Upstate and Western New York Fishing Report – May 20, 2021
Frank Campbell
Finnan Murphy of Pittsford won the spring LOC Derby with this 26-pound, 10-ounce Niagara Bar king salmon. He caught it the last morning of the contest. Young 12-year-old Finnan Murphy of Pittsford was on cloud 9 last Sunday, May 16, the final day of the Lake Ontario Counties (LOC) Spring Trout and Salmon Derby. At 9:30 a.m., he hooked up with the biggest salmon of his young life while fishing out of Wilson, with Capt. Kip Mammano of RochesterSportfishing.com, Finnan’s father Shane, and two other father-son couples as part of an annual trip on this Great Lake. Thirty minutes later, they netted the winning 26-pound, 10-ounce salmon. Murphy won the Grand Prize, a check for $15,000! He beat out 76-year-old Walt Zebker of Grand Island with a 25-pound, 12-ounce king he reeled in fishing with Capt. Mike Mongan of Grand Island on the Niagara Bar. No matter how old you are, you still have a chance at catching a
Upstate and Western New York Fishing Report – April 22 , 2021
Frank Campbell The smelt are still hanging on in the lower Niagara River and the white bass are starting to show, too. Salmon are beginning a spring feeding frenzy between the Niagara Bar and 30 Mile Point – just in time for some derbies and tournaments on the local front. Both Mike Rzucidlo and Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls reported catching some of the first white or silver bass of the season, using 5-inch Zoom plastics on jigs and big No. 4 and No. 5 spinners. In addition to the white bass, they were also catching some big lake trout up to 15 pounds this week from shore. Some muskies and sturgeons are also showing up cruising the shoreline. Musky season is completely closed, and sturgeon are a protected species. It is illegal to target these fish. According to Ziehm, water visibility was 5 to 7 feet and he did catch some steelhead as well in the gorge including some fresh fish. Water levels were low, fishing with h