Fishing Line
Anglers talk more about the winds, waves, and rainstorms than where the fish are biting on Western New York waters of late.
Lake Erie activity picked up slightly and Lake Ontario salmon and trout are something to talk about. Inland lakes continue to offer some wind protection during stiff breezes that often send up swells on the Great Lakes.
Lake Ontario
The on-shore progression for trout and salmon is about a week early, as Wes Walker sees salmonid movement this past week. “The kings come into depths of just 50 feet and trollers set rigs just off bottom at about 45 feet,” Walker said of Chinook salmon presence around Olcott Harbor.
Lake trout continue to hug bottom east of Fort Niagara, but the bigger push has been for incoming browns and steelies over depths of less than 200 feet.
Off Oak Orchard, trollers can work depths of 100-200 feet, less than two miles off shore, for kings, mainly, and some browns and steelies moving closer to shore.
“Fishing has been along the entire New York State shoreline of Lake Ontario,” said Sharon Narburgh, coordinator of the Orleans County Derby, which goes to Aug. 16. The latest top king salmon entry for the Orleans Derby hit just past the 31-pound mark. Anglers can enter this derby before 7 a. m. each day to be eligible for competition. For details, call 682-4624.
Lures and color choices vary from port to Ontario port. At Olcott, the Monkey Pukes (brown and gold) spoons have been popular. At Oak Orchard, green-or purple-based spoons get major mentions. Spin Doctors and spoons, especially in deeper water with spoons, have been the ticket at Olcott. Straight spoons have done best off Oak Orchard point and eastward.
Lake Erie
Final results for the Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club Fifth Annual Derby have yet to be fully tabulated, but derby coordinator Joe Jemiolo reports contestants seeking walleye ran distances well west and east of Dunkirk Harbor during the Friday-to-Sunday contest.
“We fished off Barcelona and many boats went to Sturgeon Point,” Jemiolo said after the final weigh-in on Sunday. Total prize listing will be available later, but results for walleye seekers suggest a run to deeper waters off Barcelona or 60-foot depths off Sturgeon Point Marina.
Perch numbers are down and boaters have to make runs to deeper water to find bottom-hugging schools of ringbacks. Best catches off Cattaraugus Creek have been in depths of 60-80 feet. Most boaters get over 60 foot depths, cruise at fast trolling speeds, and check a zoom-in sonar screen for bottom activity of baitfish and possible perch schools.
Inland lakes
Weed seed (algae bloom) and other suspended particles in calm inland waters have not slowed the panfish, bass, and pike bite. Walleye have been tight lipped on most inland lakes, but assorted panfish species and bass keep trollers and casters busy on waters around the western Finger Lakes and along the Southern Tier.
Honeoye Lake: Big bluegills and sunfish shine at mid-lake depths of 18-20 feet for boaters drifting in a light breeze or anchored in winds above a light breeze. Waxworms work. Blood worms, spikes, and mousie grubs all take perch, panfish and the occasional bass and walleye, but the waxworm waxes widely around Honeoye and on most inland- lake shallows.
Silver Lake: Walleye numbers have picked up during evening hours and many anglers are taking out big chubs for northern pike, according to Frank Malone at Mack’s Boat Livery at the southeast side of the lake.
Perch numbers improve at depths of 20 feet or more and bitter ’gills and sunnies also head to deeper waters. Better numbers for panfish have come from mid lake to deeper water off the launch at the southwest corner of the lake.
Chautauqua Lake: Musky catch-and- release numbers remain higher than this time last year for tooth pullers lakewide. Weed edges have more definition-edge growth and die-off sections-give trollers a better shot at both musky and walleye.
Walleye numbers gradually increase along these weeds and trollers can work tighter to edges. Best depths for evening and dawn trolling stints have been over 12-15-foot depths, says Lisa Green at Happy Hooker Bait & Tackle in Ashville.
Best fish photos sought
Anglers can have trophy photos of their great catches displayed on the Fishing Page of the News Web site ( www.buffalonews.com/fishing ). E-mail the photo along with a brief description of the catch, including the name and home (city, town or village) of the angler, the location of the catch and how the fish was caught to the address below.
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments