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Posts Tagged ‘Lake Ontario’

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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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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Blow Off Days

Posted in Stories, tagged , , on May 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

There is nothing worse that waking up early after staying up late preparing for a fishing trip only to find the wind blowing way to hard to get out on the water.  If you fish Lake Ontario, Oneida Lake, or any similar water there is no doubt you have had one of these mornings.  This has happened to me the last two days. The wind and rain have been to intense to get out on the water.

I normally take advantage of these days by getting work done around the house.  After all a happy wife is a happy life.  Some days I just can’t get the fishing bug out of my head though. These days I like to spend tying flies, putting new line on my reels, or writing about fishing.  There is also the most expensive blow off day activity buying new gear. I try to stay away from this last one even though it is the most fun.

What do you do on blow off days?

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Spring Brown Trout fishing

Posted in Reports, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on March 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Decided to go out this morning and row around to see if the Brown Trout where hitting yet. The answer was yes. We fished for one hour and 40 minutes had 4 hits and landed 3. Two nice brown trout and one very nice steelhead. The wind and waves picked up so we headed in happy with our catch.

This nice Brown Trout hit in about 9 feet of water on a Jointed Rapala

This nice Brown Trout hit in about 9 feet of water on a Jointed Rapala

A nice little Lake Ontario Brown Trout

A nice little Lake Ontario Brown Trout

A nice bonus when fishing Lake Ontario for Brown Trout.

A nice bonus when fishing Lake Ontario for Brown Trout.

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Center Pinning Small Waters

Posted in Tips and Tricks, tagged , , , on November 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Float fishing with a center pin reel has become one of the hottest ways to fish for steelhead. It’s many advantages include precise depth and speed control along with a very natural and long drift. When fishing small streams many people believe there is no advantage for the pin due to the short drifts and shallow water that is commonly found on these waters. This is far from true.
These smaller waters often have small pools and short runs that are perfect for float fishing. The pin gives your the advantage of being able to precisely run your bait through each section of these pools and runs.
You will want to change your setup to match the water you are fishing. One problem with small waters is they often have over hanging trees and brush that can get in the way when fishing with the long rods normally used when pin fishing. There are to options you can choose from to fix this problem. The first is buying a second center pin set up with an eleven and a half foot rod. I like the St. Croix personally. However this is a costly fix especially if you don’t fish small waters all that often. The second option is to put your center pin reel on the nine and half to ten and half foot noodle rod you probably already own. This will cut down on the distance you are able to cast but on small streams it is not an issue.
The other setup change that will need to be made relates to the low clear water you will often be fishing in. The floats you normally fish on larger waters will often be to large. They will either make to much splash when entering the water or will easily be seen by fish due to the short leaders you will be fishing. I recommend get some floats ranging from 4 grams to 2 grams for fishing these streams. This will allow you to fish shorter leaders and cast quietly.
Don’t forget you may want to drop down to 4 pound leader material when the water is low and clear.

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