Lake Ontario kings stage as Salmon River stays low after a cancelled release

On The Water’s Sept. 10, 2026 upstate and western New York report is a staging-king week. Lake Ontario boats in front of the Salmon River are working 60–100 feet with flashers, flies, and plugs. Orleans and Niagara charters still have mature kings and browns in 40–80 feet (some boats out to 200), with steelhead mixed farther out after a northeast blow scattered the temperature break.

The cancelled Labor Day whitewater release kept Salmon River flows lower, which the Pulaski notes say spread fish through the river instead of stacking them in the upper stretches. Fast water, transitions, and travel corridors are the play. The Oswego River’s raised levels drew salmon and browns to the dam; brown trout there are one fish inside a three-fish combined limit (only one brown and one steelhead/rainbow in that three).

The Lake Ontario Counties Fall Derby wrapped Labor Day: Jack MacDowall’s 30-pound, 13-ounce king took the $20,000 grand prize. Confirm current DEC Salmon River and tributary rules — including PFD zones on the Oswego — before you keep fish.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: On The Water — Upstate and Western New York Fishing Report, September 10, 2026.