SOUTH SHORE
Although lake trout are noted for roaming around Lake Ontario, spring and summer fishing is best at specific locations. One of those premier laker destinations is the west-central stretch of the south shore running from Rochester to Point Breeze. The top fishing month is June. The bottom profile here is saucer-shaped, dropping roughly 100 feet for every mile off shore. By this time of year, trout will be at least a mile out, usually cruising thermal changes of a degree or two, or hanging under schools of bait.

POINT BREEZE
Also called Oak Orchard, Point Breeze is popular with lake trout anglers, although any of the access ports west of Rochester are also recommended.

Count on running into chinooks, rainbows and brown trout in this region of the lake, but those heavy marks hugging the bottom are likely big lakers. According to the experts, you'll often need to troll a couple of feet off the bottom at about 1.5 miles per hour to entice a trophy "30." Small fluorescent lures following blades or flashers seem to be popular with trout fishermen.

Point Breeze, including the Oak Orchard State Marine Park, is in Orleans County off the Lake Ontario Parkway.

NIAGARA BAR
Over thousands of years, the tremendous flow of the Niagara River has created the largest rockpile in Lake Ontario -- a crescent-shaped shoal that local fishermen call "The Bar." Here, the warmer river water meets colder lake water for a temperature break that marks the outflow plume for many miles easterly along shore. It's an irresistible combination for bait as well as for all the predators in the lake from bass to salmonids, including lake trout.

At the river's mouth, The Bar starts from a bowl-shaped depression 80 feet deep. Then the bottom ascends to 18 feet at the green buoy, extending into the lake for about three miles. The outer edge drops from 55 feet to more than 200 feet.

The usual slow-trolling, bottom- scratching techniques are recommended here for trout. A few anglers are content to anchor and fish dead alewives on the bottom.

Best access to The Bar is from the public launch at Fort Niagara State Park, off the Robert Moses Parkway. The village of Lewiston is a fishing center for the area, with a public launch, off Route 18F.

Marine facilities and charter captains are available at each of the above lake trout hotspots. More information is available on the DEC's Web site at www.dec.state.ny.us. Click on "Programs," "Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources," and "Bureau of Fisheries." All public boat launches are listed. For free maps and tourism information, call 1-800-225-5697.