Ten species across twelve months. There is no month on this lake without a good reason to launch a boat — but there are months worth flying in for.
Biting now · Sep
The best two weeks of the yearTwenty-pound-plus Chinook are stacked off the Salmon River and Oswego in 60–120 feet, and the first push is already in the lower river. Trolling in the morning, drift boat in the afternoon.
| Species | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinook SalmonKing · to 35 lb | ||||||||||||
| Coho SalmonSilver · 6–15 lb | ||||||||||||
| SteelheadLake-run rainbow | ||||||||||||
| Brown TroutNearshore · to 20 lb | ||||||||||||
| Lake TroutDeep · to 25 lb | ||||||||||||
| Atlantic SalmonRestoration fishery | ||||||||||||
| Smallmouth BassEastern basin | ||||||||||||
| WalleyeBays & rivers | ||||||||||||
| Northern PikeWeed edges & bays | ||||||||||||
| Yellow PerchSchooling · bays |
Ten species, and two of them get mixed up constantly. These are illustrations, not photographs — drawn to show the features you actually use to tell them apart.
King · Commonly 15–25 lb, over 30 lb in a good year
How to tell Black gums and a black mouth, and spots on both lobes of the tail. The gum line is the giveaway — a coho's is white.
Offshore June–August, staging off the river mouths August–September
Silver · 6–15 lb
How to tell White gums with a black tongue, and spots on the upper lobe of the tail only. Stockier and smaller than a king.
Building through summer, best August–October
Lake-run rainbow · 6–15 lb
How to tell Spotted all over, tail included, with a pink stripe down the side. Square-ish tail rather than deeply forked.
Tributaries November–April, peak March
Nearshore · Commonly 5–12 lb, to 20 lb
How to tell Golden-brown with black and red spots, many ringed by a pale halo. Almost no spots on the tail.
Shallow on the west end April–June
Deep water · 8–25 lb
How to tell The deepest tail fork of any trout here, and pale spots on a dark body — the reverse of everything else.
Bottom in 90–140 feet, May–August
Restoration fishery · 4–12 lb
How to tell Black spots shaped like Xs above the lateral line, and a notably slim wrist where the tail joins. Few spots on the tail itself.
Scattered, best May–July
Eastern basin · 2–5 lb, and plenty of them
How to tell Bronze with dark vertical bars and a red eye. The jaw stops below the eye, not behind it — that's what separates it from a largemouth.
June–September around shoals and islands
Bays and rivers · 3–8 lb
How to tell A glassy, reflective eye and a white tip on the lower lobe of the tail. Two separate dorsal fins, and real teeth.
May–September, rivers and bays
Weed edges · 4–15 lb
How to tell Duck-bill snout and pale bean-shaped spots on dark green. One dorsal fin, set a long way back.
Year-round in the bays, best spring and autumn
Schooling · Half a pound to a pound and a half
How to tell Golden with six to eight dark vertical bars and orange fins. Two dorsal fins.
Best in the bays November–March
Original illustrations. Diagnostic markings are drawn deliberately — the Chinook/coho gum line and tail spotting, the lake trout fork, the walleye tail tip.
What the fleet is actually doing, and where.
Chaumont Bay is on the ice for perch and pike, and the Salmon River and Lower Niagara are holding winter steelhead in the deep, slow water.
Cape Vincent & Chaumont · Pulaski & Mexico Bay · Niagara Bar & LewistonPeak walk-out perch fishing in the eastern bays. Drift boats are running the Salmon River daily whenever flows allow.
Cape Vincent & Chaumont · Pulaski & Mexico Bay · Niagara Bar & LewistonWarming flows pull a second wave of steelhead into every tributary. The Lower Niagara is at its best right now.
Niagara Bar & Lewiston · Pulaski & Mexico Bay · Point Breeze / Oak OrchardThe western end wakes up. Warm creek mouths at Olcott, Wilson and Oak Orchard stack browns in 8–25 feet of water — planer boards and small stickbaits.
Olcott · Wilson · Point Breeze / Oak OrchardNearshore brown trout are at full tilt and the first immature kings show on the temperature break. The spring LOC Derby runs this month.
Olcott · Rochester · WilsonThe thermocline establishes and the fleet moves offshore. Lake trout stack on the bottom in 90–140 feet; smallmouth season opens in the east.
Rochester · Fair Haven · Henderson HarborPrime offshore trolling. Riggers at 70–130 feet, hunting 48–52°F. The summer derby is live and the eastern basin is loaded.
Oswego · Sodus Bay · Fair HavenMature kings start pulling toward the Salmon River and Oswego harbour. The biggest fish of the year get caught in the next six weeks.
Pulaski & Mexico Bay · Oswego · Sodus BayTwenty-pound-plus Chinook are stacked off the Salmon River and Oswego in 60–120 feet, and the first push is already in the lower river. Trolling in the morning, drift boat in the afternoon.
Pulaski & Mexico Bay · Oswego · RochesterFull fall salmon run in every tributary, with steelhead moving in behind them. Oak Orchard and the Salmon River are shoulder to shoulder for a reason.
Pulaski & Mexico Bay · Point Breeze / Oak Orchard · Niagara Bar & LewistonSalmon are done; steelhead and lake-run browns take over. Cold, quiet, and the best fishing of the year for people who don't mind weather.
Pulaski & Mexico Bay · Niagara Bar & Lewiston · Point Breeze / Oak OrchardThe Salmon River and Lower Niagara fish all month. Perch schools set up in the eastern bays ahead of first ice.
Pulaski & Mexico Bay · Niagara Bar & Lewiston · Cape Vincent & ChaumontPlanning note
Mid-September to mid-October is the most famous fishing on this lake and the hardest window to book. Captains fill it a year out and lodging in Pulaski triples.
Late-August staging kings and the November steelhead run are nearly as good, cost far less, and you will have water to yourself. If you can move your dates, move them.