Niagara Region

by Bill Hilts, Jr.

Lake Ontario and tributaries – Fishing in the tributaries received some benefits with the recent rains. Combined with the fact that Capt. Jim Gordon of Appleton finally pulled his lake fishing boat for the season in Olcott, better runs of salmon and trout have started to arrive at Burt Dam. Gordon insists that the fish wouldn’t swim by his boat into 18 Mile Creek for fear of being caught! Salmon and brown trout are the most popular catches, but a few domestic rainbows have arrived on the scene, too, according to Wes Walker at The Slippery Sinker in Olcott. The water flow is good and the water is stained but fishable at the Dam. Egg sacs, skein or egg imitations are the best baits to use. It seems like fresh fish are showing up every couple of days and the cold rain will help for sure. If the salmon are in heavy, the browns seem to stay away. When salmon numbers are lighter, the browns come in – or so it seems. Also, Olcott Harbor browns seems to be doing better the first couple of hours of reduced light. Pier fishing has been tough because of the north winds. When you can get out – either Wilson and Olcott – you can catch fish on spoons or spinners. Eggs under a float will also work. Perch will hit when the minnows are in and the waters are clear.

Lower Niagara River – Over in the Niagara River, Danny and Caroline Monteon of California were treated to some pretty darn good fishing for a half-day of action earlier this week. They had won a trip with Capt. Frank Campbell as part of a Today Show contest to fish the lower river and they ended up catching six different species of fish including a nice 10 pound steelhead, a 15 pound salmon, several four pound smallmouth bass and a 12 pound lake trout – which was released immediately due to the fact that the season is closed. In fact, all the fish were released to fight another day. They used Kwikfish in the river with a silver body and chartreuse nose the most productive. Out in the lake at the Bar, shiners worked best on the bass. Outside of that flurry, fishing has been tough. Shore fishermen have been doing okay in Devil’s Hole, especially in the slower water area at the head of the drift. Some action was reported off Artpark. Remember that the NYPA fishing platform is only open on weekends due to the construction and the facility normally closes down the first sign of ice or Nov. 1 – whichever comes first.

Upper Niagara River – Smallmouth bass fishing continues to be decent around Strawberry Island and near the Huntley plant with live bait like golden shiners preferred by fish and fishermen. With water temps dropping six degrees this week, look for musky fishing to pick up. Capt. Chris Cinelli of Grand Island reports up to three hook-ups a day using big common shiners in the 7 to 9 inch size range attached to his quick strike spinner rig. Slow trolling them down stream over hump and other bottom structure works best. Others like to use large 8-10 inch tubes drifted along weed edges or drop offs. Broderick Park, the Bird Island Pier and the foot of Ontario Street are all good spots for a mixed back of perch, panfish and bass from shore.

Fair Haven/Cayuga County

by Captain Werner Stenger

Well it is good to see that the efforts of Fair Haven’s net pen program were not in vane. Salmon are being taken from shore at both east and west walls, the sterling creek outlet at the state park pool, and from docks along the shores and marinas. Perch are still scattered and schools of crappie should be making their way into the bay.

Wayne County Fishing Report

by Christopher Kenyon

Streams – There is a little more water in the streams in Wayne County, however not what the fish require. The best bet is to fish the mouth of Maxwell on the Lake Ontario shoreline.

Or you can cast out into the slower moving water north of Lake Road. The fish are there. It’s just not great stream fishing when the water level is this low. Cast out in the lake from the shoreline.

It’s the same for the other streams in the county.

You can still catch trout and salmon from the piers at Sodus Point. There is also a pier at the north end of Port Bay. Use egg sacs or cast out Cleos or other small chartreuse spoons.

The folks at Hook- Line & Sinker are busy making egg sacs. The Sodus Point Bait and Tackle shop is ready to supply anglers with bait and tackle during the 2013 stream fishing season.

You can also find the kings and browns at Hughes’ Marina. It’s located east of Pultneyville on Lake Road. There is a $5 permit fee to fish the small lagoon which is connected to Lake Ontario.

Bays – There is crappie action in Port Bay… Fish two feet off the bottom in 20 feet of water. Perch are also in Port and Sodus Bays. Search for the larger schools and use minnows or jigs tipped with spikes.

Sodus is the largest bay in the county with plenty of access sites for launching boats. When the bay freezes over there will be hundreds of anglers fishing for pike and perch.

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. www.waynecountytourism.com

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 – Fishing the canal is easy. You can fish from the bank. The access points are next to Route 31. Bass boats are still launching at Widewaters, and they are doing very well with largemouths. It’s the best time of year for bass fishing. The season continues through November.

Chautauqua County

by Craig Robbins

Lake Erie – Rain this past week and forecasted through the middle of this week, has caused runoff and increased levels on all creeks. Lake Erie steelhead tributaries are currently high and muddy. The smaller streams should drop back to fishable levels by mid-weekend. Without additional rainfall, medium sizes streams like Chautauqua Creeks should be fishable by the weekend and first of next week. Cattaraugus Creek foul peaked at 870 cubic feet per second the first of the week and should take at least a few days to settle down.

Before the recent rains, anglers were seeing steelhead catches in all of the popular tributaries, especially in Cattaraugus Creek. Look for more steelhead to move in and spread out with every high water event. Traditionally an especially great time to fish streams is as levels are dropping and the water starts to exhibit a green hue.

Lake Erie steelhead commonly 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.

Chautauqua Lake – While recent rains have seen water temperatures drop on Chautauqua Lake, smallmouth bass are still staging in and around rock bars, like Warners, Rock Island and off feeder creeks like Ball Creek. The early morning and later day bite has been good with top water baits and 3” curly tail grubs.

Musky are still feeding heavily before water temperatures dips any more, which will drive them into deeper warmer water. 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.

Crappie, yellow perch and blue gills are still biting in 6-12 feet of water on live bait. Key areas for the past couple of weeks are Bemus Bay, Stow and Ashville Bay just outside the weed edge.

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, with the heavy rainfall the area has received the water level is up over 8,000cfs this morning. Anglers are still finding some salmon and the higher water has brought in a good number of nice chrome steelhead along with a few rainbows. 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, visit www.visitoswegocounty.com and look for the fishing report under fishing and hunting.

According to Capt. Kevin Davis of Catch the Drift, snow, sleet, hail, rain and wind. A perfect day to crush the steelhead! Many hooked and many landed for an easy double-digit day.

Pulaski /Salmon River – According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel, wWe got mixed reports from anglers, depending on where they fished;some groups did well, while others had a tough day. The anglers we spoke with who fished some of the smaller local tributaries reported having a good day with a mix of kings and steelhead. In the upper end of the river anglers reported getting into kings and a few steelhead in Sportsman, Pineville, Trestle, Ellis Cove, Wire Hole and the Upper/Lower Fly Zone.

According to Garrett Brancy of the Douglaston Salmon Run, as you might imagine weather and water conditions made angling difficult yesterday. We did have a handful of hardy anglers brave the on and off rain, sleet, snow, and hail.. (did I mention the wind?) in pursuit of steel but only a few were rewarded. The water flow is scheduled to remain at 1,200 cfs through today according to the water line. Hopefully after a day of adjustment a few more fish will be active today.

Oneida Lake – Anglers are finding some perch in 10-20 feet of water when conditions let them on the water. The night bite for walleye is picking up with the cooler temperatures. Shore anglers are using stickbaits successfully.

Sandy Pond – According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, things are quiet on the pond this time of year until much colder temperatures move in and we get some ice.