By Robert Mallory
The King Salmon fishing out of the port of Oswego continues to be great and is only getting better. Right now the majority of the boats are targeting the kings anywhere from 120-400 feet of water both east and west of port. Most days the kings can be found near bait and feeding in their preferred temperature ranges. Downriggers and wire dipseys as well as copper presentations are all working. Most anglers are running mixed spreads of flashers/flies as well as meat rigs behind large paddles. Productive colors are white and green glows early in the morning and on overcast days. A green double glow echip flasher and variations of that flasher have been great the first couple of hours of the morning paired with either A-tom-Mik flies or meat rigs.
Once the sun is up, chrome flashers and mountain dew colored attractors are all fishing well. The majority of anglers seem to be having more success with herring strips and cut alewives fit into meat heads and fished behind larger flashers. Productive lead lengths range anywhere from 48-72 inches behind depending on the flashers action and speed that is being trolled. For the kings, productive downrigger depths have ranged from 70-135 feet of cable out depending on the day. Wire dipseys from 240’ to 335’ and coppers from 400’ to 600’ are all working on any given day.
In addition to the king salmon, now that the thermocline has been established, brown trout are being caught in predictable areas as well when conditions are to their liking. Stingray sized Michigan Stingers in an array of color patters would be my first choice when targeting the browns. We have fished brown trout a few times over the past month to change things up and speeds that generated bites were on the slow side – 2.1 to 2.3 MPH was the best.
As always – be safe and get our and enjoy some of the best fishing the area has had to offer in several years!
