Published: August 28, 2008 10:50 pm            

OUTDOORS: Appleton man eyes derby victory

1. Lake Ontario and tributaries

Gary Rammy, Jr. of Appleton is still holding on to the Grand Prize slot with a 35-pound, 12-ounce king salmon he caught on the Niagara Bar going into the final weekend of action for the Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby. Can he win the $20,000 for biggest fish in the derby? We’ll find out on Labor Day when the derby ends. Some big salmon are being caught in Lake Ontario — at least, when the winds and weather cooperates. Right now, it’s a 30-pound, 8-ounce salmon to make 20th place. For a complete leaderboard list check out www.loc.org.

This past week, East winds have been playing tricks on anglers by pushing cold water around the lake and scattering fish. Fishing has been tough as a result, but if you can find the fish you can do well. Some boats are working the shoreline inside of 100 feet for salmon and browns.

We tried to fish off Olcott last Friday afternoon with Capt. Eric Bickel of Burt and Roy Mangina of Olcott, using planer board to get two and three colors of lead core near the surface and away from the boat noise, a technique that worked earlier in the day, but to no avail. One small shaker and two other releases was all we could muster. Others have been heading out deep, 7 to 10 miles, for steelhead and the occasional salmon in the top 60 feet of water straight out from Wilson and Olcott. Capt.

Bob Cinelli of Newfane has been fishing near the 29 line between the two ports with spoons and Spin Doctors and flies. Of late, the spoon bite has been better, using NK 28s in a variety of color patterns. The trio of Dick Conley, Tom Danaher and Dave Ray did well at the 27-28 line to take some nice steelhead and the occasional salmon. Most of their fish came on spoons, using free floating sliders. Best spoon colors have been watermelon, NBK green and customized Silver Streaks.

Capt. Mike Johannes of Ransomville ran his Wilson charter boat to the Niagara Bar and needed to run out to the corner, north of the Bar, to catch a pile of steelhead on Saturday. By Sunday, that water had changed and he needed to seek out more active fish elsewhere. As long as the winds are blowing from the east, you’ll have to move to find active fish in different spots.

As of Thursday morning, cold water was in tight to shore again and they were catching trout off the piers. Olcott harbor was also reporting some kings rolling from 3 to 6 a.m. Bass fishing has also been good in the harbors of Olcott and Wilson with the cold water in tight to shore. Registrations are now available for the Greater Niagara Fish Odyssey derby — set for Sept. 20 to 28 — from outlets. Check out www.outdoorsniagara.com for a list of outlets or check out www.fishodyssey.net for further details and to register online.

2. Lower Niagara River

The first salmon has been caught in the Lower Niagara River off the NYPA fishing platform, which reopened last week, and while it’s still early for any real numbers, there are fish available. Bass fishing was decent the past week with the Lake Ontario roll over, forcing good numbers of smallmouth into the river mouth along the Coast Guard, Fort Niagara and around the green buoy marker. Walleye fishing is also good with worm harnesses a good bet in 30- to 40-foot depths.

3. Upper Niagara River

The Upper Niagara bass fishing continues to be good throughout the waters above the falls and the best baits have been leeches and crayfish. Heidi at Big Catch sends word that shore anglers have been catching some musky from shore near the Riverside pedestrian bridge. Some walleye and bass continue to be available around Strawberry Island and at the head of the river near the Emerald Channel.

4. Lake Erie and tributaries

Out in Lake Erie, the bass fishing is better than ever, offering up trophy fish from the 25- to 40-foot range. Capt. Frank Campbell had one group of customers catch a six pounder and several five pounders from 35 feet of water on crayfish and drop shot rigs outfitted with Berkley Gulp goby baits. Some walleye fishing is still available but working the waters at the head of the river or you can head down Dunkirk way were local anglers Dave Waldeck and Nate Capton won their first ever Masters Walleye Circuit tournament last weekend. Purple and gold worm harnesses did the trick, fished behind Dipsy divers 160 to 180 feet back over 100 to 125 feet of water. They won over $13,000 for their two day catch of 59 pounds of walleye. The main fish zone was 50 to 75 feet below he surface.

        

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