Memorial Day Weekend, Wilson or Olcott?

[Chautauqua Tony]

I plan on coming up for the day on Saturday with a couple buddies. Should i try the Fort Niagra/ Wilson area or should i head to olcott? I've heard the bigger fish are up more towards Olcott, is this ture? Thanks for any help!

[salmonboy41]

be forwarned its not to go out there as of last weekend, the big kings seemed to have moved on, my screen was basically blank aside from bait and little inmature kings, and the picture got worse from saturday to sunday and i trolled from the bar all the way to olcott and back. but as it is with the big pond one day can change everything.

[Chautauqua Tony]

be forwarned its not to go out there as of last weekend, the big kings seemed to have moved on, my screen was basically blank aside from bait and little inmature kings, and the picture got worse from saturday to sunday and i trolled from the bar all the way to olcott and back. but as it is with the big pond one day can change everything.

Really? It's that bad out there? Should i just not even bother? It is a 2 hr drive for me. When does it turn back on, July? I'd hate to drive up there for some poor fishing. I may just walleye fish in Barcelona bay on Erie then. I'd really like to get some more kings this weekend!

[salmonboy41]

well i would hate to say don't come up here and fish, i mean thats what it was like for me last weekend, so i don't know if they are leaving like they usally do in june, or maybe they will come back and be there this weekend idk. but this past weekend for the first that i didn't manage to boat more then 10 mature kings in a morning and it was diedist pic ive had this year put like i siad before things can change very quickly.

[Chautauqua Tony]

I've heard that they leave in june. Im a newbe so i dont know much about salmon fishing. Where do they go in June, west? Why does it get so good again in july? Would love to know these things.

[salmonboy41]

haha where do they go in june thats a really good question! I have been fishing out there for years and my dad and gradfather started out fishing for salmon back when they first starting stocking them and to this day they have always dispursted in come the end of may beging of june. and no one really knows where they go at least at this end. all i know is that they start out in the every most wester end of the lake then they start showing up to easter ports more and more, then like someone fliped a light switch they dispare and scater. I think that what happends is that the lake gets to a certian temp where the water throught the lake is basically the same, and combine that with all the bait now coming back into the lake from spawning that things dispures until the lake gets into the 70's and then they reappear out about 15 miles in july.

[Tim Bromund]

In a normal year the lake is set up (stratified) by the 4th of July and the summer fishing kicks off. It seems a couple weeks ahead of schedule this year so the lake may be set up and the summer fishing started by the 3rd week in June. You can catch kings all summer long in 60-200 fow most years. You can spend the entire summer fishing between the red barn and the microwave in 60- 200 feet and catch as many kings as you want, igf you move into 30-40 fow you can catch some nice browns as well. The only reason to go 15 miles out in July is if you want to chase steelhead. The only time you'd have to run offshore to chase kings is if we get a lot of NE winds and upwellings screwing up the water column.

This year it looks like the june transition has started already. The kings scatter because you have good water temps from top to bottom, one end of the lake to the other. They could be 40 down over 60 for or they could just as easily be 400 feet down over 500 fow. Once the lake water stratifies and the termocline sets up, then you have distinct temperature bands (thermal structure) ahe their locations become somewhat predictable again.

Tim

[ray koziatek]

10 mature kings in the morning ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,ill kick musky off the team and pick you up at the dock,id say you just outfished 99% of the pro teams

[muskybob]

10 mature kings in the morning ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,ill kick musky off the team and pick you up at the dock,id say you just outfished 99% of the pro teams

How soon ya get thrown under the bus.

[Chautauqua Tony]

Well I made the trip yesterday. Wow, what a difference from two weekends ago. This is only my second time fishing salmon and on Lake O. It was tough yesterday. I guess I'll wait to hear some good reports before i make the trip again. All we caught was 1 small Coho. But hey that's how fishing goes. I had a feeling we wouldn't have much luck from reading the reports. From the conversations over the radio and talking to other boats at the launch, no one really did anything great.

On the brighter side of things, I got to enjoy myself out on the boat with two good buddies. It was awesome out yesterday. Also explored some new water, so I'm learning the Wilson/ Fort Niagara area a little more.

Cant wait for those Kings to come back!!!

[Chautauqua Tony]

Tbromund, The Red barn and the Microwave? huh?? Help me out here bud.

[salmonboy41]

the red barn is a couple of miles west of olcott and its basically just a red barn that you can see lol, the microwave plant is the power plant to the east of olcott where you see the smoke stack theres warm water discharges out in front of it.

[Tim Bromund]

the "Red Barn" as salmonboy actually has right above (amazingly enough. No offense to salmonboy41, but most of what he posts is utter nonsense and/or bad information), is just that, a large reg barn with a white roof, about 1.5-2 miles west of Olcott harbor that is visible from the water.

The "microwave" is the microwave/radio type transmission tower approx 1 mile to the east of Olcott Harbor, you can clearly see the tower from the water.

The plant he is referring to is the Somerset Power Plant, approx 8 or so miles down the lake (big smoke stack).

They are just the major, visible landmarks that people reference when fishing out ot Olcott.

Tim

[Chautauqua Tony]

I know where the smoke stack is. Cant miss that. Is the Olcott area where most of the fishing is done during the summer? I launched out of Fort Niagara 2 weeks ago and out of Wilson yesterday. So I'm now familiar with the red can to Wilson.

[salmonboy41]

well that hurts but i guess everyone has there own opinions. olcott is pretty much the most popular port though overall. 18 mile has a bigger name then places like wilson and the river doesn't have alot of places for the charter captians to keep there boats or that i know, but never count out the bar expisally come mid to late august or even ealier when your having a hard time finding kings usally there are lake trout somewhere on the bar.

[Chautauqua Tony]

So, what are the best months to fish Niagara or Olcott areas?

[YodaMage]

My opinion, for what its worth, April/May and August on. I don't bother much in June and July as I tend to get a low gas:fish return. I think in the mid summer months you can do about the same anywhere on the lake...go long for bows or grab the occasional scattered king.

[Tim Bromund]

In a normal year I agree on June, but I strongly disagree about July, the king fishing is very consistent out of Olcott all summer long. Last year in particular, the king fishing in July was absolutely out of this world. The only time it's tough to find em is after a strong NE blow causes an upwelling and we have ice water inshore, then you gotta go offshore and search, but once the lake stabilizes, the kings are right back in their normal areas again.

In a normal year, the lake is set up and the summer fishing starts right around the 4th of July. This year the lake is a couple weeks ahead of schedule, so we may have a thermocline set up and the start of summer fishing by the 3rd week of June.

Tim

[Chautauqua Tony]

Well i got a good taste of what king salmon fishing is about with the first trip. Let me tell ya, I'm HOOKED!! I may just have to give it another shot on the weekend of the 12th or the following weekend.