Greater Niagara Region

By Bill Hilts, Jr.

Lake Ontario and tributaries – Lake fishing is slowly starting to improve with the warming weather trends. Boat trollers have been working along the mud line to take brown trout and coho salmon, although a nice Atlantic salmon was reported this week. Pier action has slowed a bit with the muddier conditions, but a few fish are still being caught on spoons. Some of the trout have had alewives in the stomach contents, which mean that king salmon shouldn’t be far behind. Lake water temperature was 41 to 42 degrees inside of 20 feet of water and creek temperatures were in the mid-40’s so things should be taking off soon. Perch and bullhead have been hitting over in Wilson. Most of the creeks are still a bit high and muddy after the rain. Some trout are still available in 18 Mile Creek at Burt Dam, but you will have to use brightly colored baits and work for them. Keg Creek was low and clear at last report, but the suckers have started to move in. Remember the Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby starts on May 3. Registered in area shops or online at www.loc.org. A 24-pound brown trout was caught near the Oak last week.

Lower Niagara River – Things are finally starting to settle in with water color and fish cooperation after the pile of rain the area received last week. While boats still caught fish, it was a struggle and they really had to work for them. Water was stained a bit on Wednesday and they are forecasting high winds on Friday so that could impact conditions. Action continues to be for a mix of steelhead, lake trout and brown trout. Top baits continue to be minnows, pink egg sacs and banana baits like Kwikfish lures, all fished off three-way rigs. Shore fishermen are also reeling in trout off Artpark, Devil’s Hole and the Whirlpool. While the main run of smelt has not shown up yet, a few dippers are starting to pick up a few here and there off Lewiston. Up to 100 smelt were reported by at least one dipper north of Lewiston. Things seem to be getting close.

Upper Niagara River – The waters there are starting to clear after all the rain and run-off last week. John Van Hoff of North Tonawanda was fishing with Randy Tyrrell of North Tonawanda at the Holiday Inn Marina on Grand Island picking up some perch. While the numbers were not plentiful, the size was worth the wait. They could have caught more if Randy wasn’t keeping warm in the truck more than he was getting a line wet. Other marinas and bays around the island and along River Road were producing a mix of panfish. Trout are still available at the head of the river and above the rapids.

Fair Haven / Cayuga County

by Captain Werner Stenger

Once again the winds whipped up Lake Ontario this past weekend limiting access to its abundance of finned friends. The few that did get out reported that the waters were still on the cold side with slower catches but with quality fish. Mixed bags of browns, lakers, steelhead, atlantics and yes even a king was seen hanging at the cleaning station. Will we see a repeat of last season with kings being abundant in the spring? Only time will tell. For those that did not brave the waters of the main lake, crappie are still abundant in the shallows of the bay and park pond. My best was fatheads 18-24″ below a float in 5 – 7′ of water. High run off and muddy waters should have bullheads lined up at the creek mouths as well.

Wayne County Fishing Report

by Christopher Kenyon

Lake Ontario – The following is an angler report from Lake Ontario United, the most informative Internet information site for Lake Ontario fishing. This report was from the Bear Creek area in Wayne County.

Great afternoon on the lake, went 15 for 20 with one coho, one laker and the rest were all browns. Caught the first fish 100′ out of the launch and never went more than a 1/4 mile to either side. 5-10′ of water with a water temp of 37 degrees. Floating Rapalas #5 & #7’s cold steel, and black & silver were the hot lures. Slowed down after we lost the ripple and the lake went flat. Stained water out about 100 yards. Started at about 4 and fished until 7pm.

Check out the site at www.lakeontariounited.com

Streams – Torrential rains from last week had the streams flowing really fast. They have now subsided and anglers are still catching steelhead. It’s kind of surprising; however they are still in the streams.

Nice catches have been reported in Maxwell Creek. Most anglers are releasing their catches. Use egg sacs, and bright colored jigs.

Bays – Bay fishing is spotty. Sodus Bay has the best fishing with perch hitting near the north end. The south end has crappie and bullhead fishing. Most anglers are fishing from Bay Bridge. The bullhead action has not really started because of the colder weather.

Some crappies were caught at Port Bay, however the recent rain occurred during colder weather and the bay only had temperatures in the low 40’s.

The bait shops in Wayne County have very consistent hours. If you need egg sacs, flies, jigs or spikes you’ll find everything you need. Check out the Wayne County Tourism web page for their locations.

We have a brand new Wayne County Fishing Brochure. This publication features where to go, what to use, and what to catch. Call our office for a free fishing packet, including the new brochure. 1-800-527-6510.

Erie Canal – There is open water on sections of the canal. This historic waterway is another hot spot for spring crappies.

This past weekend the boats were launching at Widewaters and the word was they caught plenty of panfish.

For more information, check out www.waynecountytourism.com.

Chautauqua County Fishing Report

by Craig Robbins

Lake Erie – Due to significant rainstorms, there is currently a region-wide blowout. All Lake Erie tributaries have very high and muddy conditions. Rain will tamper off during the mid week period but weekend outlook is expecting more precipitation. Earlier in the week, anglers were seeing decent catches of post-spawn steelhead with a few fresh fish mixed in. Some fresh steelhead should move in on the tail end of this high water event. Fishing a creek just as it drops back down to a fishable level can be excellent.

Spring run steelhead hit a variety of baits/lures including egg sacs, egg pattern flies, trout beads, jigs with grubs (fished under a float), minnows, nightcrawlers, stoneflies, streamer patterns and bugger patterns. When fishing murky conditions, brightly colored baits and flies are good bets.

Some steelhead are paired up and actively spawning. It is recommended that anglers avoid (not fish) active spawners and take care not to disturb redds (gravel nests), as natural reproduction adds to the future steelhead returns.

Chautauqua Lake – Chautauqua Lake is officially open and boating season under way. With public launch’s available at Long Point State Park, Mayville, Bemus Point, Prendergast, Celeron, Lakewood and Jamestown.

Ashville and Bemus Bays are producing good catches in 5-8 feet of water. Also shoreline anglers are well in morning from shore and in canals in Lakewood, Ashville and Bemus Bays.

Fishing minnows or small jigs (1/32 oz) teamed up with jig heads without and a minnow under a float works well for crappie. Bullhead are available in the canals and from shore at night. Worms, leeches or chicken livers fished on the bottom at night, works well for bullhead.

For area fishing and travel information, visit http://tourchautauqua.com/Fishing.aspx

Oswego County Fishing Report

Courtesy of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning

Oswego River – According to Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop, with the recent rain, the water level has continued to rise, running between 16,000-20,000cfs over the last few days. This makes most areas along the river unfishable. With this flow behind the hotels is the suggest spot. A number of bass have been reported in the river but these are on a catch and release basis only.

Salmon River/Port Ontario – According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop and Motel, overall the high water (1,250cfs) has kept the crowds down, but anglers are still fishing and making the most of conditions. Anglers staying in the motel reported getting into some drop backs in the mid and upper end of the river. We currently have fish spawning around the gravel areas along with drop backs scattered throughout the river. The drift boats have been taking advantage of the high water and floating most of the river.

According to Garrett Brancy of the Douglaston Salmon Run, last week’s high water appears to have pushed some drop backs down stream. With some effort guests were able to get into a few fish in the slow seems of the larger holes. Anglers have worked for their bites and heavy winds continued to make casting a chore yesterday. White wooly buggers #6-8 took a few of the fish and large stone flies #8 produced again. Candy corn and bread-n-butter 10mm beads brought a few fish to hand.

Oneida Lake – There is not a lot to report from Oneida Lake as we look forward to the upcoming warmer temperatures and some open water fishing that is coming before too long. A reminder that walleye season has closed and will reopen the first Saturday in May.

Sandy Pond – According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, there is not a lot of activity on the pond this time of year but anglers are finding a decent panfish bite. Live minnows along with small hair jigs under a float are working well. A reminder that walleye and northern pike seasons have closed and will reopen the first Saturday in May.