Greater Niagara Region
by Bill Hilts, Jr.
Lake Ontario and tributaries – On the local fishing scene, Burt Dam is still holding on and both salmon and brown trout are being caught at the dam area – but there’s been quite a bit of competition from anglers. Wes Walker at The Slippery Sinker reported some fresh salmon and trout came in with the last rain. There is decent flow now and the water is stained. Egg or egg pattern flies are good to use to entice these fish to hit, fished under a float. Pier casters can do well at either Wilson or Olcott with spoons if the winds allow for it. One hot spot of late has been the pier at the foot of Route 425 in Wilson. Browns and steelhead are showing up with an occasional salmon. Browns and salmon are also be caught be small boat drifters in the Roosevelt Beach area of Wilson (west branch of 12 Mile Creek). Drift egg sacks or treated egg skein under a float. Most of the other tribs are too low like Hopkins and Keg. Four Mile Creek has flow but not too many fish. With the opening of deer season just around the corner, it could be a great time to wet a line if you are not a big game hunter.
Lower Niagara River – The lower Niagara River finally picked back up again, only to have the water destroyed with the high winds. Muddy water from Lake Erie shut the fishing down for a few days, but it should be just fine going into the weekend. In fact, trout starting hitting with regularity on Wednesday. Remember that lake trout season is closed. Trout started showing up in greater numbers with the Artpark area one of the best for boat and shore anglers. Best bait was golden shiners or Kwikfish. Shoreline casters are using eggs under a float, spoons or spinners. No. 5 Super Vibrax was one lure that was tough to keep on the shelf at Creek Road Bait and Tackle. Bass action should continue to be good if you want to target them and some perch are still hanging off the sand docks area.
Upper Niagara River – Bass and musky action can be decent in the upper river if the water clarity isn’t too bad – like it was last weekend after the hard blow. It should be fine again this weekend but it will probably turn cold again. Bass have been liking the golden shiners and musky have been chomping down on large common shiners. Shore fishermen are doing well on perch up toward Buffalo from the traditional shore fishing spots. An occasional trout will show up hitting a minnow. Speaking of trout, a few anglers are picking some up at the head of the rapids area before the water turns white.
Chautauqua County Fishing Report
by Craig Robbins
Lake Erie – Lake Erie tributaries are currently running high and muddy following this past weekend’s rain storms that hit just before the cold front into Chautauqua County.
The smallest streams or the upper reaches of streams are your best bet. Medium-sized streams such as Chautauqua and Eighteenmile in Chautauqua County should settle down by mid week. Cattaraugus Creek is running at nearly 3,000 cubic feet per second, well above the ideal fishable range of 200-400 cfs. Many anglers have reported better early season steelhead action compared to the few previous years. There are good numbers of steelhead in the streams and spread throughout their reaches.
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.
Some Lake Erie anglers were chasing yellow perch in between windstorms this week. Despite stained water conditions, perch anglers saw a good bite in 45-55 feet of water, between Cattaraugus Creek and the Buffalo windmills
Chautauqua Lake – A favorite fall pattern for muskies on Chautauqua Lake is trolling along weedlines. Trolling with large jointed stickbaits and bucktails is a good bet for muskies. Fall walleye anglers can find catch walleye by vertical jigging around the sides of deeper holes of Upper Dewittville Bay and Warners Bars in 25-45 feet of water. Swedish pimples and blade baits tipped with a minnow or jigging Rapalas are good bets. Live bait fished near the bottom outside weed edges has worked well for smallmouth bass lately.
Perch have been caught along the weedlines in Bemus and Ashville Bays. Working the outside edges for perch with a split shot under a bobber tipped off the a night crawler has been the best bait so far this fall.
Wayne County Fishing Report
by Christopher Kenyon
Streams – A decent flow is what stream anglers are looking for and Maxwell Creek is not too bad. It’s not the best, however the browns are jumping.
You can fish either side of Lake Road. Or walk to the lake and cast spoons out near the mouth.
The egg sacs work very well. Drop them under a torpedo bobber and let the presentation bounce the bottom….You need to sneak-up on rainbows and browns. Shallow water can work against you if you jump-in from the shoreline.
Anglers were catching trout off the Sodus Point pier. Last week the hatchery truck dropped 26,000 cohos in Lake Ontario. They were fingerlings.
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.
Anglers were in Furnace Creek in Wolcott; however the water is very low.
Bays – Sodus and Port Bay have perch action. Look for the drop-offs which are usually near the 25 foot mark. Use spikes or small perch minnows.
The crappies are still on the bite in Port Bay. They are suspended over 20 feet of water. Small jigs tipped with spikes works
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 – Canal water near Widewaters is never lowered during the winter months. You can still launch at the county ramp.
Bass and panfish are abundant in the Erie Canal.
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 is running at 7,850cfs this morning. Steelhead have been very active along with a few rainbows and browns mixed in. Just remember that steelhead or rainbows must be 21 inches long and there is a one per day limit. Trout are hitting smack beads and pink, chartreuse and white 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. Andy Bliss of Chaisin’ Tail Adventures, rainbows, steelhead and browns and there are plenty of them. Along with some nice fresh chrome steelhead, the browns are good size with two in two days over 14 pounds.
According to Capt. Kevin Davis of Catch the Drift, the river fishing continues to be good…the numbers are impressive. The conditions early this morning were brutal with the wind and rain but the large ones wanted to bite. The weekend weather looks decent although the wind will be a factor at times.
Pulaski area/Salmon River
According to Garrett Brancy of the Douglaston Salmon Run, Tuesday just about all of our guests reported solid catches. It seems that a fresh pod of steelhead worked their way through the run. Wednesday morning was quieter as the small handful of fish reported were concentrated in certain areas and less spread out. The action did pick up in the afternoon. Yarn flies like sucker spawn #8-10 continue to produce the best results for those anglers fly fishing. 10mm tangerine beads and blue egg sacs remain the standby for those float fishing and bottom bouncing.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel, yesterday the majority of anglers we spoke with reported getting into fish. The high water, 1850cfs, has helped bring fresh fish into the river and spread them out. The driftboats have also been able to take advantage of the high water and float from top to bottom. The upper section of river between Altmar and Pineville continues to get the most fishing pressure. In the lower end of the river anglers have been getting into fresh fish on a daily basis. The anglers who are bottom bouncing or float fishing have done well with egg sacs and beads. Those who are fly fishing have done well with egg patterns, flesh fly and egg sucking leeches.
Oneida Lake – The night bite for walleye should continue with another stretch of colder temperatures moving in today. Anglers are casting stickbaits from shore with blue/silver and black/silver good color choices. Just before dark and after dark seem to be fairly active times. Anglers are still finding a perch bite in 10-20 feet of water with minnows and worms working well.
Sandy Pond – According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, things are quiet on the pond this time of year until the cold weather sets in and we get some ice.