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Captain Bruce Blakelock of Riverside Sportfishing in Lewiston, New York (716-754-4101) has hit the Niagara Bar for the most consistent salmon fishing on the lake for years. “While water temperature will play a key role in locating the fish, don’t just follow the other boats around to find out were the active salmon are congregating,” says Blakelock, who runs his 34-foot Cruisers out of Wilson, New York.
He, too, looks for that 40-degree mark to identify the best areas and doesn’t rule out some of the “skinny” areas in tighter to the shoreline. He has found that trolling the shoreline with stickbaits such as Challenger Minnows or Challenger Junior Minnows off planer boards can be an excellent option for early-season salmon.
Normally, Chinook like a little water under them, but if the water gets churned up a bit and the baitfish are tight to shore, shoreline trolling can be extremely effective. He’ll also run sticks off Dipsy Divers at varying depths.
Blakelock mixes Michigan Stinger and Northern King spoons with plugs and sticks. His preferred trolling speed is 2.2 to 2.6 miles per hour in the springtime, but he may have to slow down to make the stickbaits work better. Paying attention to detail is critical, especially when you start hitting fish. And hitting fish is a common occurrence in the spring, especially in this territory.
In fact, the area is coming off one of the best spring salmon seasons in over a decade. The state’s creel census saw catch rates skyrocket last year for salmon and it all started right here around the Niagara River. |
