Upstate New York Fishing Report for September 8, 2016

Greater Niagara Region

Bill Hilts, Jr.

Lake Ontario And Tributaries

The $25,000 winner in the Fall LOC Derby was Drew Kersic of Philadelphia with a 34 pound, 9 ounce king out of Oswego. He caught it the second last day of the 18 day contest – his first salmon ever on his first fishing trip ever on Lake Ontario. He’s already booked his charter with Capt. Chad Gehrig and “Son of a Gun” for next year. Salmon were caught during the derby all along the lakeshore and the largest caught locally was a 33 pound, 8 ounce king caught by Derrick Martek of Clearfield, PA while fishing with Capt. Harry Zimmerman of Northfork Charters. It was caught on a DW spoon, placing 4th. Mature salmon are continuing to stage and one of the hotspots right now is the drop off at the Niagara Bar. Capt. Matt Yablonsky of Youngstown sends word that fish are holding in 100 to 150 feet of water and flasher-fly is the way to go. Green has been a good color. In Olcott, Wes Walker reports salmon in 60 to 90 feet of water; even shallower under low light conditions. A few salmon and brown trout are starting to show up off the piers, too. Cast heavy spoons like Cleos and Wobblers. A mix of trout and salmon are also available out deep. In the harbors, panfish, pike and bass are available. Not too much to report at Burt Dam. We heard a few browns caught but it was mostly bass and a mix of other fish. Continuing with the LOC Derby, the Niagara USA area did extremely well in the other two divisions – brown trout and steelhead. In the Brown Trout category, the top three fish came from the waters between Wilson and Olcott. First place was Skip Foster of Wilson using a Bay Rat Lure, a stickbait, called “My Secret” behind a dipsy set back 120 feet in 50 feet of water. His son, Scott, also caught the third place brown, a 15 pound, 13 ounce fish on the same day. Second place was Dennis Stabler of Lockport with a 17 pound brown. In the steelhead class, John Jankowski of Sloan reeled in a 15 pound, 15 ounce fish off Olcott and Wilson, 65 feet down over 490 feet of water with a doctored up DW black and silver spoon dressed up with a pink ladderback. Overall, more than 50 percent of all the winning fish came from Niagara USA waters! Go to loc.org for a complete leaderboard.

Lower Niagara River

Bass fishing in the river has been pretty good. So has the walleye fishing, especially on the Bar off the mouth. For bass, Capt. Bruce Blakelock has been using tubes and Ned rigs to take smallmouth up to 5 pounds. Last week, Kim Stricker and the Hook ‘n Look TV Show were putting a hurt on smallmouth and then filming the bottom structure to show off why the fish were hanging out there. They also used a drone to show the effects of current. Look for that episode of the show in February. For walleye, the duo of John Van Hoff and Randy Tyrrell of N. Tonawanda did well with worm harnesses, catching fish up to 12 pounds. A few fish are being caught off the NYPA platform, but only a couple have been salmon. Mostly it’s been a mix of other fish … including a musky.

Upper Niagara River

Bass fishing in the upper river has been decent, but you do have to work for them. To find out more about upper river bass fishing, check out the new outdoor page with the Buffalo News this Thursday … and every Thursday. Bill Hilts, Jr. shares his insights each week. He no longer writes for Niagara Falls and Lockport papers after making the switch to the Buffalo News last week. For musky, the Niagara Musky Assn. is recommending that you NOT target those fish because it’s just too warm. Water temps are 75 degrees right now. If you do catch a musky incidentally, don’t take it out of the water – release it immediately. Be aware that if you are taking a picture of a musky, do NOT hold it vertically. That’s a no-no. Horizonally-positioned fish only. Be sure to like the Niagara USA Fishing and Outdoors Facebook page, too!

Oswego County

Mary Ellen Barbeau

Lake Ontario report

According to Capt. Kevin Davis of Catch the Drift:
The lake fishing remains excellent with lots of action. The bite gets tough when the sun gets high but many . A-Tom-Mik flies are crushing them for us. Most active water depth is 70-90 feet right now.

Oswego River Report

Yesterday saw a quick spike in the water flow to just over 2,000cfs but it is down to 1200cfs this morning. With the lower water levels and warm weather this summer, the water temperature is still in the upper 70s. We have high temperatures for the next couple of day and then a forecasted change in the weather pattern with cooler temperatures moving in for Sunday. Once this happens and the water temperature begins to drop, look for some salmon to move into the river. For now anglers are finding walleye, bass, carp and sheepshead.

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 Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
The lake anglers continue to be doing well as a good number of salmon are making their way towards the river. Look in 70-100 feet of water with glo spoons, cut bait, flies and flashers all working well. A good rain along with a change in the weather pattern would help move them into the river. In the meantime, we do have a few stragglers in the lower end of the river right now.

Salmon River report

According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
With some fish seen and a few brought to hand, the action slowed on Wednesday. The morning fished better than the afternoon. Yesterday one angler fished the lower end of the run seeing 4 or 5 salmon early in the day. The water flow from the reservoir remains at 335 cfs and 425 cfs at Pineville.

Oneida Lake Report

Anglers are continuing to find a few walleye but some cooler temperatures are needed to see much change on the lake. Smallmouth bass are active near the shoals on drop-shot rigs and crayfish.

Sandy Pond report

The pond is heavily weeded but anglers are finding a few bass with jigs and plastics.

Wayne County Fishing Update

Chris Kenyon

Lake Ontario

The LOC Fall Derby has ended and 30 pound -plus kings were caught all along the southern shores of Lake Ontario.

The awards ceremony was held at Captain Jacks at Sodus Point and the word from the winners was they all used different bait for the kings. Flasher flies, meat rigs, spoons and some stickbaits caught all the kings. Everything but worms.

Currently the kings are staged, however they have been tough to catch. Charters are marking the fish…they just can’t get them to go. Start in 100 feet of water and move around straight out from Sodus and Hughes Marina.

Use dipseys, riggers and throw-out 400 feet of copper. The fish are getting dark in color; however, they are clean from lamprey bites.
The smallmouths are still hitting in 30 feet of water and have been gobbling-up soft shell crabs.

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. Now that the boat traffic has slowed you can fish in peace. And remember, autumn is when you catch the lunker bass.

The water level is currently high enough for some great launching and fishing.

Yesterday…Labor Day… the parking areas were full of bass boats, however today they are empty.

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

Canal fishing last Sunday was perfect for the small craft and kayaks. Just launch at Widewaters and putter around catching bass and panfish.

Orleans County

Orleans County Tourism
As the hot weather continues the fish occupying those inside waters remain very elusive.

Most reports are of those fish diving to the bottom as boats pass by them.

With the waters of Lake Alice still registering in the 80’s, tributary fishing is still a ways off yet.

The off shore fishing seems to be holding up very well beyond the 28 line with a good mixed bag of fish in all year classes.

With the last of the Lake Ontario Derbies and Tournaments over for this year so the activity on the big lake start dwindling as that portion of our fishery takes a rest over the fall and winter.

Lake Alice fishing seems to be held to Bluegill around the Waterport Bridge area and then Bass in all of their deep water locations.

Rain today and into tomorrow should help to drop water temperatures slightly but not enough to make significant change in the present conditions.

There is a slight cool down coming next week but I’m not sure that it will change conditions that much.

Salmon River

Michael De Rosa – Zero Limit Adventures – Tailwater Lodge

Water flow at 355 cfs, but dry conditions persists with rain predicted for later this week! The higher water did pull a number of Salmon into the river and Douglaston Salmon Run reported increased activity with most guests hooking up or seeing Kings,

All indications point to a good salmon run this season. The LOC Derby finished this week and a 34lb king salmon was the grand prize winner. Those salmon entered this summer with healthy and tended larger than last year!!!

When are they going to run in numbers? There are so many factors that any prediction beyond a day of two is problematic. We know a couple of things. King Salmon have a biological clock that starts ticking in June / July as they transition from an apex predator to a spawning factory. When that clock’s alarm goes off their imperative is to run,spawn and die! There are many factors involved but the river’s water flow and water temps are NOT huge factors.They run when they are ready. Our best current indication is that lake fishermen are hooking fish in progressively shallower water.

Upper and Lower Reservoirs, as well as the Upper Fly Zone, are experiencing very little pressure. The Upper Reservoir is fishing well but, is significantly low. The Jackson Road Ramp is dry so use the Redfield Ramp.