pier fishing salmon, how to tell if they are in casting range

how am I able to predict when salmon will start staging and be able to be caught casting at the river mouth?

This post has been edited by oliverfieduna on Aug 27, 2022 - 06:16 pm

Only one true guarantee and that’s casting and finding out. The rest is an educated guess. Watch wind that blows into the mouth of the river as that can bring fish in. Good rains can bring fish in. Light periods can bring fish in. Time of year is also key. Most of the run staging is a combination of all the things I mentioned and more.

The salmon are 100% staging right now.

There were reports of them being caught from the peers weeks ago, and they are in the rivers. If you go to shallow creeks, you can literally pick them up.

I've been trolling them in 10-30 feet of water for the past few weeks. And there is another wave of matures still out in 80-120 feet of water ready to come in too.

Some are black, and some are not. Staging will continue well into September.

is there a water temperature I should look out for?

The air temps mean away less for staging fish than the river temps.
A cold rain will get them staging and running. A warm rain the river pumps out warm water and they get away from warm water when that happens.
As the photo periods change river temps start to drop also with cool nights.
Salmon do not just show up and stay at the river mouths. They go in and out many times, for weeks even some times. They don’t all come in together but travel in pods of fish. Those pods could be 20/30 fish or hundreds of fish.
This time of year go fish the pier when it rains or cooler conditions happen. Watch the wind blowing into the mouth as that helps.

Even after over 40 years of trying to predict runs I sometimes get it completely wrong. Some times I go and there and it sucks but over time and experience I get it right more than not.

Either way you seem to want a “silver bullet” answer but there is not one.
You have to watch conditions and learn and try. You will get them but you will have days it just doesn’t happen.

Disco is right.

The rains and winds mess with them and there is no real chart to go by. Sometimes, everything just gets turned upside down.

I was out of Whitby today. Massive south winds with 3-6 foot waves depending on the time of the day. The temps were hot hot hot everywhere. Salmon nowhere to be found in the morning. 100 feet out, 80 feet down? 67F. No marks. 30 FOW 70F+, no marks. 140-160 FOW.. no marks... where did they gooooo?

I finally found a 1 x 1 mile area with 55f water in 80 FOW, 70 down, and they were all stacked up there. Weird. But it was 12 noon by that time and the bite was really off. They didn't even want meat rigs or anything.

thanks for the advice guys. Im gonna head out to port credit on Tuesday evening after the rain. wish me luck

When you get 50 posts here you should be able to send and receive PMs.
I think since I have not found tribs with many salmon few days ago I can post here.
I saw one salmon caught in the popular river that flows into Georgian bay with 10 other anglers and me getting nothing for about 2 hours.
I also checked a couple of places between 420 and 450 exits from 401 and it is dead there. Heard similar about Port Hope

Yup the rivers have very very few fish. I was out a week and a half ago with some friends and kids. We did find some for the kids to have fun with but not many.

just got back, the fishing was very slow and nobody was catching anything. I saw lots of small baitfish by the shore but no other activity.

You just have to keep at it. Patience pays off.

temperatures are finally moderating some. thank goodness except for a couple of hot days yet, but as it cools down, the runs will begin in earnest and just get better


full moon in a week...try then especially if it rains after dark with glow spoons


nobody on my side has bothered yet since it's still 75 degrees ib the lake....ugh

I used to fish port credit once or twice a year when I lived in the city.

Find the pier just west of the main rocks everyone stands on, That was my preferred spot. You get past the mud line and I recommend using big Rapalas.

Any reports from the ganny, are they in and up yet or what.....

By the rules naming rivers isn’t allowed so my post may get deleted.

The Ganny has fish but the runs they did get you had to be there within a day or so.
The pier last week people were smashing them casting into the lake.