UTERJanuary
Winter steelhead and browns in the tributaries
Salmon River, Oak Orchard and the Lower Niagara — egg sacs and beads; bay ice for perch.
Niagara to the St. Lawrence — the New York shore
Lake Ontario fishing
What's biting in Lake Ontario in October: Coho (silver) salmon, steelhead and smallmouth bass at their peak, with Chinook (king) salmon and white perch around too. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows 11 fish here month by month, from Niagara Bar to Henderson Harbor.
Tail of the salmon run; browns and steelhead follow; St. Lawrence muskie
The trophy salmon lake: the Niagara Bar's spring kings, open-lake trolling for kings, coho, steelhead and lakers, the Salmon River at Pulaski with the biggest run on the lakes, the Oswego and the Lower Niagara for winter steelhead and browns, and the eastern basin's smallmouth around Henderson Harbor and the St. Lawrence.
Niagara BarOlcottRochesterSodus BayOswegoPulaskiHenderson Harbor
Updated
Now · October
Tail of the salmon run; browns and steelhead follow; St. Lawrence muskie
Brown trout and steelhead behind the spawning kings; big muskie on the St. Lawrence and the Niagara.
SteelheadBrown troutCoho (silver) salmonLake trout (mackinaw, togue)Smallmouth bassLandlocked Atlantic salmon
This month here
From the season calendar, best firstSpawningPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakSpawningSpawningSpawningLeavingAround
Coho (silver) salmon
Steelhead
Smallmouth bass
Yellow perch
Northern pike
Muskellunge (muskie)
Brown trout
Lake trout (mackinaw, togue)
Landlocked Atlantic salmon
Chinook (king) salmon
Tail of the run
White perch
The water
Structure that matters
LakeRiverFishing pierBoat rampCreek / streamBridge
After a cold front
Deep and cold, so the fish follow the thermal bars and the wind-driven upwellings — a south wind pushes warm water and the kings offshore; a north wind brings them in.
Month by month
What's happening, and what to throwFebruary
Steelhead in the rivers; perch through the bay ice
Drift beads in the Salmon River's pools; Sodus and Irondequoit bays for perch.
March
Spring steelhead and the first nearshore browns
Browns in 8–12 feet off Olcott and the Niagara Bar on stickbaits; steelhead spawning upriver.
April
Browns and coho nearshore; Niagara Bar kings arrive
Chinook (king) salmonSteelheadBrown troutCoho (silver) salmonLake trout (mackinaw, togue)Landlocked Atlantic salmon
Troll shallow for browns; drift the Bar for spring kings from late April.
May
Niagara Bar kings; browns and coho everywhere shallow
Chinook (king) salmonBrown troutCoho (silver) salmonLake trout (mackinaw, togue)Landlocked Atlantic salmonMuskellunge (muskie)
The Bar and the river mouths — spoons and plugs in the warmer brown water.
June
Kings go offshore; smallmouth season opens on the eastern basin
Downriggers on the temperature breaks; tubes on Henderson Harbor's shoals (check DEC's opener).
July
Open-lake kings and summer steelhead
Spoons and flasher-flies over the thermocline; steelhead high in the water column offshore.
August
Kings stage off the river mouths
Oswego and Pulaski at first light — glow spoons.
September
The Salmon River run peaks
Chinook (king) salmonCoho (silver) salmonSmallmouth bassLandlocked Atlantic salmonMuskellunge (muskie)Northern pike
Pulaski — egg sacs and flies in the pools; Atlantics in the run too.
October · now
Tail of the salmon run; browns and steelhead follow; St. Lawrence muskie
SteelheadBrown troutCoho (silver) salmonLake trout (mackinaw, togue)Smallmouth bassLandlocked Atlantic salmon
Brown trout and steelhead behind the spawning kings; big muskie on the St. Lawrence and the Niagara.
November
Fall steelhead and browns in every tributary
Beads and egg sacs; Lower Niagara steelhead from shore or boat through spring.
December
Steelhead and browns, and the first bay ice
Salmon River and Oak Orchard; wait for safe ice on the bays.
Fish guides for Lake Ontario
When, where and what to use, fish by fishBrown troutChinook (king) salmonCoho (silver) salmonLake trout (mackinaw, togue)Landlocked Atlantic salmonMuskellunge (muskie)Northern pikeSmallmouth bassSteelheadWhite perchYellow perch
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