Weekly Fishing Report

Each week, catch up on a full report on where to fish, popular baits and lures, weather conditions and upcoming fishing tournaments and derbies. So whether you packed your tackle box, or hire a charter captain in Niagara Falls USA, a fishing adventure awaits – along with that catch of a lifetime!

Niagara Falls USA Weekly Fishing Report for July 8, 2020

Super-hot temperatures in the 90s continue to plague outdoor activities. However, the fishing action on Lake Ontario has been just as hot for the Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Summer Derby continuing through July 26. Fishing has actually been very good up and down the lake. The holiday weekend saw quite a few changes on the LOC leaderboard. The new LOC Derby Grand Prize leader is a 29-pound, 8 ounce salmon caught out in Wayne County by Dustin Presutti of Montour Falls. Runner up is a 28-pound, 15-ounce king from Point Breeze in Orleans County caught by Jim Clark of Erie, PA.  The top Niagara County fish was a 28-pound, 7-ounce king reeled in by Chris Petrucci of Beallsville, PA while fishing out of Wilson. It is also the fish to beat for the top salmon caught by a LOTSA member, good for a check for $750. In the Brown Trout Division, the first-place fish is now a 20-pound, 1-ounce Rochester fish reeled in by Marc Skirvin of Henrietta. This week’s Lake trout leader is now a 19-pound, 12-ounce Henderson Harbor fish weighed in by Charles Hunkele of Sackets harbor. There are still no walleyes entered in the division yet.

After reading the weekly fishing forecast from Niagara Falls USA, Ed Dlugozima of Mercer, Penna. took the holiday weekend to fish out of Olcott in Lake Ontario. Following the advice of the report, he headed out into the lake looking for bait. When they found a pod, they focused their attention around it using spoons and meat rigs in 220 to 240 feet of water slightly west of Wilson. They couldn’t believe how many steelhead were hanging around grabbing spoons, so they eventually switched over to a meat program at a slower speed and they were rewarded with some beautiful mature kings. Their biggest was over 24 pounds, reeled in by Mike Altman of New Castle, PA. Capt. Mike Johannes of On The Rocks reported a great trip on the 4th holiday in 300 to 360 feet of water straight north of Wilson with Brad and Kelsi Poeller of Lockport (Brad was on leave from the Army, stationed in Colorado), with brothers Parker and Landon Costello and their dad Kyle, also of Lockport. They had 20 fish on and boated 11, including the biggest of the day at over 21 pounds by Kelsi. The hot flasher-fly combo was 220 feet back on a diver, using a UV paddle and a Pro-Am fly. There were a few spoons that caught fish consistently, such as the Road Toad, the Carbon 14 and the Sea Sick Waddler to name but a few. Several steelhead were caught on sliders in the upper part of the water column. Riggers were 50 to 70 feet down. The LOTSA Club Tournament is July 17 and 18.

Moss is getting better in the Niagara River according to Lisa Drabczyk with Creek Road Bait and Tackle in Lewiston. The NYPA Fishing Platform has been a good spot for bass when it is open. Call 716-286-6662 for updates. From shore in the gorge, Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls reports 7-8 feet of visibility and bait is more spread out which has slowed fishing there. White bass and smallmouth are showing up. Some bass success around Lewiston and Youngstown from boats, drop-shotting plastics. Ned rigs were working on the Niagara Bar for bass. Walleye have been caught on the Stella Drift using worm harnesses off 3-way rigs. Upper river bass action has also been good on Neds. There was a lot of sheepshead around as well. If you catch a musky, try not to take that fish out of the water. They will already be stressed enough after a fight. Lake Erie was 74 degrees today, just 1 degree away from a record for the summer.

Finally, a new sporting license system has been put into place by DEC. Right now, signing up online is the best approach. You can also call the customer service hotline at 866-933-2257 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. if you have problems or want to purchase one over the phone.

Sign up for a fishing tournament or derby in Niagara Falls USA. See the full schedule of events here. Please note, some events are canceled due to COVID-19/Coronavirus crisis.

Every week The Buffalo News gives outdoor sportsmen (and women) a full page of pertinent material as it relates to Western New York and beyond. Read more here.