Reports

It’s been a busy couple weeks for me, so I was chomping at the bit to get out on the water. Spring brown trout fishing on Lake Ontario is just starting, so off to Fairhaven I went. I got up at 4:30am and was at the park around 7 am and was pretty surprised to find a nice layer of ice covering the bay! So for about a half hour I broke ice until I was able to get to the channel.

Fly-fishing Lake Ontario for brown trout is a big challenge. It’s huge water and it’s not easy finding the right conditions. It comes down to pinpointing fish – so it’s a matter of finding concentrated murky areas with warm water. No such luck today. The water entering the lake via the tribs was only one or two degrees warmer than the lake. The lake temp was around 37/38. I found a few good areas and worked them without any hits. Saw one smallmouth bass. I did a little deeper jigging and the water clarity was staggering. I could see my white jig in 50′ of water! Wow, that’s clear! Marked a few fish, but no grabs. Had to go home at 2pm, so that was it. Perch were biting good around the park. The water warmed up quickly during the day and evening fishing for trout would probably be a great call!

I hit the browns pretty good fly-fishing around 2 or 3 years ago on Lake Ontario, and I plan on trying again. A warm rainy day, with light north winds or moderate westerlies would be perfect. I’m wrapping things up at Bass Pro Shops this week, so there will be plenty of reports coming soon. Seneca and Skaneateles Lakes are in my plans. I’m also hoping to check out Keuka pretty soon.

brown trout lake ontario