Greater Niagara Region
by Bill Hilts, Jr.
Lake Ontario and tributaries – The frigid temperatures have hampered action in the streams, but ice fishing options have been good this year. In Niagara County, the best ice action has been at Wilson Harbor where a mix of perch, panfish and the occasional trout has been reported. Use ice jigs tipped with live bait for the best success. There is some open water fishing around Burt Dam and 18 Mile Creek but you might have to move some ice around like Greg Stanley of All in the Same Boat did earlier this week. Once they opened up some water, they managed to catch a few trout – steelhead and browns – on egg sacs. The Greater Niagara Fishing and Outdoor Expo is here at the Conference and Events Center in Niagara Falls – from Friday to Sunday, Jan. 24-26. Lots of great exhibits, speakers and more. The best day to go is Sunday if you are looking for the biggest bang for your buck – when the LOTSA Marketplace will be going on in addition to the overall EXPO. Check out the LOTSA site at www.lotsa.org or the Expo site at www.niagarafishingexpo.com. A full list of seminar speakers for the weekend is on the Expo site. There are special kids fishing instruction, as well as beginner/intermediate classes for salmon and trout trolling. What a great cabin fever reliever! And we have some more good news for those of you out there that buy a hunting or fishing license. A brand new fee structure is being put into place on Feb. 1st that should help attract more people into sampling these popular pastimes. For starters, the new license year will change. For fishermen, an annual license will start from the day you purchase it. For hunting, the new license year will be from September 1 to August 31 instead of the current October 1 starting date. Those are both good changes. In an effort to simplify the license structure, many of the package licenses like the Sportsman and Supersportsman options are now history. Many license fees have been reduced. For the fishing end of things, annual resident licenses will be going down from $29 to $25; nonresident from $70 to $50. The 7-day license will be reduced from $15 to $13 for residents; $35 to $31 for nonresidents – nothing substantial. A one day license will stay the same for residents at $5, but nonresident single day tags will drop from $15 to $10 – a great deal. For the hunting end of things, residents could previously purchase a small/big game license for $29 or a small game only for $26. The only option is a single license now – both big and small game together for $22. For nonresidents, the previous options were $85 for a small game tag, $140 for a big game license and $50 for a bear tag. Those are all inclusive in a $100 single hunting license now. For bowhunting and muzzleloading, residents drop from $21 to $15; nonresidents drop from $140 to $30 for each. Turkey permits will remain at $10 for residents; nonresident tags will see a reduction of $30, dropping from $50 to $20. Deer management permits will remain at $10 for everyone, except for junior hunters and lifetime sportsman license holders. Trapping licenses drop from $21 to $20 for residents; from $310 to $275 for nonresidents.
Lower Niagara River – Despite the cold temperatures, a few brave souls have been venturing out into the lower river for trout. Capt. Frank Campbell reported decent success earlier this week with three customers reeling in a total of 14 steelhead – evenly dispersed at five, five and four for bragging rights for the day. The biggest fish are about nine points. Kwikfish lures fished off three-way rigs was the way to go, taking advantage of some wind that was available. Silver-green, silver-chartreuse and silver were the best colors. Each angler ran something different and you can see the results. Some trout are being caught on minnows or egg sacs. Too. Campbell will be one of the speakers at the Greater Niagara Fishing and Outdoor Expo, talking about lower river trout fishing and spring fishing in the area. If it’s too cold for you to fish, warm up at the show and at least dream about fishing.
Upper Niagara River – Not too much to report in the upper river. Buffalo Harbor is producing a mix of perch, panfish and the occasional northern pike. In addition, a few smelt have started to show up. Use a small jig tipped with a single spike. For the perch and panfish, a jig tipped with a minnow or grub will work. Use a pike minnow if you are looking for something bigger.
Wayne County Fishing Report
by Christopher Kenyon
Streams – Not too much happening with the steelhead fishing. The smaller streams have iced-over and the shoreline on Maxwell is ice. If we thaw-out the rainbow fishing will be excellent. Right now you should be ice fishing the bays.
Bays – Nothing but good news for the hard water angler. All four bays in the county have had safe ice for three weeks. Sodus has eight to 10 inches; Port Bay a solid eight inches, East bay has 10 and Blind Sodus 10to 12 inches.
It’s safe for machines; just make sure you know where you are heading. There are spots of open water next to dock bubblers. Stay away from the channels that enter Lake Ontario on Sodus and Port Bays.
Good pike fishing on the east side of Sodus Bay on Lake Bluff Road. The Shaker Heights Road area has perch, although you should have a machine to get to the action.
Anglers are also fishing the south end of Sodus. Bay Bridge Sport Shop and Davenports are always open for bait. They are located on both sides of the bridge.
Perch are hitting in Port Bay, however the catch rate varies every day. Some days they hit…some days they don’t. The fish have been “Thumpers” with 12 and 13 inch catches the norm.
Blind Sodus Bay, on the east side of Wayne County has been slow. The channel to Lake Ontario closed early and the fish never made it into the bay during the fall run.
The NYS Ice Fishing Pro-Am comes to Sodus Bay February 22-23, 2014. All the information is on the web at www.nysiceproam.com
The Thomas brothers just finished the Chautauqua event and the winners are posted on their web page. Next up is Tupper Lake and then Sodus Bay.
Check out the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops. 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. We also have a new publication on Great Lakes fishing.
Erie Canal – They are catching bluegills, sunnies and perch on the frozen canal.
Chautauqua County Fishing Report
by Craig Robbins
Lake Erie and Tribs – There are plenty of steelhead options this week as creeks are currently wide open and have good fishable flows. However, Cattaraugus Creek is still running a bit high. There has only been minimal slush to deal with the past couple mornings. Productive wintertime steelhead baits include egg sacs, egg imitation flies, trout beads and hair jigs tipped with a waxworm under a float. In cold water conditions, it is best to keep drifted offerings slow and deep, as steelhead are more lethargic and hugging the bottom. It is also good to concentrate efforts during the warmest part of the day when chasing winter steelhead.
Chautauqua Lake – Chautauqua Lake is currently sporting 5-7 inches of ice around the north basin and upwards of 10 inches in the south basin. Shore ice is thinner and unsafe in some areas, especially near stream inlets. Fair walleye catches have been reported from various spots around the lake at Mayville Flats, Long Point, Prendergast Point and Upper Dewittville Bay. Target deeper drop-offs in 30-40 feet of water with jigging Rapalas, spoons or shiners on a tip-up. Morning and evening are better for walleye. There has been decent to good bluegill and crappie fishing in the shallows off Mayville and Burtis Bay, but other shallow areas likely offer good sunfish action as well. Low light periods are a better bet for crappie. Yellow perch are available almost lake-wide, from weedlines to the deeper holes. Expect many small throwbacks for every keeper of 7-8 inches.
York State Ice Pro-Am Tournament Series boasts $75,000 in cash and prizes for the tournament trail, making it one of the largest ice fishing events in the Northeast. For more information on the New York Ice Pro/Am Tournament Series trail, visit www.nysiceproam.com/Events.html
Oswego County Fishing Report
This report courtesy of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
Oswego River – The water level has been as high as 16,000cfs over the last few days but has dropped back to 10,300cfs as of this morning. Conditions have remained about the same with many areas not accessible for fishing with this water level. The river walk area behind the hotels is suggested. With the very cold temperatures and wind chills this week, conditions have been difficult with not much to report. 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.
Pulaski area/Salmon River – According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop and Motel, since Tuesday, very cold weather conditions have been in the area. The daytime temperatures are only in the single digits with nighttime lows below zero. Keep in mind that with the wind chill factor, it will feel even colder. Temperatures will moderate somewhat for the weekend, but it will still be cold. The river is currently running at 1200cfs.
Oneida Lake – Conditions should be very good for ice fishing on the lake this weekend. We will come out of the frigid cold temperatures with highs in the 20s on Saturday and the teens for the next several days. Winds are expected to be 15-30 mph at times so there will be wind chills. Anglers are reporting walleye and perch off the north shore in 18 to 30 feet of water with some indicating the deeper depths have been more productive. Small jigs tipped with spikes are working well.
Sandy Pond – According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, the very cold temperatures settled in this week and we again have ice. There is safe ice on the pond and in many areas there is a foot or more. With the swings of warm and cold temperatures and standing water on the pond last week we have no reports to go on as far as the bite is concerned. Daytime temperatures will only be in the teens for the next week with the exception of Saturday which should be in the 20s so conditions should be good for the foreseeable future.