Sodus Bay, NY Fishing Report & Live Conditions

Sodus Bay, NY fishing report

Sodus Bay offers a diverse fishery that shifts noticeably as the seasons turn. Largemouth bass dominate the weedy shallows and dock lines through summer, while smallmouth move between the rocky points along the bay mouth and out onto the Lake Ontario shoreline. Walleye run through the bay during spring and again in fall, often staging near the deeper channel before pushing onto the flats. Chain pickerel lurk year-round in the thicker vegetation along the marshy northern edges. Trout, primarily brown and lake trout, are more of a lake game, best intercepted near the bay mouth in cooler months. Channel catfish and panfish, especially yellow perch and crappie, fill out the warmer-water seasons in the bay's softer-bottomed areas.

When water temps climb into the mid-60s, work topwater frogs and weedless rigs through the matted vegetation for largemouth. Smallmouth respond well to drop-shot rigs and tube baits dragged along the rock transition zones where the bay meets open lake. For walleye, troll crawler harnesses or shallow-diving stickbaits along the channel edges at dawn and dusk, especially when water temps are dropping in autumn. Pickerel will nail spinnerbaits and flashy spoons retrieved through the weeds. Target perch and crappie over soft bottom near docks and weed edges with small jigs or minnows under a slip float. Read current flow at the bay outlet — active movement concentrates predators, particularly walleye and smallmouth, right at the transition.