Greater Niagara Region

by Bill Hilts, Jr.

Lake Ontario and tributaries – Fishing action in area tributaries continues to be slow for one reason or another, leaving many anglers chomping at the bit to hook into a nice trout or salmon. Some fish have been reported at Burt Dam according to Wes Walker at The Slippery Sinker in Olcott, but the water has been muddy since the weekend, contributing to the problems. Egg skein or egg sacs fished under a float is the best approach, but anything smaller will be difficult to see until the waters clear. Some fish are also being caught off the piers and in the lake, but the big run of fish still hasn’t started. Pier fishermen can use spoons, stickbaits or fish egg skein under a float. Trollers are using J-plugs, J-13 Rapalas or any deep diving stickbaits. At mid-week, large numbers of salmon were seen jumping near the mouth of 18 Mile Creek so it’s just a matter of time before they succumb to their natural urges. Keg Creek is low and the mouth appears to be closed off. Both Twelve Mile Creeks in Wilson are low and muddy right now and four mile creek was not holding many fish, either – but the mouth is still open. Perch have been hitting in the clean water on the lake side of the pier in Olcott. The rain in the forecast should help.

Lower Niagara River – The lower river is going the opposite way for the salmon as the run is slowing down. However, the trout are starting to move in. Small Kwikfish or egg sacs are the way to go right now. However, bass and walleye can still be caught down river toward the mouth. Monday is the annual meeting of the Niagara River Anglers Assn. Because of a conflict in dates, the Monday meeting has been moved from the Jetport Restaurant to the Sanborn Area Farm Museum Meeting Hall, 2660 Saunders Settlement Rd. Sanborn for this meeting only. Guest speaker will be 90 year old ice fishing expert Joe Montgomery from Southern Ontario. The meeting starts at 7pm sharp. NRAA member Bill Mayes and some of his member friends send word that something spooky is happening at the NRAA Nature Preserve in the Town of Porter on Balmer Road. The last weekend of the month the NRAA clan will be hosting its first annual Haunted Hay Ride. Check out the website at www.niagarariveranglers.com.

Upper Niagara River – Bass action is still the hottest ticket on the upper river with live bait the best opportunity to hook up. The head of the river, Strawberry Island, the Huntley plant … all good spots to give it a go. As waters cool, the musky should start to turn on, too. Large tubes at weedline edges are good spots to try, but don’t rule out trolling large body baits.

Fair Haven/Cayuga County

by Captain Werner Stenger

Good numbers of salmon have moved in to the bay and park pond in Fair Haven. Casting crank baits from shore or boat are procucing some giant fish. Perch fishing is still slow but they can be found along weedlines and on bottom in the deeper portions of the bay.

Chautauqua County

by Craig Robbins

Lake Erie – Fishing Lake Erie later in the season is always exciting and the late season perch bite has been excellent this year. Schools of perch this past week have moved into 35-70 feet of water. Off Sturgeon Point, anglers have found limit catches in 45-50 feet of water.

This past weekend’s storms on Lake Erie have pushed steelhead into the streams. As the small to medium sized streams have returned to fishing shape, steelhead action has been good. Clear water conditions are now found on all streams, and although Cattaraugus Creek is a little darker than it should be , it will be clearing up by mid-week.

Fall Lake Erie steelhead hit natural baits like egg sacs and worms, flies such as egg imitations, streamers and bugger patterns, and lures like minnow-type stickbaits and in-line spinners. Anglers can also target steelhead from the Cattaraugus Creek breakwall or off creek mouths by casting spoons, spinners and stickbaits. Boaters can target steelhead off major tributary mouths by trolling with spoons between 2 to 2.5 miles per hour.

Chautauqua Lake – Fall is musky fishing time on Chautauqua Lake. Musky are feeding heavily before water temperatures drive them into deeper warmer water during the winter months. Trolling large jointed stickbaits or casting bucktails are good bets. Trollers are finding perch colored baits doing well, and casters are finding black/yellow for bucktail working best.

Smallmouth bass are biting outside weed edges. Live bait fished near the bottom works best or three inch tube style baits. Yellow perch and blue gills are still biting in 6-12 feet of water on live bait.

Oswego County

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

Oswego River – According to Larry Muroski of Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop, the water level has been up and down the last couple of days but this afternoon is running at 4370cfs. There are still salmon in the river along with a good showing of steelhead. Just remember that steelhead or rainbows must be 21 inches long and there is a one per day limit. Trout are hitting patcxe cured skein, beads and egg sacs.

The bridge to Leto Island is closed, and there are Mandatory Personal Flotation Device (PFD) zones on the Oswego River below the Varick Dam. For more information, view the Oswego County Tourism web site at www.visitoswegocounty.com and look for the fishing report under fishing and hunting.

According to Capt. Kevin Davis of Catch the Drift, yesterday was one after another for a double digit day on the river. All were released to fight another day.

Pulaski Area/Salmon River

According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, the big numbers of salmon are starting to wane with the bottom half of the river especially thinning out. However, nice runs of steelhead are coming in right behind them. Suggested baits are egg sacs, flies and beads under a float.

According to Garrett Brancy of the Douglaston Salmon Run, yesterday rounded out pretty well, a lot of steelhead were caught, along with a few kings and a handful of browns. Things have started off slow this morning but we are hoping the rain last night will get things moving. Techniques and baits including float fishing with beads, casting egg sacs, and swinging flies are working. Natural colored beads and egg patterns remain the staple and the always reliable blue egg sac has also been taking its share of steelhead.

Oneida Lake – The night bite did pick up some but the extended forecast is calling for much cooler temperatures especially into next week. This should help to spark more activity. With some of the nice weather we have had, anglers have found some perch using minnows and worms. For the downloadable Oneida Lake Association boating safety map, visit their web site at www.oneidalakeassociation.org.