Orleans County Lake Fishing Report 4/18/23
Orleans County Tourism
April 19, 2023
Lake Ontario - Freshwater Fishing Report

We are following a stretch of flat and calm where the near shore waters went on the clear side. Even in that skinny water, Capt. Jon Forder from Mister Sportfishing found some hungry brown trout along with a mixed bag catch including a real nice Coho. Check out the pic below for a great fish that jumped 5 feet out of the water! There's been good numbers of mostly smaller browns hooked up but some bigger drop back trib fish are mixed in. For the mid week period looks like we may get some stiffer winds that could set up some nice near shore color for end of week or weekend.
And Capt. Rob Westcott from Legacy Sportfishing says "any rain, wind and cooler temps should improve the shoreline brown trout action later this week. Lake trout action should improve as the season moves along generally in that 50 - 80fow range. Bait is showing up in the 80 - 160fow range and they'll be moving closer shortly. Look for better numbers of Kings in the spring catch as the bait moves in."
Capt. Lou from Get the Net Fishing Charters said the past weekend was a tale of two fishing stories. "On Saturday we found great color and decent temps in 7 - 10fow. Out of Bald Eagle we headed east and just before Troutburg we picked up a small brown. As the sun came up a slight E wind started up and pushed a little colder water in. We made our pass to Devil's Nose and then headed back west toward port hoping for some warmer water. We found the warmer water from port to the Pines and the bite was good so we worked that water for a good number of bites. Most were smaller browns with a few better ones mixed in. What worked for us was Warrior XL black pearl, Coville Crusher and Green Spoiler. On Sunday it was tougher action when we worked the same water. The water was clearing and the bite disappeared. We picked a couple fish but headed out deeper hoping for better action. We worked out to 60fow and got just a small Coho, so we ended the day early. There were a few other boats that landed Kings. It was a beautiful morning on the Lake for us regardless!"
All in all, things look ahead of schedule but maybe some cooler weather will help stall the spring time action from moving along too quick. Enjoy your rec or charter action and practice catch and release where practical for good future hook up chances! Spring and cold water shallow fish probably offer the best chances of the season to let a few successfully go.
Target Species:

Salmon, Steelhead, Brown Trout
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