Captain John Oravec
Tight Lines Charters
Troutman
Niagara River
Lake Ontario
St. Lawrence River
E-mail me at captjohno@netzero.net or call me, Office Phone 1-800-443-2510, Cell Phone 1-585-590-2045
Home | Niagara River | Lake Ontario | St. Lawrence River | Rates | Photos | Testimonials | Links | Fishing Report

The "O" Report

For over Thirty years Capt John Oravec, aka "the Troutman", has fished the Western Basin Waters of Lake Ontario for monster king salmon, coho salmon, steelhead/rainbow trout and hefty "football" Brown trout. Capt John fishes the waters off Point Breeze/Oak Orchard River in Orleans County on a constant basis with the fishing fleet. To date his reporting has come thru his famous tactical articles for the In-Fisherman, Lake Ontario Outdoors, seminars for Bass Pro Shops, regional fishing clubs, and of course Anglers are always welcome to talk fishin' with him dockside at 4 C's Marina on the Oak Orchard River.

Capt John now will submit an Internet fishing report (called the "O" report) summarizing action on the 31 foot charterboat "Troutman" from late April thru late September and the 20 foot charterboat the "Johnny O" from October thru middle April and will include local tips, weather outlook plus his tips and hot spot picks for the upcoming fishing period. Look for a weekend summary and an updated report around the middle of the week along with helpful predictions for the coming weekend so you can set up on the fish when you get on these waters.

Thanks for thanks for visiting my site. I hope the report enhances your Western N.Y. fishing experience.

Any time there is a question about charter fishing on either "Troutman" or "Johnny O", hotspots, or rigging feel free to email Me at captjohno@netzero.net

Fish on and see ya out there!
Thanks
Captain John Oravec.

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Abbreviations used by Troutman include
fow = ft of water ft dn = feet down

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Now fishing aboard the 20 ft
"Johnny O"

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March 10, 2010

Today started fishing again clear water, low on the river, using large emerald shiners at a drift depth of 19' to 24'. We got a nice brown at the Green can, two more at Niagara on the Lake, and two off the Youngstown condos plus a bonus 28" fat walleyeand a skippy chromer steel! These locations started to swell some with a rising east wind so off to Jackson and Lower Pine where a hit and miss catch of steel and one brown [7 lbs ] in 19 to 21 fow happened under the noon bright sky We then slid into Upper Johnson's, the color video indicated large milling fish on and 5 ft off flat bottom at 34 ft. Again we sat on this spot trying different drift angles, finally after switching to my last two large goldens, we landed two 34 inch class "Mambo" Lakers " which took 15 minutes a piece to land! Nice Action.

As boats thinned out we back tracked to the Fort Niagara area basically fishing our way home we had another nice flurry of 6 hitters 4 landed including 3#, 6#, and 11# Browns and a 30" spawned out male steel with super "purple-haze" and chrimson colors. These type of catches take patience, being on the spots and a high hook up to landing ratio. and live bait.My Indiana gang released some, kept a few and had a picnic while I filetted the keepers. Good fun Nice group! We have rain and a noreaster sliding in Friday/Saturday so more fishing inside the river to come as the lake will be rolling bigtime.

See you there!
CJO

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March 9, 2010

Several groups did well on steel early this week with the High Banks being the consistant drift fishing at 18 - 24 fow with minnows. As is typical for mid March, the switch over to fulltime live emerald shiners brings more fat brown trout into the river catch. Weather has allowed Troutman to spend several hours per trip in the lake over bar reefs where more feeding browns, very big lakers and several hawg walleye have come into the Johnnie's "O's" net!

Over the weekend I have started launching at the Fort Niagara St Park Ramp which is closer to the prime brown trout shoals. Even though flat calm super clear water and sky conditions prevailed, limit catches of browns to 11 lbs, lakers to 16 lbs and a bonus walleye each day were enjoyed by a Toledo and Rochester group over the weekend. The best depths were again deeper from 24 - 36 fow and all on live bait. A couple fresh silver steels came on roe at the tail end of the Johnson Drift Saturday.

The outlook is good with warm weather in the high forties. The Browns will follow smelt into the river and Niagara Bar action will be there with west winds in the pattern.

I will continue drift trips thru ice out and currently booking spring brown and king salmon trips out of Olcott Harbor Niagara County in May.


Fish On
CJO


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March 2, 2010

Like Sonny and Cher once sang
"and the beat goes on, and the beat goes on!"

Weather overnite low temp of 29 and today's high a sunny 37 degrees! The Low end of the river was rough out of the north as I trucked my way upriver towards Lewiston. Pre-scouting shows - the wind, wave and ice pattern BEFORE! even launching the boat - this way we set down on a prime fishable drift for the key first three hours of your trip.

We started this group at the top of Jackson drift in 16 fow, my shallow drift depth of late, and scored 6 for nine in 4 drifts, the first pass we landed a double, one ripe 32" male and a chrome 31" female. Nice action only two other boats within site. We hit missed or landed action off 5 others in this run. Moving to the Ft George bench, 1 for two there and a lot of snags from an unfavorble breeze that killed boat speed. We plowed three foot rollers to the Coast Guard and worked hard against a stiff breeze going 3 for 5 - including a beautiful 11# brown.

We revisited Jackson for 3 more steel. At 22 ft I noticed the NNW wind had dropped to lt WEST so off to the high Banks .Vinny hit a 33 inch gorgeous female 2 minutes after dropping in. What a fight and what a release. This two-some brings a boga-Grip for weight and C&R. Works slick! We picked 5 more steel all along the lower high banks to Stella and we will definitely make a drift here first thing Tuesday.

Consistency is about keeping track of fish holding depths -16 to 22 ft in the pm hrs - and keeping fish under the Johnnie "O". Tommorow Herb will be using his 9 ft GL for some light tackle thrills! Personal tackle is a welcome option on board the Johnnie "O"

I'll let ya know how my Boyz do on them Tues
See Ya!
CJO
Gotta go clean a few and make some fresh sacs!


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February 26 , 2010

Light Boating traffic and light ice flows is allowing Capt John Oravec to run passed high drifts right to the Coast Guard drift by 8 :30 am which has fresh hungry steels setting up in 12 to 16 fow daily. The early bite has been terrific in this stretch often limiting groups out on action by 10 am. Fish are averaging 27 to 32 inches and my veteran gang from the Albany NY area were quoted as saying "We've never seen steels this big fish after fish! it's Great!!


Extremely light Seagar Leaders of 7 ft length with dime size eggs acs in flo pink are working super and remember to change baits often in clear water or these fish will let them float by! Ok! yeah! I have been stopping at various drifts enroute to the ramp and in most of my spots, we have quality steelies on withing 5 to 10 minutes of setting up so th steelheads are everywhere in the river! My second program continues to be out in the lake at three specific drifts where the browns are stacked and hitting large emerald shiners. One group this week needed a practice drift or two on the tricky bottom then started their brown action with a nice triple hit in 25 ft of rocky bottom near Niagara on the Lake. 10 straight drifts they had fish on - all nice medium size browns.

Remember that Capt John works the entire charter right back to the dock every time even if you are limited out. I help you release action fish so they are unharmed and ready to hit again! Both Live bait and fresh eggs and the right modifications are needed to make catches of 10 to 20 fish daily. I have big lakers scouted in two drifts so these monsters can be added anytime lake conditions permit moving out to the green bouy!

Fish On!
CJO

I just spent a couple of days on the Niagara River with Capt John. Fantastic action on both Steelheads and Brown Trout resulted in 64 bags of filets in the freezer. We had numerous fish that we threw back. Capt John helped me set up my 10 ft. noodle rod and I had a ball. If you have a favorite rod and reel, Capt John will help you rig them and will allow you to use them.

Web Designer



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February 21 , 2010

My groups this week have a lot to be happy about! Great "balmy" weather in the Thirties, light winds, clear water and Capt Johnnie "O" with the light tackle program.

Linda and Rob C. of Long Island lost count of the steels caught and released in their annual two dayer. These two bring their Long Island sound bottom fishing touch to the big Niagara every Feb. Suffice it to say 35 fish netted with 9 over 30 inches, mostly chromers. The fesh run is HOT Action!

Now we're into Friday and Saturday. Two separate Cleveland area two somes, held their own on steelhead. However Troutman scouting on his day off indicated ice flows shifting out on the bar - so on day two (Saturday) we swictched programs to my emerald shiner program over on the Niagara-on-the-Lake reef. WOW!! It took a couple practice drifts to get the feel of this challenging structure, then it was Brown trout alert BIGTIME! The Johnnie "O" Lund peppered browns from 3lb skippies to a half a dozen footballs of 7 to 11 lbs!

Saturday was a good day for a lot of boats. It really pays to have both fresh spawn and quality Live emerald shiners on board. These fat brownies out in the lake want Meat! I am off a day. I have fresh spawn drying in the fridge for a special angler from the Albany NY area and we'll be picking up my shiner order Tues on the way to the Fort Ramp.

See ya there!
Fish On
Capt John

"Troutman" ---- Tip of the week ---- when you can see the bottom off of the end of the new Lewiston ramp, go light on the floro Leaders and go a long off the three way - at least 6 ft. Now go get 'um!!


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February 13 , 2010

Capt. John "Troutman" Oravec is on a big time roll on the Niagara River!

Basically, my first wave of trips have boated the limit at least twice a day - using long #6 P-line CFX Floro leaders and 3 - #10 diachii hooks and dime size pink on pink fresh steelhead egg sacs in 10 to 14 fow. What this boils down to is that on action, each angler has landed 6 to 8 fish daily [twice the legal limit of three] most of these groups are Catch and Release for the most part, although a regulr two-some from Ohio kept their limit early on day #1 then released 4 consecutive 30 inchers when CJO guided them to a school of silvers off the High Banks on the way to the ramp on a hunch!

The most gratifying day for "ol Troutman" was Wed., when I used a wind shift to the east to predict ice moving off the USCG drift overnight. While many boats looked for a drift with light ice, I ran thru heavy mid river ice to find the Fort Niagara drift wide open. Yes pre-scouting pays off. As we settled in off the Fort in 11 fow we started with an immediate double. What followed was three straight hours of non stop action. Nothing beats having a drift full of fish, ice free, light winds and super light boat pressure!

Herb and Larry from NJ landed 10 for 14 in three hours. The action leveled to two hits a drift for the balance of a bumper day! Typical prime water and long term weather outlook is fine for continued action.

Feel free to ask any questions about the fishing techniqies for mid winter trout on these waters and of course Charter drift arrangements thru 1 800 443 2510 and captjohno@netzero.net.

Thanks see you on the big river!
CJO


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February 8 , 2010

Well the clear water is in and so are the steelhead! Recent charters are having a blast on 4 to 11 lb steels with the primary bait of choice being pink hand made fresh steelhead egg sacs. By rigging a # 10 Gama hook on 6 ft of Seargar Floro leader, the action is steady in 11 to 15 ft of water!

Best Drifts - All of 'em - although Friday we spent the entire day in the Ft. Niagara Drift and two Rochesterarians landed three times their limit and kept their first 6 for dinner. I am always carrying both emerald and large golden shiners and in one hour on the bar, with wind and ice permitting, my groups are brawling with large lake trout and a surprising number of bomber browns to 15lbs on both species.

The forecast next ten days is stable weather in the mid twenties so river conditions after some morning skim ice will be optimal for continued fire cracker action.

I'll renew the "O" report Tues nite after Mon/Tues group of regulars from Ringwood NJ float with me.
My charterline is toll free at 1 800 443 2510.


Fish On!
Capt John Oravec


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January 21, 2010

The Niagara River was kind to two Texans. The main river flow was still a little too dingy for a good steel head bite so Capt John opted to work both the west and "inside color break" off Ft. Niagara drifting live bait. The color video picture along with active bieds indicated baitfish and large fish on the top of the bar ie: drifting from 28 to 15 fow and over the flat. This group got their limit and mostly pigs (lakers topping out at 34" and 16 lbs) and the largest of the Browns was a magnificantly colored fall spawning run, hook jawed beauty (30 inches and 17lbs). This old male is going on the wall!

The largest laker and one bonus steelhead were kept for cold smoking. An interesting aspect was the laker had over 50 rainbow smelt in its tummy! My best bait was 3" to 4" golden shiners from Slippery Sinker B and T in Olcott NY. This bodes well for more fish setting up in the lower drifts near term and as the cold weather sets in and river water clears. My logs show that the steel action will go bonkers as we get into early Febuary so get ready. The Niagara river Anglers Steelhead tournament is Febuary 13th, a Saturday and I have it open. Feel free to call or email for available dates, with many regulars taking their weekdays well in advance I have several prime weekends open in Feb and March.

Fish On
Capt John Oravec
"Troutman"


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January 15, 2010

After scouting the river yesterday we got out of the Ft Niagara ramp this morning with clear 37-degree water and light fishing pressure. Steelhead action was excellent in the Lower drift near the U S Coast Guard Station 15 to 18 ft of water. Action came on Emerald shiners and long 8 lb test floro leaders. Fish size ranged from 22 to 31 inches, the best steel was a teenager. A short run to the green can buoy "ontop" of the Niagara Bar resulted in a mixed bag flurry of Lt's (16 lbs) and fat football shaped Browns (9 lbs).

The ten-day forecast is for stable wind and weather with daily highs in the low to mid thirties, so the outlook is excellent for quality trips aboard the Johnnie "O" Lund or your own boat. The Lewiston ramp is totally redone and snow/ice free. I’ll be out Sunday with a half-day and group from Texas early week so check for an update midweek, next week.

See you on the big river!
Capt John Oravec
"Troutman"


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December 28, 2009


Here’s the first Niagara River Report as of today. Capt John just finished the scouting of his favorite drifts for January action on the Lower Niagara River, after finding medium clear water at Ft. Niagara and good bait on the screen. We got hits from both browns and steels from the ramps to the USCG Station ledge. Since the wind was staying light west, we headed into the lake waters around the Green Can to prospect for browns. The water was roily here from wave action so the gold/chartreuse Quick fish got the call and heavy lakers (catch and release) and one very chubby brown of 8 lbs hit "on top" of the bar in 15 to 18 Fow. Our action was ended a little early by hard frontal winds.

Locals reported that there was a decent steel bite at Art Park drift as well. We saw one whopper steel at the ramp of 13 lbs .Our lakers were the better size fish today with slobs to 16lbs.

Weather this week will keep temps below freezing so this will work well for even better water clarity after New Years Day. I'll be on the river this weekend and I'm expecting better steel action in the "Mid Drifts" with fresh brown trout eggs becoming the bait of choice. When ever questions about the river conditions or if Niagara River Winter Drift fishing Charter Info is needed fell free to e-mail me at captjohno@netzero.net or use the charterline @ 1 800 443 2510. Look for Niagara river fishing report updates around mid week all thru the winter season and thanks for Dropping in!

Fish On - Drift On!
Capt.John Oravec
"Troutman"


 

 

Home | Niagara River | Lake Ontario | St.Lawrence River | Rates | Photos | Testimonials | Links | Fishing Report | Site map

When you book a Charter Fishing trip with Tight Lines Charters for Lake Ontario aboard the 33 ft Charter Boat "TROUTMAN", or the St Lawrence River or the Niagara River aboard the 20 ft Lund the "Johnny O", you are safe, comfortable and into the fishing action.

E-mail me at captjohno@netzero.net or call me, Office Phone 1-800-443-2510, Cell Phone 1-585-590-2045


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Captain John Oravec & Tight Lines Charters offer Charter fishing on Lake Ontario for Kings, Cohos, Atlantics, Browns, Steelheads, Rainbows, and Lakers, and on the St Lawrence River and Niagara River for Walleyes, Bass and Muskies.