Niagara “Silver” Magic
By Bob and Steve Reynolds

After a long scenic August drive we were greeted with troubling news from our guide and host, Bruce Blakelock. It seems that the unusually cool, wet and ever changing frontal patterns of the eastern states’ summer of “03” had conspired to scatter the salmon we sought just as the had started to stage in a traditional pre-spawn area near the point of confluence of New York’s Niagara River and Lake Ontario. Brother Steve, friend Mark, grandson Cameron, and I had planned for months to arrive at this strategic time but…drat…drat! It was starting to look like one of those “you should have been here yesterday deals”! But not to fear, we had confidence that Captain Bruce, star of a March 2003 episode of the In-Fisherman TV show, would have a competitive game plan. So we spent the next day relaxing and taking in the historic beauty of Lewiston, NY, confident that the fun we came to enjoy would be realized (this is a lie, of course, we were agonizing)!

The next morning the 27’ Riverside headed for Canadian waters off the shipping canal connecting Lakes Erie and Ontario in depths of 80-120 feet of water. The color video fish finder confirmed to us that we were indeed on the right track. We were seeing baitfish images and yellow marks near the bottom indicated concentrations of lake trout. Pretty soon we heard the inevitable 8-year old’s question: “when are we going to hook-up Pop-Pop”? Cameron had drawn first-up in the fish cue and was pumped for action! He didn’t have to wait another five minutes, before a portside downrigger rod popped and, the mate, Gordie, had the rod in Cameron’s hand and he was cranking. The fish twisted and surged with authority, but it did not stage a run or jump. In a few minutes, with encouragement and advice (there was no shortage of advice from this group), Cameron had the fish under control and up to the mate’s net. This was a good start—a “laker” measuring 30”. The smile on Cameron’s face told the whole story—his biggest fish to date! Over the next hour, three more lakers came over the side—two of them were 34”. However, despite a couple of positive radio reports, we were not finding “silvers”, and Captain Bruce was getting restless. (We love a captain with little patience for slow action). The decision was made to move deeper into Canadian water.

After 20 minutes of running, we put down directly south of Toronto in 50 fathoms of water. A downrigger was lowered with a temperature probe that located the 50 degree level and we set the spread of ‘riggers and in-line diving planes accordingly. The strategy is to start presentation around this temperature, which was about 50+ feet down, and adjust if you see fish concentrated otherwise.

It was a good decision. One nice “steelie” took a spoon within minutes of presentation, and it was Cameron’s turn again for action. With a little more “advice” he put a beautiful eight pounder in the boat and the face lit up once again. Unfortunately, the sun was now high in the sky and the fish, which were high about 35 feet in very clear water, slowed their bite. Also, they seemed to be hitting tentatively, producing six poor hook-ups in a row. As a consequence, it took us several more hours to round-out our three per person limit, but they were all steelheads and Chinooks—all firsts for Steve and Cameron. Overall, it was a good day, but so far no “mature” Chinooks.

At 6:30 AM the next day, as the sun peeked up from its apparent resting place in eastern Lake Ontario, we were headed back to the coordinates at which we’d finished the previous day. Gordie was prepping tackle during the ride, decorating spoons with an amazing variety of stick on colors and patterns. A staple bait this time of year is what I’d call the basic “Daredevle” spoon shape, but the color patterns are from another planet—zigzag oranges, puke green, purple, etc. (the actual prey must be real spooky)!

When we arrived at the spot there was a light westerly breeze and salmon marks (red) on the screen. Lines were set and we had fish on by 7:20 AM. Cameron was first –up again (how can this be)? A ‘rigger rod popped-up commencing a fight that included an immediate run of 100 feet as soon as the line came tight. Cameron was visibly stressed, but the Captain at his side helped him maintain a steady rhythm as the big fish tested him. After about 10 minutes of careful maneuvering, sweat and aching forearms, into the net slid a chunk 34” Chinook. Our side-kick had broken his own personal record the time in two days! Now smiles spread across many faces—big fish were about (now that’s magic)!

For the next two hours this scene was repeated many times as Chinook and big steelhead came over the side. Pop-Pop landed a 36.5” Chinook and the Cameron landed a 17 pound, 31”steelie, a fish that put on perhaps the best fight of any of our catch. It took 10 minutes to put this jumping fish into the boat. Steve subsequently had a 29” salmon and Mark landed a 32” salmon. By 9:30 AM we were done and shortly thereafter were pulling up the lines and heading in for brunch—short, but very sweet!

Folks, Niagara is big fish fishing at very reasonable prices so the next time you are down east do yourself a favor and make an appointment with a wonderful host and fisherman Captain Bruce Blakelock in Lewiston, NY. Call Bruce or his wife, Andrea, at 716-754-4101 or contact us here.