This report a courtesy of Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
The following notice has been posted for Lake Ontario waters:
Remember the area around the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Facility is off limits to boating. The restricted area stretches 1,000 yards offshore and extends from the Alcan plant to the Sunset Bay area along Lake Ontario, east of the city of Oswego.
Oswego River/Lake Ontario report:
Oswego River report:
According to Larry Muroski of Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop:
The water level has been running between 5,000-7,000cfs for the last few days. Conditions have remained the same with brown trout active behind the hotels and some slow steelhead action up near the dam and down through the river to Bridie Manor. Minnows, bucktail jigs, egg sacs and casting spoons are working for the trout and Maribou jigs, moussies, minnows, trout beads, stone flies and woolly buggers are attracting the steelhead.
Additional reports indicate crappy are taking spikes, wax worms and minnows on Lake Neahtahwanta at night and perch are active through the ice behind Black Clawson.
Salmon River/Pulaski Area report:
According to Capt. Troy Creasy of High Adventure Sportfishing Charters:
The upper section of the river between Altmar and Pineville is producing the most action. Suggested baits are beads and eggs in white, pink, blue and orange, glo-bugs, estaz flies, hare’s ear and caddis in size 8-12. Bright colors are a great attractor for fresh fish, while natural colors are better for darker in river fish.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
The groups we spoke with yesterday reported having a slow day in the upper end of the river between Altmar and Pineville. Some days have been better than others, but we do have fish in the river. With the recent drop in water level the fish should be holding in the deeper pools.
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
The water is still at 285cfs, but the temperatures have stayed mild and we are hoping to see some more flow by the weekend. The river has plenty of fish, but they are a bit shy with the low clear water. The anglers on the run today did produce fish with beads under floats. We also had two folks swinging big flies and they reported hooking half a dozen fish.
Oneida Lake report:
According to Capt. Troy Creasy of High Adventure Sportfishing Charters:
This is a great time for ice fishing on Oneida Lake, but safety has to be a concern. Clearly stay away from any tributary areas…the ice is never dependable when you have moving water. Also be cautious of large areas of wetness and water accumulated atop the ice. Keeping this in mind, the ice fishing is quite good right now for both perch and walleyes at about mid-lake on the buoy line at 125, 123 and 121 in 28 to 32 feet of water.
Sandy Pond report:
According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
There is plenty of ice on the pond. The surface is sloppy with the wet snow we received last week making it difficult to travel on the ice. Yellow perch are taking small minnows. Small jigs tipped with spikes are taking perch and panfish and anglers have about two weeks left for Northern pike (season closes March 15). Large shiners and sucker minnows are good choices of bait for pike.
Winter Trail Reports:
Cross Country Ski Trails:
According to the Winona Forest Recreation Association:
The trails were in good to very good condition over the weekend. The trail base is 8-11 inches and with temperatures in the 30s this week, look for early spring conditions.
According to Hugh Quinn of the Osceola Tug Hill Ski Club:
Temperatures are expected to be in the 30s all week with near 40 degrees possible by the weekend. No significant snowfall is forecast. We have a trail base of 20-28 inches and trails are groomed with a packed powder surface.
Snowmobile Trails:
According to the Square Valley Snowmobile Club:
When it is this warm the snow is like mashed potatoes and clogs the drags and the trails deteriorate quickly.
Throughout most of our system the trails are in poor condition with the exception of Section 4 (Happy Valley) which is in fair condition.
According to the Winona Forest Recreation Association:
With the heavy wet snow we received last week, the main trails were rolled or panned. Heavy wet snow will not move through the groomer so we just packed things down. Temperatures around 40 have melted some of the new snow so we probably only gained a few inches.
