Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
What a week is all we can say. The start of the Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby kicked off, the CIPS International Fishing Congress was going on and the Salmon Slam and $1,000 a Day Derby started on Monday as a precursor to the Wilson Harbor Invitational Tournament May 19. Yes, there were plenty of things going on and, yes, the fishing has been great!
Some big catches have been coming to the scales in the Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby going on right now. Even if you are going fishing for one day, take the chance and sign up. There are plenty of ways you can win some cash prizes. The leader for the $15,000 Grand Prize is Daniel Manti of Cortland with a 28-pound, 10-ounce king salmon caught off Oswego. While anglers have been catching salmon at a variety of locations around the lake, the best place to be is still the waters off Niagara County. The king fishing has been crazy good so far this year. Kings can be found from the Canadian line off Fort Niagara to Wilson. Most are fishing water depths of 60 to 150 feet anywhere from 30 feet down to 90 feet down. Magnum spoons, flasher-flies and cut-bait rigs have all been working off riggers, divers and copper set-ups. Look for the Wilson Harbor Invitational Salmon-only Tournament to be a good one this Saturday. Top LOC Derby lake trout so far is 22 pounds, 5 ounces from the Niagara Bar and weighed in by Steve Klejdys of North Tonawanda. Big brown trout is 15 pounds, 9 ounces caught by Gerald Darling of Maine fishing out of Oswego, and the walleye leader is an 11-pound Eastern Basin fish caught by Dan Peschler of Pulaski. Check out loc.org for details. It ends Sunday.
Niagara River fishing was really spotlighted during the International Fishing Congress the past week. There was a potpourri of fish species, with the focus being on bass or trout depending on where you were fishing. Above Niagara Falls in the upper river, the Strawberry Island area was a hot one for smallies, fished with tubes or swim baits. There were several spots around Grand Island that were also good. There has been a good walleye bite off Unity Island at night. Below Niagara Falls in the lower river, a similar night walleye bite is occurring at the sand docks in Lewiston with plastics like Fin-S Fish. If you are looking for a trout, try Devil’s Hole from boat or shore. Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls was starting to haul in some big silver bass as the water hit 45 degrees, along Artpark and off the NYPA platform. Some big smallmouth bass are also available from Lewiston down to Lake Ontario on Strike King swim baits and tubes. Andries Maree of South Africa hit a personal best just under 5 pounds on Monday.
Capt. Chris Cinelli of Grand Island had it happen again in the past week, catching another tagged smallmouth bass from the same event, the Canadian Tire Lake Erie Open, run out of the Upper Niagara River. For the fourth time, this one came from the lower Niagara River (yes, below Niagara Falls) after being reeled in by Steve Vargo from Vermont. He was dragging a Strike King tube. Cinelli has also caught one from the Upper Niagara River around Strawberry Island. Amazing!
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Lake Ontario Report
According to Capt. Andy Grisenthwaite of Broad Horizons Charters:
If you weren’t somewhere on Lake Ontario over the weekend, you missed out! Saturday we got many browns, another legal size Atlantic, and several smallmouth bass which were returned. There are plenty of trout mixed in with the bass if you want to weed through them. Spoons did more than sticks that day. Sunday we had amazing reports from Oswego and beyond. More than enough kings to the net, a couple browns, and a couple cohos too.
According to Capt. Troy Creasy of High Adventure Sportfishing Charters:
It’s crazy out there on Lake Ontario. Kings, browns, rainbows, Atlantic’s and big lakers.
Oswego River Report
The water flow has been all over the last couple of days running as low as 1600cfs and up to 9,000cfs. This morning it is running at 4,450cfs. Boat anglers have been trying the waters north of the Rte. 104 bridge and this flow makes many areas along the river fishable from shore. Anglers will likely still find a few steelhead. Walleye are being taken with large stickbaits and a few smallmouth bass have been found. Remember it is catch and release with artificial lures only for bass.
Notice: The bridge to Leto Island is closed, and there are mandatory personal flotation device (PFD) zones on the river. For more information, visit our website at visitoswegocounty.com and click on the Fishing Report along the top bar on the home page.
Salmon River Report:
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
We had a dozen anglers on the run yesterday. Most anglers we spoke with were able to get into a steelie or two, some had a handful brought to hand. We also had reports of a few rainbows caught as well. There were plenty of smallmouth bass to go around. Anglers reported success using pink worms as well as olive and white flies. The water flow is posted to remain at 335cfs through midnight tonight.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
The anglers we spoke with who came up for the weekend reported doing very well with drop backs in the mid to lower end of the river. Anglers who were fly fishing had the most success swinging black or olive woolly buggers in the deeper holes and larger runs. Anglers who were float fishing had the most success with pink worms and egg sacs. Now that the water temperature has warmed up, anglers have also been getting into a good numbers of smallmouth bass in the lower end of the river with woolly buggers producing the best results.
Oneida Lake Report:
Reports are indicating that the first week of walleye season on Oneida did not disappoint anglers. Limit catches have been taken in 15-35 feet of water. The activity seemed to be in the more shallow depths earlier in the day and as the sun got higher, anglers found the action in the 25-35 foot range.
Sandy Pond report:
With the opening of walleye and northern pike seasons, there has been some activity reported on the pond.
Eastern Finger Lakes / Central New York Fishing Report
Mike Crawford of upstateguideservice.com
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
Thunderstorms came through the area during the day, however the wind didn’t end-up a problem.
The browns are in 10 to 20 feet of water, but the action in Wayne County is spring kings. The fish are hitting in 90 to 100 feet of water straight out from Sodus Bay. The water temps are 48 to 49 on the surface.
The kings are hitting, Hi Tech, Pirate, and Stingers with green dots being a hot one. The set-ups are off the wire, riggers and lead core running back 250 feet. The fish are bright silver and in excellent shape.
It’s been an exciting beginning to spring fishing. Some nice lake trout are on the bottom in 150 feet and chomping on peanuts with cowbell attractors.
LOC Derby action runs till May 20. Check out their web at loc.org for the prize structure. Some nice fish are coming from all over the lake.
Bays
The bullhead action at Bay Bridge on Sodus Bay has been slow. Reports have the bullheads hitting in the Port Bay channel, which is unusual. Today’s rain might start some action, but it’s not the warmest temps.
Pike fishing has been productive at the north end of Sodus. You can use live bait or cast bright red spoons.
Perch have been caught at the north end of Port Bay. You can launch at the DEC site off West Port Bay Road.
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 canal water level will be raised on May 18. Most anglers have been concentrating on the bays and Lake Ontario, but there are plenty of fish in the canal if the winds blow you off Ontario.