Niagara River Chinook Salmon on Rapala J13.
Posted on October 9th, 2013
This morning I had the pleasure of fishing with David Evans of Insect Defend Patch. This was David’s first time fishing the Niagara Whirlpool and he was not disappointed. We made the descent down around 7am armed with Rapala North Coast, Rapala Magnum & Shift spinning rods matched with Rapala reels and loaded with Sufix 832, 10 & 20 lb. test braided line with Sufix Fluorocarbon leaders.
The water was stained which is not surprising when you consider the heavy rains we had on the weekend and the strong winds that followed which would have stirred-up Lake Erie, flushing all the sediments down the Niagara River.
The lure of choice was non-other than the Jointed Rapala in size #13 in the fluorescent red/gold and chartreuse/silver color. Even though we cast both lures, David hooked the only two salmon and both hit the Rapala J13 in the fluorescent red/gold color.
After a good fight he managed to land the 20 lb.+ female, but the second fish that fought hard and hit the Rapala about 200′ from the shore fought so hard it straightened-out the snap and the fish was lost along with the Rapala. Oh well, there are worse ways to loose a Rapala!
There were only about 4 other fishermen out this morning, 1-fly fisherman who was casting a Spey Rod and had landed 2-sheepshead and 1-walleye on a fly, and 3-other drift fishermen that were targeting trout.
We watched as one angler using a center-pin drift outfit while he landed a fresh-run rainbow.
The Chinooks fishing should be excellent all month in the Niagara River with more trout moving in each day!
