Fishing can be a very humbling endeavor. There are several factors that can make catching fish difficult. Weather, water conditions, tackle, and fishing pressure all play significant roles in the process, along with about a thousand other variables! That said, the biggest factor in successful salmon fishing is timing. If the fish aren't there, no matter how good you are, you won't catch any! Salmon season along the eastern coast of Lake Ontario often begins in late June to early July out on the open waters of the lake. The Salmon River draws fish from across the lake during the course of the Summer. Fishing on the lake can be spectacular for Kings along with all of the other salmonid species (Cohos, Steelhead, Brown Trout and Lake Trout) throughout the summer months, with a few weeks of incredible fishing in closer proximity to the Salmon River as August stretches to September.
During that period the salmon begin staging off the mouth of the river, hungrily gulping almost everything that looks edible in preparation of their migratory run upstream to spawn. In my days as a first mate on Lake Ontario charter boats and as a "Weekend Warrior" with Dad it was common to catch limits of fresh and angry Kings in the shallow waters immediately off the mouth of the Salmon River for as long as the weather would allow. Usually around the last week of August the fishing along the lake begins to slow down a little (for Kings and Cohos) as the fish begin entering the river. At this time the lower stretches of the river begin to get hot, with the Douglaston Salmon Run and the portions of the river downstream from Pulaski being the most likely places to encounter an angry King on the way upriver. Douglaston, for your information, is a privately owned stretch of the river immediately upstream form the estuary that requires payment to fish. (More of my thoughts on that later.) Kings and Cohos pour into the river, usually following the first heavy rain of the Fall or the first cold snap.
As the days pass from September into October you can catch salmon the entire length of the river. Salmon begin to spawn as the season grows later, and the gravelly areas in Ellis Cove and upstream to Altmar are the most productive. Most of the fishing that we do in the Dirty Oar occurs in this section of river, as the waters are more passable by drift boat and are almost always productive as the season wears on. Another bonus that coincides with the spawning salmon is the appearance of Steelhead and Brown Trout entering the river to spawn, all the while eating as many fresh salmon eggs as they can ingest. It is not uncommon on a good October day of fishing to bring to the net a nice mix of Lake Ontario salmonid species, with the Grand Slam (King, Coho, Steelhead and Brown Trout) caught over the course of a weekend not totally out of the question. As the salmon fishing begins to wane in late October, the Steelhead fishing begins to heat up, stay tuned for more info on that front in later blog posts.
Salmon season is an awesome spectacle, beyond the wildest imaginations of fishermen who have never before experienced the Salmon River. Stay tuned for updates and reports here at Dirty Oar Adventures, our goal is to provide several fishing updates throughout the Fall fishing season, as well as updates over the course of Steelhead season which runs from October into May. As always, if you have questions, please reach out to us directly here or on either our Facebook or Instagram pages.
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