New York Fishing Report – July 2-9, 2021

Central New York

Lake Ontario

Salmon are being caught in 150 to 500 foot of water on flashers and flies or spoons fished 70 to 150 feet down. That down depth can change quickly so keep watching the graph and adjust to the depth bait or fish are being marked. Lake trout are being taken near bottom in 150 to 200 foot of water. Look for bass in 5 to 20 foot with tube jigs, jerkbaits or spinnerbaits.

Oswego River

The flow is at 4,410 cubic feet per second (cfs) as of July 2cnd. Try tube jigs, drop-shot rigs or crayfish for the smallmouth bass and for walleye try big stickbaits or jigs. Catfish and sheepshead can be caught on cut-bait or crabs.

Sodus Bay

Bass fishing has been bass good around the weed beds.

Sandy Pond

For bass try around the weed beds with spinnerbaits or Texas rigged worms.

Oneida Lake

Just a reminder that the walleye daily limit on Onedia Lake is 3 fish with a 15″ minimum length. The mayfly have been hatching and walleye, and other fish, have been feeding on them. Walleye are still spread out from shallow to deep water so you can pick your preference, though the 20 to 25 foot range seems to be good at the moment. If fishing 5 to 15 foot try casting with blade baits or stickbaits. When fishing deeper than 15 foot also try trolling with stickbaits or worm harnesses to cover more water or fishing with black and purple jigs. Look for bass around the shoals with stickbaits or swimbaits and around weed beds with Texas rigged worms or top-waters. Just a reminder there are a lot of chain pickerel around so you may want to use a wire leader if using an expensive or your “favorite” lure.

Otisco Lake

For walleye try the 15 to 20 foot zone trolling with stickbaits and for tiger musky try casting large spinners, spinnerbaits or stickbaits along shore or over the flat on the north end. For bass try wacky rigged stickworms along shore or in the weed beds with Texas rigged baits.

If you catch a tiger musky on Otisco Lake that has been tagged, the tag should be located near the dorsal fin and be gray in color, please do not remove the tag if releasing the fish. Write down the tag number, length of fish, and location of the catch and either send an email to fwfish7@dec.ny.gov or call 607-753-3095 ext. 213 to report your catch.

Skaneateles Lake

For smallmouth bass and rock bass try wacky rigged stick worms, drop-shot, Ned-rig or tube jigs in 15 to 25 foot of water.

Cayuga Lake

Water fleas have started to show up so be prepared to deal with them if trolling. Using a heaver pound test line can help with the fleas and vertical jigging is also an option if they get to bad. Look for lake trout in 60 to 150 foot of water vertical jigging, or trolling over 100 foot of water and out. The north end is a popular bass tournament fishing destination so expect more traffic out there. Look for bass along shore and in weed beds in deeper water. Try stickworms, spinnerbaits and topwaters. Just a reminder there are a lot of chain pickerel around so you may want to use a wire leader if using an expensive or your “favorite” lure.

Owasco Lake

Water fleas have started to show up so be prepared to deal with them if trolling. Using a heaver pound test line can help with the fleas and vertical jigging is also an option if they get to bad. For lake trout try trolling or vertical jigging n 80 to 120 foot of water.

Seneca Lake

Try trolling on the south end for Atlantic salmon with stickbaits.

Canandaigua Lake

Look for lake trout in 100 foot of water either trolling or vertical jigging.

Whitney Point Reservoir

Try crankbaits (like shad raps), jigs or worm harnesses for the walleye. Look for smallmouth bass along the shoreline with cranklbaits or topwaters.

Keuka Lake

Lake trout are being caught in 110 to 120 foot of water using live sawbellies or vertical jigging with green paddle tail jigs near the bottom. A thermocline is starting to set-up around 45 to 50 feet.

Chenango, Tioughnioga and Susquehanna Rivers

Look for walleye in the deeper holes with jigs or crankbaits. Try tube jigs or crankbaits for the smallmouth bass.

Lake Erie/Western New York

Lake Erie, harbors and tributaries

The walleye bite is steadily improving as the summer-pattern sets up on Lake Erie. Anglers are reporting good walleye schools and quality fishing from Dunkirk to the PA line in 40-60 feet of water. Stickbaits and worm harnesses run between 30 feet down and the bottom is a good bet. In the waters off Cattaraugus Creek and Sturgeon Point anglers see a fair to decent bite in 40-50+ feet of water. Out of Buffalo, anglers are picking up a few eyes off the windmills in 25-40 feet of water. However, depths of 45-55 along the international line have been more productive. Slow trolling or drifting (0.8-1.2 mph) and bottom bouncing with worm harnesses has worked well. At those depths, you will need 4 to 6-ounce sinkers to effectively stay near/at the bottom. Trollers are also catching walleye in Buffalo Harbor between the State boat launch and the Coast Guard Station.

Catfish are still biting well in Cattaraugus Creek, with better action during low light periods. Fish a bottom rig with nightcrawlers, raw shrimp or cut bait.

Niagara River

Anglers have seen good to very good smallmouth bass fishing around the upper river. Concentrate on areas outside weed edges in 10-20 feet of water. Controlled drifting and fishing a ned rig, tube jig or bottom-bouncing rig with crayfish or shiner works well. At shore sites, anglers mainly catch yellow perch, rock bass, black bass and sheepshead.

Smallmouth bass are also biting well in the lower river and are available from Devils Hole down to the mouth. Filamentous algae has mostly been at a tolerable level, though some days have been tough.

Lake Ontario, tributaries, harbors and piers

Trout and salmon fishing has ranged from fair to good with anglers covering a lot of water, from 100 to 400 feet of water. It looks like the strongest recent catches have come between 250-350 feet of water and also at depths around 150 feet. Large spoons, flasher-fly combos and meat rigs run 50-100 feet down have produced catches of king salmon, with some steelhead and coho salmon mixed in.

There is a wide variety of warmwater species available in the Lake Ontario harbors and tributaries. Fish are available well up to the dams on larger streams such as Eighteenmile and Oak Orchard Creeks. Possible catches include yellow perch, northern pike, black bass, bowfin, channel catfish, longnose gar, rock bass and other sunfish. Be aware there is an “eat none” fish consumption advisory for Eighteenmile Creek.

Chautauqua Lake

Trolling or jigging along the weedline near dawn and dusk is a good bet for walleye. Anglers have also caught some walleye by jigging in 20-30 feet of water along points or other breaks/structure, and by trolling in the deeper middle section of the south basin. Target muskie outside of weed edges by trolling large stickbaits or by casting stickbaits over weed beds and then retrieving towards open water. Largemouth bass are available in the nearshore areas and around docks. Shallow diving stickbaits, spinnerbaits, tube jigs, wacky rigs and live shiners are good bass baits.

Inland trout streams

The area is getting some much needed rain, more so in the southern tier. Watch the available stream gages and rainfall reports before heading out the fish this weekend as some streams may be high. Creeks should be good temperature wise for a couple days. When hot days return avoid trout fishing beyond mid-morning, as hooking and playing trout in warmer water can be lethal to trout.