few days have been pretty decent on the high adventure. The fish seem to be moody and the bite is on and off. We struggled all afternoon on Tuesday but then finished strong with a great bite in the final hour.
According to Capt. Kevin Davis of Catch the Drift:
There are still fresh kings and cohos showing up.
Oswego River Report
The water flow has averaged just over 1,000cfs for the last few days. This afternoon it is running at 909cfs. Anglers are finding a few carp and sheepshead. We are hoping to see a few early salmon making their way into the river as the temperatures cool down over the next couple of days.
The bridge to Leto Island is closed, and there are Mandatory Personal Flotation Device (PFD) zones on the Oswego River below the Varick Dam. For more information, view the Oswego County Tourism web site at www.visitoswegocounty.com and look for the fishing report along the top bar on the home page. The Oswego Fire Department offers loaner life jackets at no charge through its “Loaner For Life” program. For more information contact the fire station, 35 E. Cayuga St., at 315-343-2161.
Pulaski Area/Salmon River Report
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop and Motel:
We’re still trolling for kings out on Lake Ontario. Overall we had a decent week and landed some nice fish. Depending on the wind and time of day we were marking lots of staging fish anywhere from 90 – 130 feet of water. Pro-troll flashers with A-Tom-Mik flies and cut bait with flashers have been most productive for us. The kings we’ve been catching look healthy and it’s been a mix of bright and dark fish. I can’t speak for everybody, but so far this season we’ve landed and marked more salmon than last season which is a positive sign and it’s going to be exciting when these fish enter the river.
Salmon River report
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
For the past two days, there have been only isolated sightings of salmon moving through our section of the river – we had some rain recently and the CFS at the dam was increased from 185 to 335 with a 750cfs water release scheduled for the weekend. Yesterday morning one of our guides observed 10 to 11 salmon porpoising at the very bottom edges of the DSR property. Hopefully the higher water and cooler night temperatures will move them along.
Oneida Lake Report
The walleye bite continues to be on and off. Blade baits in about 20 feet of water have been successful along with trolling stickbaits a bit deeper. Smallmouth bass are active near the shoals on drop-shot rigs and crayfish.
Sandy Pond report
According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
The pond is heavily weeded with little fishing taking place.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
The LOC Fall Derby runs through September 5- Labor Day- which is only six days away. The kings have been scattered, although you do have a chance to hook a 30-pound salmon.
The charters out of Sodus have been using flasher-flies and cut bait and have found some kings in 180 feet of water down 90 to 100. You can use that info for a starting point, however you’ll have to search for the hooks. Some are fishing straight out of Sodus and others are heading west towards Hughes’ Marina.
There has been some good news on the bass front. The smallies have been caught straight out from Port Bay in 20 to 30 feet of water. They have been huge, but there are no smaller fish which doesn’t really mean a healthy population of fish.
The bass are hitting artificial baits…anything that looks like a minnow. Put some spikes on the hook and have your sinker on the bottom with the bait 12 to 18 inches above.
Bays
The water temps in the bays is almost 80 degrees, which the bass love. Fish the weedlines surrounding Sodus Bay. You can use spinner baits or rubber. If you are on vacation this week, rent a boat and take the kids fishing. Sodus is the largest bay; however, Port Bay has two excellent launch sites if you want to fish a smaller bay.
Check out the rest of the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops. waynecountytourism.com.
We have a brand new Wayne County Fishing Brochure. This publication features where to go, what to use, and what to catch. Call our office for a free fishing packet, including the new brochure. 1-800-527-6510. We also have a new publication on Great Lakes fishing.
Erie Canal
The bass are hitting in the canal waters. The best place to launch is Widewaters in Newark, however Clyde and Lyons have places to plop your boat in the canal.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism
Some rain today and the more moderate temperatures for the rest of the week should help create better fishing conditions for the rest of the week and well into next week.
On Lake Alice around the Waterport Bridge the bite seems to be mainly Bluegill right now.
On the rest of Lake Alice it seems to be Rock bass and Smallmouth bass especially around the brush piles.
Lake Ontario is slowly setting up for the migration of Chinook salmon preparing for their spawning runs.
Reports have the action slowly picking up in the inside waters especially around the 80 feet of water area.
It’s not hot and heavy yet but it is increasing.
Labor Day signals the end of the Fall LOC Derby which means that there’s still time to enter and catch your share of the great cash prizes that are up for grabs.
Also this Sunday is the final King of the Oak Derby for this year.
This is also the time of year that the tributary fishermen have been waiting for.
Hope that you all have tied all your flies, repaired that leak in your waders and checked rods, reels and line for those last minute repairs.
Salmon River
Michael De Rosa – Zero Limit Adventures – Tailwater Lodge
Water flow at 185 CFS, the minimal flow for the summer, but as a result of the recent rains the Labor Day white water release are on schedule! Remember, the last three releases have been canceled due to lack of rain on the Tug Hill Plateau. The August and September releases usually pull a number of Salmon into the river. On September 1st the minimum river flow will increase to 335 CFS.
The Salmon update: Significant numbers are staging in the lake in front of the river and are steadily moving shallower and closer as their spawning behavior takes over. The LOC derby is reporting good numbers of Kings with a number over 30-pounds. All these fish look healthy and well fed! The derby has 5 fish already that are bigger than last year’s winner!
There are small numbers of Kings in the river now and there are still a few Smallmouth Bass throughout the river. There continues to be good evening hatches and there are numbers of par steelhead and landlock salmon working back to the lake.
Both Upper and Lower Reservoirs, as well as the Upper Fly Zone, are experiencing very little pressure. The Upper Reservoir is producing good catches of Smallmouth Bass and Walleyes.