St. Lawrence River Smallmouth action was good for anglers using live crayfish. Top-water action should be heating up, as well. Walleye were a possibility once you find them and get a jig in front of them. Black Lake Richard at Chapman’s Sports (315-324-5265) in Hammond reports anglers (including himself) are catching smallmouths, largemouths and even walleyes while fishing the rocky shoals…
St. Lawrence River Bass action was good, primarily on crayfish or tube jigs. Northern pike were being caught both live bait (minnows) and lures (Husky Jerks, etc.) in 20-30 feet. Black Lake Chapman’s Sports (315-324-5265) in Hammond reports bluegill fishing remained tremendous, just as it was last year. It will likely stay that way through the fall. Bass action should…
Lake Ontario and tributaries Lake Ontario action has been outstanding. Reports are coming in of some salmon and steelhead action off Wilson and Olcott – just in time for the Lake Ontario Counties Summer Trout and Salmon Derby that’s under way through July 29. Two different zones were holding fish – 100 to 200 feet of water and 350 to…
Lake Ontario Chinook salmon and lake trout were being found in 100 to 350 feet of water. Fishing down 40 to 150 feet with spoons, flashers and flies or flashers and cut bait was working for the salmon. Oneida Lake Walleye anglers continued to do well on the lake, with fish being taken in 20 to 30 feet of water….
Cayuga Lake There were reports of waterfleas beginning to show up. When waterfleas become abundant they can make trolling frustrating, so be prepared with “flea flicker” line or try vertical jigging. Lake trout were hitting on spoons, and Spin Doctors and flies fished 80 to 150 feet down over 100 to 300 feet of water. Many methods were working to…
Bass action was good on Lake Champlain, which is no real surprise. Target the weed mats in the Ticonderoga area for largemouth or hit the northern end of the lake near Rouses Point for smallies. On the trout scene, this is the time of year when water temps can become an issue. On the West Branch of the Ausable, morning may…
The saltwater season is advanced a few weeks due to the unseasonably hot weather raising the water temperatures to that normally experienced in early August as evidenced by the schools of dolphin – not the mahi-mahi kind – that have been ambushing the bunker pods along the South Shore and New York Bight, as well as a few cobia caught…
Lake George lake trout were heading deeper (100-140 feet) but were still cooperating. Bass action was rock solid on the big lake, as well as panfish opportunities. Salmon fishing has slowed down. On the trout front, area streams like the Mettawee and Battenkill continued to produce well into the summer for both fly fishers and spinner tossers. Saratoga Lake was…
John Miller at Bob’s Sport and Tackle in Katonah reports trout fishing remained solid, with browns coming from Titicus and Croton Falls reservoirs, and Kensico Reservoir yielding both browns and lakers. Bass fishing has been spotty of late but should pop any time now. In the meantime, yellow perch action has been great at Kensico and white perch have been…
The Beaverkill and Willowemoc were low and warm last week. Fishing would only be recommended early in the morning. The Horton section of the Beaverkill is closed through Aug. 31 to protect trout from thermal stress. The East Branch of the Delaware had good water temps but is low. Some midges and a few Sulphurs are about in the morning…
Lake Ontario and tributaries Bass have been hitting in places like Olcott and Wilson harbors, according to Wes Walker at The Slippery Sinker in Olcott. They’ve also been catching some pike, rock bass and the occasional perch all the way up to the dam at Eighteen Mile Creek. Out in the lake, moss has been bad out to 200 feet…
Cayuga Lake Lake trout were still coming on flasher and fly rigs fished 50 to 120 feet down over 60 to 150 feet of water. Fishing stick baits or spoons from the surface down to 30 feet, in 40 to 100 feet of water was still productive for brown trout and Atlantic salmon. Vertical jigging has been fair in 65…
The strong east wind kept many anglers inshore, but the sea bass fishing was excellent, with limits of 3- to 4-pound sea bass caught on the South Shore artificial reefs, the wrecks from New York Bight to Montauk Point out to 100 feet of water and in Block Island Sound. Inside the South Shore inlets the action was hot, with…
Lake George Luke at FISH307.com reports lake trout action continues to be off the charts, most likely a product of last winter when ice anglers never got a good shot at them. With the thermocline at 40 feet, lakers were cruising anywhere from that depth all the way to the bottom, with the catch ratio about 50-50 for fish reaching…
John Miller at Bob’s Sport and Tackle in Katonah reports that some big brown trout – they weighed in a pair that topped 10 and 12 pounds recently – are still being taken on the east of Hudson reservoirs (Cross River, Kensico and Croton Falls). The browns are heading into deeper water now, and anglers are tracking them down with…
St. Lawrence River Not hearing a lot in the way of fishing reports, but the bass and pike should be providing some action. Black Lake Richard at Chapman’s Sports (315-324-5265) in Hammond reports warm weather has kept some anglers off the water, but bass action has been good early in the season and bluegill were still cooperating as well. Categories:…
Lake George anglers were seeing lakers and landlocks head into deeper waters, which is typical for this time of year. That generally shifts the attention to bass, which are in post-spawn mode in shallow water. Ditto for Glen Lake. Trout streams have benefitted from cooler temperatures and rains. Both the Battenkill and Mettawee rivers have offered up fairly consistent action…
At last look, all rivers remained in excellent shape for early June and fishing has been good, with quite a few different species of mayflies and Caddis hatchings. Stoneflies were starting to hatch on all rivers. Possibly due to cooler water temps, the morning BWO hatch has been more of an early afternoon offering. Nymphs and attractor dry flies have…
St. Lawrence River Pike action was still good, but fish may be heading to deeper water. Perch – and some big perch at that – will likely be nearby. Black Lake Richard at Chapman’s Sports (315-324-5265) in Hammond says bluegill action was red hot as those fish were in full spawning mode, while northern pike could be found in shallow…
Lake Ontario and tributaries Moss has been creating a bit of a problem for trollers. There were still a few kings hanging around in the early morning off Wilson and Olcott in the 80- to 150-foot range, but the more consistent fishing seems to be in 250 to 350 feet of water in the top 60 feet for steelhead and…
Lake Ontario Brown trout fishing continued to be good in 40 to 80 feet of water with spoons and stick baits. Oneida Lake Walleye anglers continued to do well, with fish being taken in 15 to 25 feet of water. Pickerel fishing was very good in most of the lake. Oswego River Walleye were hitting nightcrawlers, leeches, bucktail jigs and…
Cayuga Lake Fishing stick baits or spoons from the surface down to 30 feet, in 40 to 100 feet of water is still working for brown trout and Atlantic salmon. Seneca Lake Atlantic salmon and brown trout fishing continued to be good 15 to 20 feet down. Keuka Lake Anglers were catching lakers 45 to 145 feet down over 110…
Lake Champlain Bass season opened June 9 on the big lake, but the biggest news of late has been the outstanding lake trout and landlocked salmon fishing. Reports have been coming in on lakers and landlocks in both quantity and quality, with “clean” (lamprey-free) fish showing up. Not hearing a lot on the bass right yet, but they should be in…
The saltwater fishing has been excellent, with the striper fishing improving, offshore tuna and shark heating up, and a significant number of large fluke caught. All bait and tackle shops and anglers reported blues scattered in all the South Shore and eastern bays, as well as in the Sound. Bunker chunks, swimming plugs and poppers accounted for the majority of…
John Miller at Bob’s Sport and Tackle (914-232-4085) in Katonah reports that fishing has been very good of late for a mix of trout (both lakers and browns), crappie and catch-and-release bass heading into Saturday’s regular-season kickoff. The spring crappie season was a lengthy one on Muscoot and Croton reservoirs, while brown trout have been cooperating on Kensico, Cross River,…
Lake Ontario and tributaries King salmon action continued to be good but was starting to slow down as fish scatter. Brown trout were in shallower waters, inside 50 feet. Lake Erie and tributaries Darrin Schwenkbeck of Varysburg had an incredible day on smallmouth bass last month using jerkbaits on fish that were coming up onto the spawning areas, reporting in…
