Weekly Fishing Report

Moss is still the enemy on the lower Niagara River. However, smallmouth bass will cooperate if you can get a clean presentation to them. One of the best presentations this past week was to throw spinnerbaits in areas with not as much moss flowing through the water column.

That was the case with outdoor writer Alan Clemons of Alabama and Randy Clemons of Georgia, who were visiting the area for story material and photos. They managed to catch some feisty bass using that approach.

Bass action is still pretty good along the shore, reports Alan Raymond with The Wicked Worm in Youngstown. Many anglers have turned to crayfish for bait.

Out in the lake, fishing picked up between Wilson and Olcott the last few days, and the best starting point was 200 feet of water, reports Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn at Olcott. The action was decent for king salmon and a few Atlantic salmon this past weekend. Focus your efforts between Olcott and Wilson, starting in 200-foot depths and head north to almost 500 feet of water. Then turn around and make the trip back, placing baits 50 to 80 feet down. You will find pockets of kings and steelhead.

Meat has been the best approach for mature salmon. Anything with green and white is working. There is a lot of bait around, primarily alewife. Cohos are still hot on the orange 6-inch spin doctor-fly combo, but action has been slowing for the smaller salmon. Steelhead are starting to munch on spoons.

Over in Wilson, Capt. Joe Oakes of Salmonboy Charters reports that the Cohos have started to disperse, but there are more kings around inside of 400 feet. The best baits have been meat and spoons down 60 to 100 feet. Oakes has gotten some steelhead on spoons in depths of 300-foot plus, focusing on the top 60 feet with spoons in green, orange, and white-black colors.

Out of the Oak, Capt. Bob Songin reports that trout and salmon action is starting to pick back up again. Most recently, he found decent action between 100 and 150 feet of water. Riggers down 50 to 80 feet, a 400-copper line, and divers 160 to 180 back on No. 1, as well as 120 to 130 back on No. 3 were enticing fish to hit.

No change on the top of the Grand Prize leaderboard for the Summer Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby. Jack Ozyp of Wilson is still leading the way with a 27-pound, 11-ounce king salmon he caught fishing out of Wilson for the $15,000 Grand Prize. Brian Price of Erie, PA., has the current runner-up salmon with a 26-pound, 9-ounce Olcott fish he caught Sunday. A new lake trout leader showed up when Jan Chybinski of Mexico (NY) reeled in a 25-pound, 1-ounce laker.

Sign up for a fishing tournament or derby in Niagara Falls USA. See the full schedule of events here.