Fish Sodus Bay

9/23

Interestingly, the lake fishing for kings and cohos is still very good.  I am hearing that they are spread from shore out to about 90 fow, in typical stager patterns.  I’ve heard of some really really good catches still (10+ matures).  A lot of guys will start to target perch now, and they will be in deeper water for now.

9/15/17

Hearing mixed reports on the lake- some days it is good, others not.  I guess yesterday the bite was great for kings and coho.  Fish will be found from the pier heads to about 80 fow.  You can catch the fish that are starting to run on the pier now, using egg sacks and cleos.  Also, perch fishing is steadily picking up, both in the lake and now in the bay.  That should get progressively better as we progress into October.

Sept 7, 2017- the lake boat season is about to wrap up- stagers are inside of 80 fow, but inconsistent.  Jplugs and large sticks off boards should work on the right day.  There is a good offshore bite 180+ for immature kings  and steelies.  I expect the pier and stream season to ramp up in the next week or so!  Cleos and stickbaits off the pier and egg sacks and skein in the streams will be the best option.  Of note, some of the major tributaries are already seeing a siginifant run of kings and cohos. That should only get better for the next month or so!

  Also, perch are starting to show in the bay, and will fall for any presentation with a minnow at the end of it. 

Sept 5- decent king fishing for stagers, which will be anywhere from shore to 100 fow from now on.  Jplugs, mag spoons, and flasher fly will dominate the next few weeks.

August 29- check out this absolute beast taken out of Sodus today, on a meat rig!  39 lbs 3 oz, taken on the why not out of arneys marina!  Congrats guys!

August 27- my boat got out late today (set up at 10:30) and did fair action on mature salmon, but a lot of drops.  We fished mostly 100-120 for stagers, and there was another line of fish in 150-200.  Flasher and fly and mag spoons worked well for us, 90-110 down.  A lot of guys did very well today on the early bite.  I heard meat rigs were good early.  Temp was 50 down 100 to start, but that had moved up to about 85-90 down by 5 pm when we left.  Expect the ne wind to continue to bring the temp up.

August 21- our boat was at oak orchard this week, but I heard from several guys that the kings are starting to stage in Sodus.  Expect them to be near bottom in 80-120 fow.  Mag spoons and flasher fly have been good, and it’s always a good idea to run at least one meat rig.  Also, mag Jplugs can be great this time of year…  there has been a good offshore bite in 400-500, but the smaller fish will probably dominate out there from now on

August 13- decent fishing in 120-140 today for kings- truly a mixed class, but very few 3 year olds.  You are hearing of a few majors here and there, but nothing consistent.  We Did find one major and a big laker today in that same water.  All spoons for us today, mags in green and white seemed best.  I have a buddy who did well in 200-250.  Fishing has generally been good.

Cut Bait Fishing For Kings

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When fishing for kings, whether it be early season on the Niagara Bar, mid July in 400+, or for Stagers in late August, there is nothing that beats cut bait.  We tend to fish our cut bait behind large dodgers.  Oki, dreamweaver,  and stinger all make big paddles (10-12 inches) that work great.  You can fish them off a rigger, though my personal preference is to fish them off dispey and copper rods.

There are 2 big manufacturers of cut bait heads- Rhys Davis and John King.  The Rhys Davis heads have to be “tweaked” a bit to get them to spin, where the John King heads will spin right out of the box.  Either works great, if used correctly!  They should spin at least once a second, independent of the flasher’s motion!

I fish cut bait with 2 different presentations- a single head about 30-40 inches behind a flasher, or a “twinkie rig”.  A twinkie rig essentially has 2-3 teasers between the flasher and the head, which mimmic a small school of fish.  They are much longer- often 4-6 feet from the dodger to the hook.  The teasers can be small flies or squid baits.  When I tie them, I use the smaller squid baits, but everyone has their preference.  Many companies such as Atommik or dreamweaver have pre-tied rigs- I like to make them myself personally…   I have linked to a video I made about how to tie your own “Twinkie Rig” below!