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Lake Ontario Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Lake Ontario, New York shore: chinook, coho, browns, steelhead and lake trout, stocked and managed by DEC from the Niagara Bar to the Salmon River.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~55 F est.
Air / High
51 / 56 F
Wind
ENE 14 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Lake Ontario rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. Today brings cloud cover, wind ENE around 14 mph, rising pressure near 1030 hPa and a high of 56. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:44 AM-11:44 AM and 10:14 PM-12:14 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66Β°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

Brown troutExcellent

Close to Vermont's 53-66Β°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

SteelheadGood

Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Lake troutGood

Spring and fall bring lakers into 10 to 30 feet of water (Michigan DNR), within reach of casters and shallow trollers; fall is also spawning time over rocky shoals.

Chinook salmonSlow

Runs enter the rivers: drift roe or sand shrimp through travel lanes, plunk a wrapped plug, or float eggs in eddies and tidewater.

Tomorrow: Similar at 56 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

New York requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $25.00 for residents. What a New York licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing steelhead here? Check the size and bag limits with DEC before you keep anything. The season dates for New York, read off the agency, are on the New York seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp51 F
High / Low56 / 50 F
WindENE 14-15 mph
Pressure1030.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain89% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:34 / 18:14
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Lake Ontario this week

The best day on Lake Ontario this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:44 AM-11:44 AM and 10:14 PM-12:14 AM
Minor period
4:07 AM-5:07 AM
Sun
07:34 to 18:14
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 22 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Ontario: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Steelhead illustration

Steelhead

Great Lakes tributaries from fall through spring; West Coast rivers have both summer and winter runs

Steelhead are rainbow trout that migrate to the Pacific or the Great Lakes to grow, then return up rivers to spawn; unlike most Pacific salmon they can survive spawning and spawn again. Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66Β°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Close to Vermont's 53-66Β°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

Chinook salmon illustration

Chinook salmon

Seasons follow the runs: spring, summer and fall runs on the West Coast, and late summer into fall in Great Lakes rivers

The largest Pacific salmon, caught by trolling and mooching at sea and by drifting and plunking in rivers as adults return to spawn; also stocked in the Great Lakes. Runs enter the rivers: drift roe or sand shrimp through travel lanes, plunk a wrapped plug, or float eggs in eddies and tidewater.

Lake trout illustration

Lake trout

Spring and fall in shallow water, deep in summer, and through the ice in winter

Lake trout are slow-growing chars of large, deep, cold lakes, native from Alaska and northern Canada to New England and the Great Lakes, and introduced in many western lakes. Spring and fall bring lakers into 10 to 30 feet of water (Michigan DNR), within reach of casters and shallow trollers; fall is also spawning time over rocky shoals.

When to come: the Lake Ontario calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Steelhead
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
Chinook salmon
Lake trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake Ontario today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 57 F, wind to 18 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 56 F, wind to 14 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Steelhead led the card at excellent. High of 57 F, wind to 20 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

Before you go

License

New York requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

A New York fishing license is required. DEC's Great Lakes rules (archived copy of May 21, 2026): brown trout, rainbow trout/steelhead, coho and chinook 3 a day combined, 15-inch minimum except rainbow/steelhead 21 inches in the lake, no more than 2 rainbows in the lake; lake trout December 1-September 30, 2 a day, only 1 between 25 and 30 inches. Check the current DEC guide: the Salmon River has its own seasonal gear rules.

Access

DEC names Wilson, Olcott and Youngstown as popular western ports for offshore salmon, and Fisherman's Park at Burt Dam for stream access to Eighteenmile Creek.

About this water

New York's shore of Lake Ontario, from the Niagara River to the St. Lawrence, managed for trout and salmon by DEC.

Fishing Lake Ontario: the full guide

Salmon stocking

DEC says New York stocks about 1.7 million chinook and 250,000 coho salmon a year in Lake Ontario and its tributaries. Returning adults weigh 8 to 30 pounds; chinook are mostly age 2 and 3 and weigh 15 to 25 pounds, and coho return at age 2 averaging 8 to 10 pounds. The Salmon River Hatchery spawns both species in October, and chinook are stocked as 3-inch fingerlings in May or June, some through pen-rearing with sportsmen's groups.

Western Lake Ontario

DEC Region 9 calls Lake Ontario's chinooks by far the largest in the Great Lakes. Near-shore chinook fishing in the west starts in late April and runs through May, with the Niagara Bar among the top spring areas; offshore fishing picks up from July through September out of Wilson, Olcott and Youngstown. Spawning-bound chinooks gather at the Niagara Bar in late August and early September, and Eighteenmile Creek at Olcott gets a run from mid-October, followed by brown trout and winter steelhead.

Trolling by temperature

DEC's trolling guide lists Atlantic salmon, brown trout, rainbow trout and steelhead, lake trout, coho and chinook in the lake, each with a preferred temperature band: 42 to 52 degrees F for lake trout, 52 to 58 for chinook and coho. Alewife and rainbow smelt are the main forage, and round gobies feed browns and lake trout when cool water lets them reach the bottom. The guide notes that the regulation allows three rods per angler.

The tributary runs

Salmon begin staging off river mouths in mid-to-late August, says DEC. On the Salmon and Oswego rivers, where flows are set by hydropower dams, the best stream fishing usually falls from mid-September to mid-October; on rain-fed streams the peak comes later. DEC lists the Black, Salmon, Oswego and Genesee rivers, Sterling, Sandy, South Sandy, Oak Orchard and Eighteenmile creeks, and the lower Niagara among popular salmon tributaries.

Common questions

When do kings stage and run?

DEC says salmon stage off river mouths from mid-to-late August; on the Salmon and Oswego rivers the peak stream fishing is usually mid-September to mid-October.

How many salmon does New York stock?

About 1.7 million chinook and 250,000 coho a year in Lake Ontario and its tributaries, according to DEC.

Where is the best spring chinook fishing in the west?

DEC Region 9 points to near-shore fishing from late April through May, with the Niagara Bar among the top spring areas on the Great Lakes.

Is fishing good at Lake Ontario right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Genesee River18 miOak Orchard Creek25 miCanandaigua Lake48 miOswego River60 miSeneca Lake62 miKeuka Lake65 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 43.4000, -77.7000 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 7, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 7, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.