With a couple days previous of E and NE winds coupled with off and on storms, there hasn't been much consistent boating action out of Point Breeze lately. Oh yeah, and there's been more of that dreaded fog! Those who did make it out of the Oak through the past holiday weekend when the Lake conditions cooperated did have some fair action, but many are reporting "it's a bit of a grind." Still a chance of isolated or passing storms through early tomorrow, but the weather ahead looks clearing and more stable. The area is already back to prevailing W and SW winds which could help set things up for better consistency. Coldish water from those E winds has been lurking in the near shore and mid depth ranges but the prevailing winds should help take care of that.
Capt. B. Stevens of Sunrise Charters hasn't been discouraged despite the challenges of the weather like the NE wind last Saturday and the fog Sunday. "Fishing remains okay, good not great and we've been fishing all week. The best bait picture and active fish are scattered from 80 - 300 fow. Pick your level and pound it out. Our fish were coming high and on a deep rigger 80 ft." The Sunrise II has boated some lakers and mixed bag Kings including the good one Kelly P is holding in the pic below.
Capt. R. Hajecki of the Yankee Troller is ready to get back into them at Point Breeze. He says " we've had a lot of E wind so the most consistent water is offshore. Three hundred to - 400 fow in the top 50 ft should be consistent. Also brown trout seem to be starting to set back up on the inside."
Casters at the piers and upstream areas have caught both some nice smallmouths and pike. Looks like more action on bass then in a good many years. Tubes and crankbaits and jerk baits are all taking fish. Like the trout and salmon having learned how to feed and take advantage of the gobies, it may be that the bass have now turned the tide on the gobie onslaught too!
If you were hoping for some warm weather to maybe heat water temps up - well you got it! So far, the beginning part of the week has been downright hot with air temps in the 80s°F. Not a whole lot of wind lately either, so trollers are finding a lot of warmish water temps out there and not much for down temp breaks. Some of the only wind lately has been feeble lake breezes. There's been some thick fog at times as a result so use caution out there if you choose to boat out when the visibility is limited. Look for warm weather through about mid week and then a slight cool down with chance of rain showers. Long range forecast may be calling for a more significant cool down around the Memorial Day weekend.
Fishing pressure for trollers out of Point Breeze remains pretty light. Busy days so far may have a half dozen boat trailers at Point Breeze. One veteran rec boat today marked some bait in 90 fow and what looked like some fish on it. He got a double in 120 fow but couldn't make another strike so kept going north to 220 fow and had another knock off. Lately its been guys searching out different zones trying to find a good pattern or program.
Capt. J. Oravec from Tightlines Charters reports, "mostly a rigger, spoon program." He's been finding some nice spring Kings around 190 fow off the Oak. (Pictured below.) "We had a great catch of salmon with a Fort Lee, NJ group in 200 fow straight out from port. Other boats have been fishing 200+ fow and some others fishing for lakers from the Flats to Kendall on a slow troll near bottom in 100 - 130 fow."
For landlubbers and casters and drifters there's been nice bass caught both at rivermouth areas and upstream nearer the dam in the fast water reaches. Enough bass are being caught where it looks like they are now holding their own against the goby onslaught. Anglers who haven't given up on the perch are also still into some fish in the lower river zones. Not a bucket full, but some good eating sized fish.
Don't let any post LOC Derby doldrums set in! There's plenty of big Kings out there evidenced by the spring LOC Derby results. The top fish were all 20 something pounds including the grand prize - 25 pounder. Those are good salmon by spring standards and other Kings of that weight still swimming have a real good chance of becoming 30 + pounders by end of summer and fall. Lakers were likewise well represented too with a heavy leaderboard. Browns on the leaderboard were light but that probably reflects fish over 10 pounds were tough to come by. Up and comer fish less then 10 pounds are surely numerous and those younger year classes are coming up through the pipeline for future big fish. Fall tributary runs of browns so far point to strong numbers. For all you tourney anglers, next in line is the Wilson Harbor Invitational this weekend.
Meanwhile there continues to be good and unharried action here in the Oak waters off Point Breeze. Lots of wide open Lake Ontario waters to roam for civilian rec boats and the home port based charters before the westward migration of captains returns likely after the Wilson tourneys!
At the end of last week, a few days of east winds made for tougher action. Now though, winds have lately been prevailing westerly with some rain showers off and on. Ahead there is the chance for NE winds again but the forecast is not calling for anything like days on end. Watch for storms and check marine forecasts as precipitation remains in the forecast for nearly every day ahead.
Seems like many trollers are in a searching mode, trying different depths and areas while the Lake is trying to transition to the warmer season patterns, likely a little earlier then traditional June timing. One rec boat recently had Kings and Lakers and a few browns east of Point Breeze in 65 - 90 fow on downriggers 45 and 55 down with a spoon program. Another out of state charter had Kings to almost 20 pounds off Green Harbor in 120 fow.
Capt. Jeremy Sage of JD's Custom Charters fished 5-6 miles west of Bald Eagle in 80-130 fow. "We had depths from 5-90 ft down throughout the day with a few MVP setups. 2 face 8 inch echip with an Atommik stud fly behind it and a black jeans Salmon candy mag off a 65 rigger. We landed 12 and dropped easily that many. Lost a couple potential LOC fish but that’s fishing! Our catch was made up of 1 Atlantic, 1 coho, 1 laker, 9 kings - biggest landed being 18 lbs! (Pictured below.) It was a grind but great day overall and persistence paid off."
There's been some bluebird and quiet weather here at Point Breeze for this start of the week. Even the latest NE winds have been only fickle and soft lake breezes and not enough to mix up Lake temp zones very much. And so the Lake Ontario waters have been mostly flat and clearing especially near shore and at mid depths. We don't know of any serious brown trout trolling pursuits, although casters are still having success around the Oak river mouth and other near shore areas. Careful what we may wish for though for a change in the weather, as some storms and rains and winds are forecast for the end of this week!
Thanks to historic LOC Derby efforts in other areas for this time of the year, the fishing pressure in the Point Breeze waters is pretty light. One angler in an evening only trip last night remarked he was the only boat around - and landed 9 or 10 fish in just a few hours with a one man rod limit! What would that translate for hook ups for an all day trip with a bigger trolling spread!? We have said it before, when pressure shifts to other areas for whatever reason there are still guys that quietly go about their fishing with good action right here.
For some trollers the pattern seems a little more like a June set up already with action out to 300 fow. Some trollers though are still working mid depths in a bit of a search pattern finding laker hook ups and some Kings. It's the deeper water action that seems more likely to yield salmon bites. One veteran angler in that 300 fow zone had riggers set at 35 and 55 with cheaters 10 feet up. That placed spoons at 25, 35, 45 and 55 ft and the best action was around 45 ft. Dipseys and leadcore out 5 colors also are taking fish but lately riggers are doing the most work.
Come fish the unpressured Oak waters and you may still find yourself on the LOC leaderboard like the current 9th place King!
