Weekly Fishing Report

Lake Ontario salmon fishing continues to be very good, but it can fluctuate from day to day depending on wind and what it does to water temperatures and the Niagara River plume that flows into the lake.

For the Wilson Harbor Invitational Salmon Tournament last weekend, Capt. Pete Alex of Vision Quest had a strategy of fishing east one day and west the next. Fishing with Kevin McClean of Pittsburgh, Lucas Rupp of Erie, and Eric Kelly of Wilson, they went off the old Somerset plant site in 45 to 55 feet of water and found smaller fish. They decided to work deeper baits, in 175 to 220 feet of water, where some bigger salmon had been coming all week. They switched from a spoon program to a meat program, fishing deeper as they trolled out. They started hitting some bigger fish right away. It was consistent until noon when the wind started kicking up, and they finished in third place for the day. The top team on Saturday was Yankee Troller and Capt. Rich Hajecki.

Day two, the Vision Quest team headed west to the Niagara Bar. Alex knew things had changed to the east, and he felt that the west would be best for him. Everyone in the field went east except for Alex, and they fished 150 to 240 feet of water north of the Bar with 75% meat and 25% spoons. Most of their good fish came on meat with Dreamweaver Spin Doctors (like Saturday) and Dreamweaver magnum spoons. While their 6-fish tournament box was 5 pounds lighter than the day before, they still managed to score nearly 300 points (based on 10 points per fish and a point per pound for a daily 6-fish tournament limit. Big catch on Sunday was Tom Allen and his A-Tom-Mik team from Pulaski.

Karen Evarts with The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn in Olcott reiterated that the salmon fishing has been on fire. Most boats are trolling the inside water all the way out to 350 feet. Best baits have been cut bait and spoons. Best colors have been green, black, silver and glow patterns. Flies are working, too, behind a spin doctor. Quite a few fish have been caught off the piers there on spinners and live bait.

Matt Vogt of Newfane hit the lake with friends Tony Harris and Isaiah Clark recently out of Olcott and found decent action 60 to 70 feet down over 100 to 150 feet of water using all Dreamweaver spoons. He found it was difficult to get four rods in the water. Harris managed to catch his first salmon ever on a wire diver.

In the lower Niagara River, Capt. Joe Marra of Niagara Rainbow Charters reported that he is still seeing some Chinook and Coho salmon on the Niagara Bar by running bait and MagLip plugs off three-way rigs. However, with the warming water temperatures, fish are moving deeper. The water is warming up, moving out to the red can/drop off area. In the river itself, there are still some browns and steelhead, but that could change quickly because the water temperature has gone up 4 degrees in 2 days. Bass and walleye are becoming more available, and there are a fair number of silver bass in the system, too.

Alan Raymond with The Wicked Worm in Youngstown reports bass are hitting along the river shoreline.

The Lewiston Smelt Festival is Friday night this week at The Griffon along the river from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Get there early.

There is a new bait and tackle shop in Niagara Falls – Fishinn Bait and Tackle, located at 642 Hyde Park Boulevard in Niagara Falls.

The next big local contest is the Skip Hartman Memorial Pro-Am Salmon Tournament out of Wilson and Olcott, June 5 and 6. You must register by May 24th. Call Penny Hartman at (716) 628-2361.

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