Pictured above: Jake Romanack with big Lake Ontario king salon
Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario salmon fishing action continues to be very good … if Mother Nature will let you get out there. The weather has been crazy this year and there were some reports of water spouts earlier this week. Mark and Jake Romanack with the Fishing 411 television show had heard about the good salmon fishing and took a quick drive over from Michigan to film a show. They arrived on Monday and filmed Tuesday and Wednesday mornings to complete the episode. They caught a total of nine mature king salmon to 25 pounds plus a number of smaller salmon. They caught fish on a variety of methods including downriggers down 65 to 75 feet over 100 to 150 feet of water just off the Niagara Bar; slide divers 120 feet back; 10 colors of lead core line; and 300 feet of copper line. Best speeds were 2.7 to 3.0 miles per hour on the surface. Be aware that there is a strong current out there in the lake that you may need to adjust to, probably related to the outflow of water through the St. Lawrence Seaway in an attempt to lower more water from the lake. Water levels have started to come down, an encouraging sign – and just in time for the Summer Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby. That contest will run from June 30 to July 30. Get out there and catch a winning fish. Grand Prize is $10,000 for the largest salmon. Website is loc.org. Wilson and Olcott are also reporting good king catches. Derby time is a great time to get out there!
Lower Niagara River
Lower Niagara River fishing is still moving right along. Moss was a little more prevalent on Tuesday morning after the storms on Monday afternoon. Hopefully that was just from the high winds. It was definitely fishable as a camera crew from China sampled the lower river fishing action. Capt. Frank Campbell of Niagara Falls was tossing spinnerbaits along the shoreline and picked up some smallmouth. Shiners and crayfish caught a mix of bass and sheepshead. Bass are available all to way to the Niagara Bar. Good news if you have a Canadian fishing license. Anglers no longer have to call into Canada Border Services Agency if they cross the international boundary. However, you still need a license and you must abide by the country’s bait regulations.
Upper Niagara River
Upper Niagara River fishing has been good for bass and walleye. Bottom bounce a worm harness from a three-way rig at the head of the river or in front of Strawberry Island to take some nice ‘eyes. Smallmouth bass have been hitting shiners and crayfish. Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls has been doing well on largemouth using plugs and spinnerbaits. Tube jigs will also work for bass. A few musky were caught the past week, but mostly on the smaller-side in the upper 30-inch or lower 40-inch range. Monster tubes caused some follows and hook-ups for Ryan Shea with Brookdog Fishing. Some nice steelhead were caught this week by customers of Capt. Chris Cinelli of Grand Island. Spinner and a worm did the trick around Strawberry Island.
In the Hooked on Fishing Tournament over the free fishing weekend in the Erie Canal, some impressive fish came to the scales. Robert Grant reeled in a 6.25 pound bass; Dan Phelps hauled in a 4.28 pound pike; Mike Boncore weighed in a one pound perch; Matt Steffan out-dueled a 20 pound carp; and Dominic DiNardo earned first place with a 4 pound channel catfish. A total of $3,000 was raised for the Boys and Girls Club of the Northtowns to send kids to summer camp.
Next contest coming up is the 27th Annual Erie Canal Fishing Derby, set for July 5 to 16. Get all of the details atwww.eriecanalderby.com. Seven species categories, 50 tagged fish and a 50 mile boundary from the Niagara River to Albion. There is even a family registration for just $25. Get signed up today!
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Oswego River Report
The water level had been fairly consistent over the last three days running between 6,000-7,000cfs. This morning it is up a little flowing at 7,880cfs. Areas along the river are more accessible. Anglers are finding walleye, sheepshead and smallmouth bass.
Lake Ontario report:
Charter captains are reporting that “kings are here.” This morning Capt. Ed Monette of Cannonball Runner reported a combination of Michigan stingers and A-Tom-Mik Twinkie rigs were the ticket from 150-300 feet of water. The largest this morning was 26 pounds. The temperature is way down so fish are deep.
According to Capt. Kevin Davis of Catch the Drift:
It was absolute crazy king fishing on Tuesday. The boys from Maine landed over 20 kings and one coho. We lost track of how many we had on. Constant action the entire trip and we quit at 10:30 a.m.
Pulaski Area and Salmon River report:
According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
The salmon and trout fishing has been very good. Look in deep water with flashers and flies for salmon and spoons are the choice of bait for trout. Anglers are also finding bass in the lake and with the higher water levels in the streams, they are producing some bass.
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
Sunday morning anglers reported decent activity with smallmouth bass on the lower half of the run. Anglers Tuesday afternoon reported landing double digits of smallmouth bass and even a brown and a rainbow. Flows are up to 750cfs. Yesterday a good number of smallmouth bass were brought to hand with several hitting the 17” mark. We suspect the bass are now “dropping back” to the lake for the summer. Give it a shot while the getting is good.
Notice: The Salmon River Fish Hatchery building continues to be closed due to construction. The grounds, including picnic area and fish ladder, are still open dawn to dusk. We anticipate construction to be finished early summer. You can reach the hatchery at 315-298-5051, Monday through Friday 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM.
Oneida Lake Report:
Bass season is open and there has been some action anglers were finding some action in shallow water along the shoreline and in deeper water around the shoals. Lures such as chatterbaits and topwaters are working well.
Anglers continued to find a walleye bite using blade baits or trolling worm harnesses. Look for a good perch bite in deeper water with minnows.
Sandy Pond report:
According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
Reports from the pond are about the same. Access is a bit difficult in some areas but can be done at various marinas around the pond. Those anglers that are out are finding some Northern pike, walleye and bass. The DEC boat launch remains closed.
Eastern Finger Lakes / Central New York Fishing Report
Mike Crawford of upstateguideservice.com
As summer sets in my guide service focuses on smallmouth bass. This time of year, around here, many anglers set their sights on bass. In Central New York there is a large variety of lakes to choose from that have excellent smallmouth and largemouth fisheries.
It is tough to beat Oneida Lake for the average size of the fish. While some of the smaller Finger Lakes produce high numbers and consistent action, but the fish are of smaller proportion on average.
Tremendous baitfish populations (alewife) have had many smallmouth anglers struggling for big mid summer catches on Oneida during the past couple of seasons.
The tremendous amount of baitfish available in the nutrient rich waters of Oneida and its confluence, coupled with the now established population of non-native Gobies, has created challenging angling and FAT bronze backs.
Getting the red eyed toads to take the imitation when so much natural food is around is the trick!
The technique I use is primarily drop-shot fishing. I change the weight and size of my presentation based upon water and weather conditions, but try to match the baitfish as close as I can with swimbaits and soft plastics. Check out the link to my blog for my take on finesse smallmouth fishing.
http://upstateguideservice.com/2017/06/27/finesse-fishing-summertime-smallmouth/
Many anglers feel The St. Lawrence River has evolved into a Goby based fishery, like the Great Lakes up stream of Lake Ontario, years ago. But traditional baits still produce.
Believe nothing you hear…and only half what you read… Someone told me that once and it tends to hold true!
The spring rainy season transitioned quickly into thunderstorm season and the watersheds here have seen little respite from rain and high water.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
The kings are in Wayne County waters; however, they are not hitting like hungry fish. It could be all the bait that was evident during spring fishing.
Try Pro Troll flasher/ flies or NK spoons. Dark color has been working. The kings that are making it to the net have been in 140 to 200 fow. They are hitting divers out 500 ft. and down 60ft.
Lots of bait fish and lots of hooks on the graph, so try throwing anything at them. Maybe cut bait.
Don’t forget the Sodus Pro-Am coming-up in July, Water levels are receding some, so there should be no issues in a few weeks. The web is sodusproam.com The main event is July 15-16, 2017.
Bays
– Some huge bass were caught in Sodus Bay near the south end of the bay. Some of the fish have been in close to shore and hit Texas rigged bait. They have also caught some perch near the channel.
If you target pike, fish on the north-east side of Sodus between the islands. The pike will hit minnows or troll spoons.
The no wake conditions remain on all Wayne County bays, so that will make getting to your preferred location very difficult. Currently, Port Bay doesn’t even have an open launch site.
Hughes Marina has a launch site, so you can head east on the lake and gain entrance to Sodus Bay or launch at Bay Bridge or Margaretta Road.
It sounds like a broken record however, the speed on the bays is still idle. It’s a Wayne County Emergency condition. There is no restriction on Lake Ontario.
Check out the rest of the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops. waynecountytourism.com.
Erie Canal
The bass boats were out near the Widewaters on Sunday. Some of the anglers reported catching some nice largemouths. They were casting spinner baits.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism
Yesterday Mother Nature gave us cooler temperatures, wind, rain, waves and even a water spout on Lake Ontario just to show us who is really in control.
With all of those conditions going on, fishing reports from Lady “O” are scarce right now.
Last reports have the fishing moving farther out in the lake and still producing a good mixed bag of fish.
Spoons still are taking a back seat to the other fishing lure choices such as flasher fly combinations and meat rigs.
The rest of this week has thunder storms scattered through but much warmer temperatures.
On the “Oak” at the Point good catches of Perch along with both large and smallmouth bass and Northern pike are being reported.
Lake Alice is also producing good catches of both large and smallmouth bass but the catches of pan fish has dropped off slightly in the past week.
June 30th is the opening day for the Summer LOC Derby which runs the entire month of July, well except for the 31st.
Are you ready to try to collect some of the $29,000 in cash prizes this year?
July 15th will be the date for the Drew’s Crew Fishing for a cure of Juvenile Diabetes Derby this year and then July 22nd will be the second leg of the King of the Oak series.
A busy month with some great chances to cash in on some great fishing.