Lake Ontario Salmon Fishing
Lake Ontario Salmon Fishing – Read Before You Go!
By Nicholas Cudzilo
Lake Ontario salmon fishing is a huge sport in itself and big business. Reeling in these monsters is also great fun for anyone to take part in.
The Lake Ontario salmon fishing year starts out in spring and lasts into summer.
Salmon are over deep water, 200′ to 500′, during these two seasons.
Trolling 20′ to 100′ down is usually needed to catch these bait-fish-feeding wanderers of the deep. You’ll usually want to use a down-rigger set up, but if the fish are high in the water column, a Dipsy diver will do.
The locations of the fish will depend (1) where the bait fish are and (2) what the weather is like. If the sky is blue and the water is calm, expect the fish to be deep.
If the weather has been particularly cool and cloudy for some time, expect the salmon to be higher in the water column. You can catch these fish on your own if you have the skills and the boat it takes.
If not, there are several Lake Ontario charters who are equipped and ready for the task to get you into some exciting, rod-bending, line stripping action on the lake.
Next comes fall when these nomads of the deep come up to rivers and creeks.
During this time of the year, people from all over the country come to catch these fish that are sometimes so shallow you can see their backs sticking out of the water.
It is easier to catch salmon in the fall because they are usually all congregated in certain areas of creeks and rivers. This is a great time to introduce a new angler to fishing.
In early fall, the salmon will be at the river mouths in the daytime and in the rivers at night, looking for a place to spawn, a mate, or food. Once the fall progresses, look for the salmon at the extreme ends of the river usually far from the lake.
If there is a dam, try to get as close as possible to it. Sometimes it is elbow to elbow with anglers during this time of the year, so be sure to get to the hot spot early.
If you are worried because you don’t know where the certain good spots are in a particular river, there are also many fishing guides that would take you out so you don’t have to constantly be looking for “the spot”.