Upstate and Western New York Fishing Report- July 3, 2024

Greater Niagara Region

Frank Campbell

The fishing report is a day early because of the Fourth of July holiday this week. The Lake Ontario Counties Salmon and Trout Derby is underway and 10-year-old Jake Glenn of Lockport is the early leader with a 23-and-a-half-pound king salmon he caught out of Olcott on Sunday. Check out loc.org for the updated leaderboard.

10-year-old Jake Glenn of Lockport is leading the Summer LOC Derby with this 23-1/2-pound salmon he caught out of Olcott.

Fishing has been good overall according to Capt. Anthony Ellis of Redemption Charters out of Olcott, but some days you have to do a little searching to find them. They are there! A mix of spoons and cut bait (real or artificial) have been doing the job. All classes of fish are being caught including one-, two-, and three-year-old salmon. Focus your attention from 100 to 300 feet of water depending on wind and weather. Ellis says the depth of where to fish is changing every day, but a good starting point is down 50 feet. Find the right temperature. He was as deep as 100 feet down. When Ellis runs meat, a chartreuse color dye with his own alewives he caught for his meat is best for him right now.

Gary Hall of Lewiston caught this salmon on the Niagara Bar recently with Capt. Frank Campbell of Lewiston.

Rocco Hall of Lewiston caught this salmon on the Niagara Bar recently with Capt. Frank Campbell of Lewiston.

You don’t need to use a big boat to catch these fish. Capt. Frank Campbell of Lewiston took his 20-foot Lund onto the Niagara Bar with the Gary Hall clan from Lewiston and in 3 short hours they managed to land 6 kings and 1 nice steelhead. All the fish were taken on divers on a No. 2 setting, back 100 and 110 clicks with Dreamweaver magnum spoons in Glow Hulk pattern. The fish were held between 45 and 200 feet of water with the best size kings in shallow water (45 to 55-foot) where the heaviest concentration of bait was located. The largest king was in the 23-pound range.

Former DEC Region 9 Fish Manager Paul McKeown caught this salmon recently fishing with Capt. Matt Yablonsky of Wet Net Charters.

Matt Wilson of Lewiston hit the upper Niagara River on Sunday and found a lot of smaller class bass near the south Grand Island bridge drift. He moved to Strawberry Island and started getting above-average river fish for this time of year using the Great Lakes Snack Crack 2.5 on a Ned head and a skirted jig. He also found a nice school of walleye near the I-190 but didn’t have proper gear. They seemed to be on the drop that runs down alongside the buoy line. In the lower Niagara River, captains Joe Marra of Lewiston and Jeff Draper of Grand Island reported success on walleye and bass from Devil’s Hole all the way out to the green can at the mouth of the river. The best baits have been worm harnesses for walleye while crawfish have been the best enticement for smallmouth bass. The hot areas are changing daily so be prepared to move around until you find active fish.

Wayne County Fishing Update

Chris Kenyon

Lake Ontario

Salmon fishing in the lake is fantastic with charters typically ‘boxing out’ for their clients. The weekend weather was brutal with rain and wind on Saturday and a blow-off yesterday.
Start at 150 fow and work to 400 fow. Try down 75 to 90 feet for starters and work around the Chimney Bluffs area.
Spoons, flasher flies, and meat rigs are working, Actually, everything is catching salmon.
Use your favorite glow spoons, flasher flies and meat rigs.
Notable spoons are Carbon 14, Michigan Stingers NBK, Moonshine RVs, and Dreamweaver Mags.

With this fantastic fishing make sure you sign up for the summer LOC Derby. It started on Saturday, June 29th. 10-year-old Jake Glenn caught a 23.08-pound king on the second day of the derby. Check out the web link below. Don’t go out trolling for salmon without registering for the LOC.

With this fantastic fishing make sure you sign up for the summer LOC Summer Derby. It starts this Saturday, June 29th. Maybe we’ll see a 40-pounder weighed.

Bays

The best fishing for bass is Sodus Bay. Fish the south end near Bay Bridge Sport Shop, the weedlines, and off the many points in the bay.
The bass are hitting the Senko worm rig, top water lures, and spinner baits next to any weedlines.
Some anglers are fishing perch in the deeper water. Try off Shaker Height in 23 fow.

Port Bay has bass near any weed grow. Cast 3-inch grubs right next to the weeds. There is also a mix of bluegills, sunnies and rock bass in the bay. Fish the points of land that have some depth and structure.

The Wayne County Youth Fishing Derby started June 21st and runs until July 28. Check out the web for more information.
The awards ceremony is August 4th at the Sodus Point Firehall. Stop by…it’s a lot of fun.

Erie Canal

The canal wasn’t really affected by the weekend blow. There was wind, but the narrow waterway didn’t have the monster waves of Lake Ontario.
Launch at Widewaters and fish the southern shore where there are plenty of weeds.
The largemouths are exceptionally large, so bring a good net.

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 Road.

Notable Freshwater Fishing Regulation Changes

The following list provides a summary of the most notable fishing regulation changes resulting from the adopted rulemakings described above.

New statewide regulation for rainbow trout, brown trout, and splake in lakes and ponds. The season will now be open year-round, with a five-fish daily limit, any size, with a “no more than two longer than 12 inches” harvest rule.
Statewide Atlantic salmon regulations will now allow for a year-round open season.
Ice fishing is permitted on all waters in New York unless specifically prohibited with the exception of Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Warren, and Washington counties where previous rules remain.
New specific dates replaced floating dates for statewide season openers to include:
- May 1 – Walleye, Northern Pike, Pickerel, and Tiger Muskellunge.
- June 1 – Muskellunge. (Note that in 2022, DEC will allow for muskellunge fishing beginning the last Saturday in May to accommodate previously planned fishing trips);and
- June 15 – Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass.
A five-fish daily walleye limit in Oneida Lake.
A new regulation to limit the growth of the walleye population in Skaneateles Lake. No daily possession limit; 12-inch minimum size limit, open year-round.
The statewide sunfish daily harvest limit has been reduced from 50 to 25 fish: and
The statewide minimum size limit for crappie has been increased from nine inches to ten inches.

Orleans County

Orleans County Sportfishing Coordinator Ron Bierstine:

Trolling action out of the Oak right through the past early part of the weekend was real good. Most all boaters were catching Kings and steelhead and lakers. The fish look good, especially the Kings which are plump. Stomach contents are showing they are feeding on big alewives. A few browns are starting to show up in the creel too. All this good action has mostly been in mid depth waters. Maybe the far offshore action is good too, but I don’t know anybody running out there when boxing out has been pretty much the norm in 90 to 200 fow or less! Different tactics have produced hook ups but the predominant method has been the old steady spoon program on riggers.

Gary and Dave from Jersey with aa nice brace of Kings aboard Troutman 2.

Alas though, conditions may be changing! Stiff WNW winds that looked and felt more like September or October swept in yesterday and today. It seems to be laying down now and the forecast is light and variable for the midweek. Next chance of precipitation is also mid week after about 0.50 – 0.75 inches of rain we received a few days ago. Look for the chance of all that favorable cool water that was hanging near shore to be blown out with hotter water replacing it. If so, all the bait and temp that the salmon and trout were keyed in on may be moving farther offshore. So there’s your next fishing challenge, find the right down temps and bait and you should find the fish! We’ve had a few fair blows prior that didn’t seem to change things all that much, but this last bit of wind may have been enough to flip the script.

Showing the versatility that the Oak and Orleans County waters provide, the NYKBF (New York Kayak Bass Fishing) club has been out and about and visible on the lower Oak Orchard River flat water areas doing a bit of pre-fishing for their upcoming tourney. Check out www.NYKBF.com and their social pages. The Glenwood to the Lake tourney will take place July 13 with the awards ceremony at the Black North Inn at 3:30PM. Come check out all the neat tricked out kayaks and learn more about this style of angling. The method could translate well to tributary and near shore trout and salmon fishing.