Lake Ontario
Trout and Salmon Fishing Hotline
| 04/24/2019Let the 2019 Season Begin!April Fishing Starts Off with a Bang
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April Brown Trout Fishing as Expected
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14-year old Grant, with the first brown of the season caught on a dodger/fly we were trolling for kings. |
It's no surprise that since our first charter on April 18, the brown trout fishing out of Oswego has been excellent. It usually is. Although 2-year old browns are 1-3lbs., smaller in average size than normal, there are plenty of them. The few we have fileted onboard have been eating small gobies. Most of the larger 3-year olds up we've been catching have been offshore in deeper water. |
Early April Kings
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Surprise, surprise! Guess who's lurking just outside Oswego Harbor and all along the color line east and west of the harbor..., Mr. King Salmon! And, they are there in numbers, They are early, but they are welcome. |
April 19, 2019. A catch of browns, cohos, Atlantics, and lakerks, plus 5 king salmon. |
So, where has Mr. King Salmon been lurking?
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Co-captain Kevin Kellar about to release a nice king east of Oswego Harbor. Respect our kings and carefully release them unharmed. |
Kings are still scattered throughout the lake, but the ones caught aboard the Fish Doctor have been from just outside the Oswego Harbor east along the color line in 15-4- fow to 4-mile Point, but we've heard of them being caught from Fairhaven to Nine Mile Point. |
And, what spoons has Mr. King Salmon been liking?
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If the only spoon you fished in low to moderate light for shallow spring king salmon around Oswego Harbor this time of year was a black and silver standard size Stinger in black alewife, black tuxedo, and hammered silver/black edge, you would catch kings. A glow belly helps in low light. One of my "old school" favorites is a 3F black/silver Evil Eye. Another not-so-popular favorite among most is brass/green. |
This feeder king hit a standard size hammered silver Stinger with a black edge and glow belly. |
Juvenile Atlantic Salmon
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CoCaptain Kevin carefully handles one of the juvenile Atlantics we've been seeing while releasing it. Zoom inon the forked tail. |
There are definitely more juvenile Atlantic salmon being caught this spring than I've seen in a few years. Unfortunately many of them are confused by anglers with cohos, brown trout, and juvenile king salmon and end up in a cooler by mistake. Tip - If you don't see black spots and it has a forked tail, it's a coho or king, size limit 15". If you see black spots and a square tail, it's a brown, limit 15". If you see black spots or "Xs" and it has a forked tail, it's an Atlantic, LIMIT 25". Larger, legal Atlantics usually have black "Xs", but there tail transforms from forked to more of a crescent, not quite square. |
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