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Posts Tagged ‘Lake Ontario Fishing’

What a season..

Posted in Reports, Stories, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 26, 2020| 1 Comment »

Salmon season has come to an end and what a season it was. With a horribly dry summer we found ourselves facing very low water conditions. How’s that old saying go? When life gives you lemons make bull frogs or something like that.

I have to give a huge thank you to all my awesome customers. You are the reason I do what I do. In less than ideal conditions everyone was more than willing to change things up which equalled smiling faces and fish in the net. Some days where better than others but everyone was happy.

Another thank you to those who have already booked next year’s trips or steelhead trips. It’s a great feeling having most of your next season booked as this season is ending. That being said if you want to salmon fish with me next year I wouldn’t wait too long to start planning.

With the low water I never fished the Salmon River this fall. I stayed on the lake as much as possible and fished other locations when I couldn’t get on the lake. Next weekend that changes and I will be steelheading on the Salmon River come hell or low water. The reservoir is slowly filling and I expect 335 cfs base flow to return in the near future as long as it keeps raining. My Smithfly raft floats no problem at 185 cfs so I am not concerned either way.

Steelhead season is looking like it is going to be a good one. Some very nice steelhead have been caught already along with some impressive brown trout. I do have a couple December dates open that I would like to fill if anyone is interested give me a call.

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Lake Ontario Salmon River Fishing Report 5/15/18

Posted in Reports, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 16, 2018| Leave a Comment »

The fishing is very good for brown trout, king salmon, and steelhead.  The lake has been producing good numbers of browns and kings out of Oswego. From what we are seeing so far the fishing this fall is going to be excellent on the river again.  Charter captains are seeing good numbers of fish hitting the deck each trip out.  The Walleye fishing at night has been excellent as well. I have some openings for Walleye trips.

The Salmon River is still running at 350 cfs and has steelhead top to bottom.  I floated Altmar to Pineville Monday evening and couldn’t believe the number of steelhead up that high still. There are also large numbers of small stocked trout.  Try not to abuse these fish as they are the future of this fishery.  We made a couple moves Monday because in some spots we couldn’t keep them off the hook.  The smallies are starting to enter the river as well.  A few very nice ones have been caught so far and it is only going to get better. I will be offering Smallmouth Bass float trips all summer. These are spin or fly fishing trips.

Salmon season dates are almost full if you want to get on the river with me this fall you better call with a deposit very soon.  I have September 8th and 9th open. Last year we were getting them up river with no one around on this weekend.  This year if they aren’t in the river yet we can troll the lake or fish the estuary in my recently purchased Lund. This boat opens up a lot of options for the early season. These dates won’t last so call soon if you want them.

 

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Salmon Fishing Report 10/13/17

Posted in Reports, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 13, 2017| Leave a Comment »

I have not been doing much as far as reports go this season. The reason is simple, my reports from early September through now would all be the same. It would say the river is full of fish. They are everywhere from the DSR to Altmar.  I have seen some keyboard hero’s complaining that the reports are false and there are no fish. Let me just say this if you went to the salmon river and didn’t find fish you are either blind or didn’t move around.  Now if you were just looking to snag fish in the shallow water areas earlier in year you probably didn’t find much. The fish were stacked in the deeper darker holes as the water and air were very warm this year.

Recent rains finally brought all the smaller streams up to a good fishable level and the fish moved in.  I am not going to name any of them but if they run into Lake Ontario there are fish in them now.  Hopefully we continue to get rain and keep the water levels up so they stay at a good fishing level.

Salmon River still has plenty of fish with a few late pushes coming in the last few days. We should be on decent salmon for the next couple weeks.

I have also seen many people complaining about lack of steelhead this year. Hello it’s barely the middle of October.  Yes some years we see good numbers of them as early as September but those years are rare.  This is a good thing as many would get snagged and dragged out on ropes. I have no problem with people keeping steelhead. I myself love to eat them. However, when there is a good early run you will often see people kill more than their limit and claim they are coho. If only there was better cell service on the river so they could be reported more often.  Steelhead are starting to show up more and more each day in the lower river. I talked to a lake captain two days ago and he said there were good numbers of them out deep in the lake. We should be looking at a good steelhead fishing season this year.

I do have a couple of November dates left and a few more open dates in December if you want to get in on the action before the cold sets in. If you are looking for peace and quiet January and February are wide open. I will have heat and hot coffee on the boat this winter.

Have fun and fish.

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Lake Ontario Spring Brown Trout

Posted in Reports, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 6, 2016| Leave a Comment »

It is only March 5th and I have already been on Lake Ontario. This is the earliest I have been trolling the lake by about 10 days.  It was a great deal of work to break up the ice at the launch to get the boat in the water. Then we broke through the ice to get to the river and more ice on the river to get to the lake. Even though we only fished for about a hour and a half after it was all worth it when we landed a nice brown trout that weighed in at 10 pounds on the boga grip. The fish was brought home for dinner tomorrow.

Over the next week we are supposed to see some warmer weather which will take care of the ice and should kick the brown trout fishing along the shoreline into full gear.  Today there was very little colored up water due to the lack of run of at the moment. The warmer weather will change that as the remaining snow melts.  I am guessing next weekend will be an excellent time to be on the water.  I will not be on the water Saturday as I will be selling tackle at the Eastern Lake Ontario Salmon and Trout Association flee market at the fire hall in Brewerton.  I am available for a trip on Sunday though.

The tough part of booking a drift boat trip trolling along the lake is it is very wind dependent.  If the wind is blowing hard we can’t fish the lake with a drift boat. However there is always a plan b and c.  We can go to Oswego and troll the harbor or go to the Salmon River or Black River and fish for steelhead.

If you are set on trolling the lake I recommend hiring a charter boat such as Irish Knots Sport fishing or High Adventure Sport fishing.  The benefit of going on a charter boat is that the wind is not as big of a factor. They are able to fish in a fair amount of wind and waves.  The cost will be more but you can also split that cost between 4 to 6 people instead of 2.

Spring brown trout fishing is a trolling trip most of the time. If you are fishing on a charter boat it will definitely be trolling. If you are on a drift boat most of the time we troll but if you wanted to cast that is an option. We could even try fly fishing for them. Trolling will produce the most fish though. I also have two trolling fly rods that can be deployed if you wanted to catch them on the fly.

With warmer weather right around the corner now is the time to think about booking a spring brown trout trip. I will be having my gallbladder removed on the 14th of March so I am not booking any trips until April but I have other guides that I work with that I will gladly set you up with if you wanted to go before April. If you would like to book a charter boat give Chris Yard (Irish Knots Sport Fishing) or Troy Creasy (High Adventure Sport Fishing)  a call and they will set you up for sure.

 

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It is almost here!!! SALMON SEASON 2015

Posted in Reports, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

That’s right Salmon Season will be here in just a couple weeks. The DSR is reporting a few very early fish spotted in the river. I have not seen any myself or heard of any being hooked yet. This is normal for mid August.

The lake guys continue to catch some very nice fish down on our end of the lake. Which is a very good sign for our upcoming river season. Captain Chris Yard of Irish Knots Sport Fishing had some very trips this past week and weekend. If you are looking for a lake charter I highly recommend Chris. However if you are looking for a trip this year it may be tough to find a date he has left open. Still well worth giving him a call. His info can be found at http://www.irishknotsfishing.com.

If you are looking for a river trip I do have some prime dates still open however they are filling up fast. If you have a date you want call now. If I am not available I have a great network of guides I work with and I will get you on the water. Most people are wondering how this season will be after the tough season we saw last year. I can’t promise anything but judging by the way the lake is fishing I think it is going to be a good year. Last year at this time the lake guys were having a lot of trouble locating fish and that is not the case this year.

Don’t forget if you are looking for lodging contact Tailwater Lodge. It is an upscale fishing lodge located right in Altmar, NY. You will not only be staying the nicest rooms in the area, you will also have access to private river frontage on one of the best holes in the river. They also have an amazing restaurant and bar serving up delicious meals and ice cold drinks. I will include some pictures in this post for those that haven’t seen it. Check out their website at http://www.tailwaterlodge.com Also if you are fishing with me you get a discounted room rate. Just let them know when you book.

Don’t forget call soon if you want a chance to fish out of my brand new Pavati drift boat. They are by far the nicest boat on the market. Check them out at http://www.pavatimarine.com

Tailwater Lodge

Tailwater Lodge

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Wader Locker Room

Wader Locker Room

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Mexico Bay Fishing Report 7/4/13

Posted in Reports, tagged , , , , on July 4, 2013| 1 Comment »

Andy and I went out of Mexico Point State Boat launch this morning just after 6 am. We ran out in front of the A-frame and set up to troll for bass. After trolling for about 5 minutes we caught and released a small bass on a Flicker Shad.

We continued to troll back past Mexico Point and in front of Sage Creek. It was there that lead core rod with just shy of 2 colors out fired. This time we knew it was a good fish. When the fish jumped we saw it was a nice brown trout. The fish put up a good fight but eventually ended up in the net. It weighed in at just over 5 pounds. After trolling a while longer with no hits we decided to pull lines in and run over towards Catfish Creek.

As we got over that way we noticed there where a lot of bigger boats fishing the deeper water in that area. We set up in 20 feet trolling towards shore. This time it was the flat line rod with a Small Mouth Bass colored Live Target lure back 60 feet that fired. This fish took a bit to get to the net as it was a 6 pound brown on a very light bass rod. We then trolled back to Mexico Point with out another hit and called it a morning as it was getting hot and humid.

This was my first time not doing well on the bass in Mexico Bay but the brown trout more than made up for it.

Brown Trout caught fishing Mexico Bay

Brown Trout caught fishing Mexico Bay

A nice brown trout caught in Mexico Bay on Lake Ontario

A nice brown trout caught in Mexico Bay on Lake Ontario

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