Need a starting point

[armymedic3]

Hello everyone,

            Been reading post after post on this site. Lots of great information. I am from PA looking to start fishing Lake Ontario and surrounding region. I fished Lake Ontario with my grandfather 20 years ago out of the salmon river. We fished the mouth of the river and caught more smallmouth than I could count. We caught Pike in the estuary...and when we fished the lake on calm days we caught browns, sheepshead, and a steelie in for good measure and we could still see the shore. I believe it was June when we were there. I want to take my kids in my 17ft bowrider with a 145 Johnson and kicker. Its got a pretty high freeboard, but I wouldnt go out in anything over 1-2. My grandfathers was a 16ft with a 50hp on it and we felt safe on calm days.  The first thing I want to do is book a trip in middle to late June (no choice for timing due to work). My plan is to book a charter and start to learn how to fish the Lake, pick up some gear and try it out for the week. Then start rigging my boat with what I need to fish as time goes on.  I need to start with using the best home port for my boat. My boat is small for the lake so I want to be in an area that gives me the best options to change gears and have success in more protected areas if it blows. I also would like to be not too far from productive trolling to minimize long runs if weather kicks up unexpectedly. I have been looking at Henderson Bay but Ive seen some comments that it is a dead sea and the fish are few and far between. I have no idea how long the run is to get out to good trolling waters. Bill Saiff charters has come up on my radar because of youtube videos and not sure of his rep. Maybe someone here has some tips for me to get me started in my research. Id be open to other Lakes too but Im thinking the Big O has the best fishery. Took the family to Black Lake a couple years ago and the fishing was pretty awful even with the guide.

 

Tight lines

Mike

[KilliansRed]

Im out of Wilson in a 16 foot boat and if I dont like the way the lake looks I make the 15 minute drive to the Niagara river and based on the time of year I can catch anything. In June small mouth bass are plentiful and the odd lake trout is not out of the question on the Niagara bar. Also the drop off at Fort Niagara is a prime King Salmon location. The river is well protected from the wind and waves. If all else fails lake Erie is about 45 minutes away. As for a salmon bite, its less than 2 miles to the salmon grounds out of the piers. If you dont like Wilson then Olcott is six miles East. If you book a charter and still have more questions about how to set up a smaller boat for the big lake id be more than happy to help you out. Good luck and tight lines.

 

Killian

[AnglingAddict]

I think you are off to a good start - get hooked up with someone who is willing to teach you the basics. Be prepared to spend a lot of time trying to figure things out, but that's all part of the fun. In all honesty - when it blows out of certain directions is doesn't matter how big your boat is - it's not worth being uncomfortable out there. The finger lakes are a short distance away and being trailer able - that would be a good option for days with big west winds. Much of the gear for lake O can be used on the fingers for trout trolling as well. Before you start randomly rigging your boat - get an understanding of how to optimize the rigging for your boat so that things flow when yo are working the gear at the back. Lots to learn, but welcome and feel free to ask away!

[sammygee]

Think about heading west to Sodus Point.  The salmon and trout fishing is certainly on par with the other ports but a benefit for the owner of a boat your size is that it sits on Sodus Bay.  On flat days you can fish the lake, on rough days you can fish the bay.  I understand that the bay has very good bass, perch, and pike fishing.  Another benefit of Sodus, is that you reach deep water in a much shorter trip than many other ports.  Escaping deteriorating conditions on the lake can be much quicker, with a much shorter trip. Sodus has several launches, both public and private, great restaurants and friendly people.  No, i'm not with the Chamber of Commerce, just another Pennsylvanian who spends most weekends at Sodus.  Good Luck, there is no bad place to fish Lake Ontario 

[final flight]

My boat is trailer able and I do my best to follow the fish, spring is western south shore for browns, may is henderson for walleye , July -sept. Is henderson for kings. I have had more " dead water days"out of Oswego than any other port, so I rarely launch there. If you follow the reports on this site, you can find fish !!!!!!! Good luck and have fun setting up your boat. A little advice .... Buy the best you can afford, not the most!!!!!!!!

[DJ 17]

A lot of this will depend on your location?  What part of PA are you from?

[armymedic3]

Wow, thanks for all the responses guys. I am from eastern PA. Its a 4 hour drive to Pulaski that would be the closest to me. Im not really worried about the drive if driving to a different area of the Lake puts me on the fish.  Mid June is there a port that tends to be hot? Im also worried about when it blows I still want to have good options for smallies and panfish which is probably where we will fish the most. Final Flight mentioned every month but June. Is it a bad time?  Im just trying to give us the best chance to catch some fish and give us a place to go year after year.   

[Chas0218]

Hello everyone,

            Been reading post after post on this site. Lots of great information. I am from PA looking to start fishing Lake Ontario and surrounding region. I fished Lake Ontario with my grandfather 20 years ago out of the salmon river. We fished the mouth of the river and caught more smallmouth than I could count. We caught Pike in the estuary...and when we fished the lake on calm days we caught browns, sheepshead, and a steelie in for good measure and we could still see the shore. I believe it was June when we were there. I want to take my kids in my 17ft bowrider with a 145 Johnson and kicker. Its got a pretty high freeboard, but I wouldnt go out in anything over 1-2. My grandfathers was a 16ft with a 50hp on it and we felt safe on calm days.  The first thing I want to do is book a trip in middle to late June (no choice for timing due to work). My plan is to book a charter and start to learn how to fish the Lake, pick up some gear and try it out for the week. Then start rigging my boat with what I need to fish as time goes on.  I need to start with using the best home port for my boat. My boat is small for the lake so I want to be in an area that gives me the best options to change gears and have success in more protected areas if it blows. I also would like to be not too far from productive trolling to minimize long runs if weather kicks up unexpectedly. I have been looking at Henderson Bay but Ive seen some comments that it is a dead sea and the fish are few and far between. I have no idea how long the run is to get out to good trolling waters. Bill Saiff charters has come up on my radar because of youtube videos and not sure of his rep. Maybe someone here has some tips for me to get me started in my research. Id be open to other Lakes too but Im thinking the Big O has the best fishery. Took the family to Black Lake a couple years ago and the fishing was pretty awful even with the guide.

 

Tight lines

Mike

Are you looking to target only trout and salmon? If you want to go out of Henderson it can be one of the rougher ports. Any wind out of the Southwest, West, Northwest, sometimes South winds will even wreak havoc. You could fish Onieda on those blow days if you wanted to target some walleye a little shorter drive than all up to Henderson. Also would allow you to fish Mexico that is great port.

[Xxx]

I'm from eastern PA the Pocono's area, we have a camp in the Black River Campground, I know there are spots available in there, we trailer to Henderson it's a nice launch in the bay there is good perch fishing and northerns and early the smallies are in as the year goes on the large mouth are in. It's about a 10-15 minute ride and your out in Henderson and Stoney and a short ride to Stoney Point were there is good brown trout and walleye fishing, on good day you could fish the wall or head over to Stoney and Gull island good smallies. If it's real nasty you can fish the Black River it has a lot of different species, one nice thing is you can go above the dam where there is good eye fishing, lots of shorts but some nice 18"ers smallies till your sick of taking them off, you need to go above the gorge which is a beautiful sight in its self to Brownville to the riffles. I have twin daughters and the can spen the day there. You also have the option to trailer over to Chaumont bay, my uncles spend days over there as they are bass guys, they fish the weeds from the bridge to the big open waters with your boat Chaumont is big and you would be able to get in many places I can't but they do as they have a bass boat and a 16ft aluminum with a 50 Merc and trolling motors, you could also fish Sackets harbor also. There are many options in this area but I know the guys from the oak area and around there have shorter runs to deeper water for the lakers and kings. Lakers are in the Henderson area all year but it gets pretty snotty there but you can retreat to the bay very quickly as you could get through the cut under a bridge and your safe, behind the break walls in the bay which is nice I have used that route a few times when I had my 18fter. It's your decision do so research and decide from there. Good luck, PAP?

[Chas0218]

I'm from eastern PA the Pocono's area, we have a camp in the Black River Campground, I know there are spots available in there, we trailer to Henderson it's a nice launch in the bay there is good perch fishing and northerns and early the smallies are in as the year goes on the large mouth are in. It's about a 10-15 minute ride and your out in Henderson and Stoney and a short ride to Stoney Point were there is good brown trout and walleye fishing, on good day you could fish the wall or head over to Stoney and Gull island good smallies. If it's real nasty you can fish the Black River it has a lot of different species, one nice thing is you can go above the dam where there is good eye fishing, lots of shorts but some nice 18"ers smallies till your sick of taking them off, you need to go above the gorge which is a beautiful sight in its self to Brownville to the riffles. I have twin daughters and the can spen the day there. You also have the option to trailer over to Chaumont bay, my uncles spend days over there as they are bass guys, they fish the weeds from the bridge to the big open waters with your boat Chaumont is big and you would be able to get in many places I can't but they do as they have a bass boat and a 16ft aluminum with a 50 Merc and trolling motors, you could also fish Sackets harbor also. There are many options in this area but I know the guys from the oak area and around there have shorter runs to deeper water for the lakers and kings. Lakers are in the Henderson area all year but it gets pretty snotty there but you can retreat to the bay very quickly as you could get through the cut under a bridge and your safe, behind the break walls in the bay which is nice I have used that route a few times when I had my 18fter. It's your decision do so research and decide from there. Good luck, PAP?

Come on Pap where is your sense of adventure? I tuck right in those little coves bass fishing with my 23 footer! Of course I do have an outboard.

[Xxx]

Come on Pap where is your sense of adventure? I tuck right in those little coves bass fishing with my 23 footer! Of course I do have an outboard.

Yea, I jump on their boat, I F'up a prop there loading there once and it's just easier going with them, at 70mph with David's boat in 10 minutes wer're there. Plus I can't trim up enough, if there was a 12# eye in there I might opt to be a little more adventurous, but for a bass??? naaa. lol. Stay warm my freind springs a comming!!!

[pete277]

Arney's marina on Sodus bay is top notch. They have a lot of Pennsylvanians there and also have afew spots available to park a camper for the wknd.

[armymedic3]

Thanks again guys. I wasnt expecting so much help. It seems to me from what everyone is saying the way to fish around lake O is to trailer the boat and follow the reports instead of sticking with one port and putting all the eggs in one basket. I was looking at reports from last year during June and numerous charter capt websites. Seems like June is a transition month for the fish. Browns and Smallies are moving out. Largies are moving in. Salmon are who the hell knows. And that all depends on the weather and the temps and the baitfish. I had no idea the Lake was that complicated. I thought there was more of a pattern. I like all the options on the east end. Seems like a lot of protected places to fish..I figure something should be somewhere fairly close. Enough to keep the kids happy anyway so its easier to get them up at the crack of dawn. Seems like Mexico is the place to fish deep for trout and salmon. From the map the backwaters in that area are scarce and the fishing seems to vary greatly year to year.  I always feel I am making the wrong choice of area to fish and when I get there everyone will say "no fish here there all at the other end of the lake".  I guess that is just how it goes. Thanks again guys. Ill keep my eyes on this post.  

[greenboatluke]

I have a cottage on Henderson bay (on Sackets Harbor side). Pap gave some great insight on launches within close proximity that will allow you to play the wind. There's another small place called Bedford Creek Marina and Campground. It's between Sackets and Henderson. Don't know what your sleeping arrangements are, but they have sites to rent and you can get a slip by the day or week. The slip would lock you down there though. Leave it on the trailer and if the lake cooperates, back it down the launch minutes from your campsite!

I usually get a slip there for multiple different weeks throughout summer.

Edited February 11, 2016 by greenboatluke

[BAZOOKAJOE]

I would head to Oswego. Lots of charters and the fishing is consistent for most of the year. It's the fastest drop off in the lake. So you don't have to go terribly far out. The harbor and launch is easy to use. June is the most inconsistent month. But if you could book the last week i think you might be in for some great fishing! I live near Sodus and its hit or miss there. Brown trout and steelhead fishing can be good in June. But if you want to fish deeper water you have to travel farther out. And the launches in Sodus are a pia. A lot of bass fisherman.

[RSF]

There's a place, just a mile or two of the north shore, south-west of Port Credit that I hit twice of four/five times fishing stainlines.

Anyway it's called the depression though even Charter Boat Captains out of Port Credit insist does not exist. But it does.

 

Drops from appx 65 feet to 170 feet and is quite short, eg 10 seconds and your out of it traveling north west by west. LOOK for seriously stained water and debri. Caught four Salmon there after dropping the rigger down on still to what I perceived (Old Humminbird) was the thermo.

[King Slammin]

I've fished the west end my whole life. It's a great multi-species location. We tend to get the spring salmon (may - June). The water is generally more calm than the east end due to dominant SW Winds but if it blows from the NE it's downright nasty. Like mentioned before, the Niagara river has many sheltered areas to drift for smallmouth or walleye if the weather is rough on the main lake. Another bonus is that Lake Erie is only 30-40 minutes away and provides a chance at world class walleye using some of the same techniques. There are great charter captains out of Wilson, olcott, and oak orchard. Feel free to Pm me if you would like some recommendations. Good luck.

[BRUCE]

Hi check out fair haven state park

Nince inland lake and a great park

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