Setting Up For One Heck Of A June!

The fishing continues to be epic here in Oswego, NY.  We have an excellent off-shore bite for Kings, Steelhead and Lake Trout right now on Lake Ontario.  This is quite a treat and we may have the long winter to thank for it.  Our surface temperature is still hovering in the 40's once you get out past 100 feet of water. If you find a break in this temperature, the chaos begins.

The fishing remains scattered as far as depth is concerned.  I have been finding fish on the surface all the way to 100' below the surface.  The key has been to keep a wide spread. Lead core lines, flat lines, divers and riggers everywhere!  

A-Tom-Mik flies, specifically a Glow Hammer, behind a Michigan Stinger E-chip attractor continues to produce fish.  Stinger spoons in the standard size, as well as Stingray size also takes plenty of bites.  The specific colors seem to vary day-to-day.  Basic black and silver patterns (Tuxedo, Alewife etc.) have been great, but flashy spoons (Mixed Veggies, Hawg Wild etc.) have their place too.  Don't be afraid to experiment!

Oswego King Blitz In May!

We found quite the treat here in the Port of Oswego the last week or so and that treat was silvery, mean spring kings.

The brown trout fishing had remained excellent along the shoreline, but after picking up a few incidental kings on light line and surface lures, we decided the target salmon specifically aboard the Dixie Dandy.  It sure paid off.

The king bite was furious from start to finish at the beginning of our blitz, but as of late, it's been all about the morning bite.  In true spring king fashion, they have come sporadically in the water column.  Anywhere from 50 feet of water to 130 feet of water, 15 feet below the surface to 60 feet below the surface. 

My most productive lure for the kings has been an A-TOM-MIK Glow Hammer Fly behind Michigan Stinger E-Chips or Dreamweaver Spin Doctor flashers in quite a mixed bag of colors. I've also been taking salmon on Stingray size spoons in patterns like UV Tuxedo, Glow Back Alewife and Natural Born Killer.

Browns are still tucked on the shoreline in 20 feet of water or less as well!  Smithwick rogues in black and silver, blue and silver as well as firetiger off planer boards have been productive, as well as shallow riggers (5 feet down or less) with stinger size spoons in patterns such as Rosemary's Baby (personal favorite BT lure) and Chicken Wing in the muddy water while many of the black and silver spoons like tuxedo and alewife have been productive in the higher visibilty H2O.

I hope that the recent fishing is a foreshadowing of our summer months in Oswego and I am really stoked to find out!  June should be a stellar month for a mixed bag of deep water brown trout as well as our nomadic kings and we still have some killer dates available.  Get out and fish!

The Inaugural RFE Fishing Report

Welcome to Rayno's Fishing Excursion's Fishing Report!

For those of you whom I have yet to meet, I hope you find my site interesting and this reports page informative!

As for those I've had the pleasure of fishing with, it's nice to see you again!  I am happy to have a home on the web so we may all correspond with one another.

Giving an opening fishing report at the end of the river season is tough, so I've decided to give a nice re-cap.

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Early fall held some phenomenal night-trolling on Lake Ontario at the mouth of the Salmon River for kings.  As the water levels remained fairly low, the season extended it's way in to October, making for some great fishing with minimal boat traffic.  Hard to argue with that!

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As the second week of October came around, fishing during the day on the Salmon River became our primary tactic.  Although we operated at the minimum flow of 335 cfs for most of the season, the sheer number of King and Coho salmon in the river made for a wicked plug-bite.  Plenty of action everyday!

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The last week of October marked my first steelhead trip of the season, fresh chrome was abound and the bite was happening!  This was certainly telling of how the rest of the season would play out, as the fishing remained great throughout the winter and in to the spring (after the flooding of course). We saw some decent water in our fall, which tapered to a winter that was filled with our minimum flow of 285 cfs. The winter was certainly long and harsh, which followed with a very high water spring.  As the runoff commenced, the Salmon River climbed and climbed.  As the flood waters receded to a fishable level the drift boats were blessed with an excellent bite with plenty of water.  Beads, eggs or bags, the fish were hungry!

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During a high-water spring the saying goes, "If the rivers blow, to the lake we go" and boy did that hold true.  As the flood waters receded below 5,000 cfs on the Salmon River we took to the shoreline trolling stickbaits for Lake Ontario Brown Trout.  After a tougher bite last year, I wasn't sure what to expect.  Luckily, lots of hungry fish awaited!

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As some of you know, from sometime in mid-April to mid-September I take to trolling on Lake Ontario in pursuit of our finned-friends aboard the Dixie Dandy alongside Captain Gerry Bresadola, which is part of the Cold Steel Sportfishing Fleet run by Captain Tom Burke. Currently, the brown trout fishing has remained stellar here in Oswego, NY as well as some great lake trout fishing to boot.  I am looking forward to this season on the lake and will certainly keep this reports page up-to-date with our outings on Lake Ontario!