Greater Niagara Fishing Forecast

by Bill Hilts

Lake Ontario and tributaries – The Western New York weather scene has been crazy this year and right now we’re coming off the first big blizzard in over 20 years that was combined with sub-zero temperatures and high winds. Here in Niagara County, we only had to deal with the wind and the cold – only a few inches of snow. Your best bet will be for the ice fishing in Wilson. It was great last weekend with 8 to 9 inches being reported. Bluegills, perch and a few trout were being reported by anglers using Hali jigs in chartreuse, orange and purple on Saturday; it was a slower on Sunday. They were tipped with a piece of minnow according to Greg Stanley at All in the Same Boat in Newfane. At mid-week, Matt Wilson of North Tonawanda was reporting good hard water success in Wilson Harbor with tear drop jigs in chartreuse and yellow or orange colors. He was mixing up what he was tipping them with – small minnows, pike minnows, wax worms and more. He was catching a mix of fish. On As far as local stream action, the cold weather has put a damper on activity right now, but with warming trends this weekend, it could open up some water around Burt Dam on 18 Mile Creek. There was some open water reported at the Dam on Wednesday, as well as the dams at Johnson and Oak Orchard. Remember the Greater Niagara Fishing and Outdoor Expo is just around the corner, set for Jan. 24-26. Check out niagarafishingexpo.com for the straight scoop. Also part of the fun is The Bass University and the LOTSA Salmon School and Marketplace – plenty of educational stuff for the kids, too.

Lower Niagara River – With Lake Erie at 50 percent ice cover, the high winds blew in the ice and riled up the waters. The Niagara River was filled with ice as of Tuesday and waters were muddy. Some flood warnings were up because of ice jams. With warmer temperatures in the forecast for this weekend, things should settle down and you may seem some action there. Boats were already starting to head out on Wednesday, but some quick action was needed by the Village of Lewiston Public Works crew to clear out the launch ramp area. Water clarity was marginal but if the weather holds, it should be fine by Friday.

Upper Niagara River – Much of the upper river was still jammed up with ice from the blizzard storm that blew into Western New York. No reports on the fishing other than reports from last weekend at the Buffalo Boat Harbor. If the ice pack held up in the harbor, look for similar ice fishing success for perch and panfish. That said, there were some reports of some walleye being taken on Little Lindy rigs. Top approach has been with tear drop ice jigs in charteuse and tipped with minnow heads, spikes or wax worms. Some pike were also being reported.

Chautauqua County Fishing Report

by Craig Robbins

Lake Erie and Tribs – Most Lake Erie tributaries ran moderate to lower with clear flows this past weekend. With Sunday‘s evening rain, levels came up in the first part of the week. Considerable shelf ice, floating slush and snow will make steelhead fishing a challenge with temperatures forecasted in the single digits by mid-week.

The larger streams, like Cattaraugus Creek offer more open water and are worth a look. Productive wintertime steelhead baits include egg sacs, egg imitation flies, trout beads and hair jigs tipped with a waxworm -fished 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 – Ice is still marginal in the south basin, with up to 3 or 4 inches of ice over shallow areas in the sheltered bays. Proceed slowly and check ice thickness often. The north basin has varying amounts of ice, with as little as 1.5 inches. And with 8 to 10 inches of snow on top of that, the north basin ice is not safe yet.

The New York Ice Pro-Am Tournament Series has chosen Chautauqua Lake as its first stop for the 2014 tournament trail, to be held January 18-19. The New 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

Oswego County Fishing Report

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

Oswego River – The water flow has been running between 8,000 to 11,000cfs with this morning’s flow at an even 11,000cfs. There has not been much activity on the river this week with the bitter cold temperatures and wind chills. We did dodge much of the snowfall although we did receive 6 or 7 inches overnight last night. The weather will improve greatly as we head toward the weekend with temperatures in the 30s and 40s. This flow makes some areas along the river unfishable but behind the hotels would be a good spot to try. 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, Wednesday was cold. They started out in the single digits but the temperature did reach into the upper teens in the afternoon. Today the temperature will improve and mild conditions are expected for the upcoming weekend. Yesterday anglers reported getting into fish in the upper end of the river between Altmar and Pineville. The water flow is running at 1800cfs through Friday evening.

According to Douglaston Salmon Run, with the weather, the activity on the river has been light. Sunshine offered a welcome respite on Wednesday from the cloudy skies we’ve been experiencing lately, although temperatures still remained near 0 degrees with the wind chill. The forecast for the next few days shows a warming trend through the weekend.

Oneida Lake – Although conditions have been difficult this week with the bitter cold and wind, some good ice fishing days are coming. We did manage to miss the lake effect snow over the last couple of days that hit the eastern end of the lake so hard. Many areas along the lake have 8 to 10 inches of ice. Walleye are being taken in about 20 feet of water along with some perch. Crappies and bluegills are active in the Big Bay area. Temperatures are expected to be in the 40s (near 50 on Saturday) for the weekend. As always use caution as you venture out.

Sandy Pond – According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, this has been ice building weather as we now have a foot of ice on much of the pond. North of us received the brunt of the lake effect so there is not much snow on Sandy Pond. The temperatures will moderate into the 30s making for a great ice fishing weekend. Although the perch bite has been a bit slow, hopefully this warm up will spark some activity. The northern pike bite has been decent. Buckeye and fathead minnows are working for perch with large shiners suggested for pike.

Wayne County Fishing Report

Streams – Shoreline ice has been a problem at Maxwell Creek, although another 45 degree weekend should melt the ice. Some steelhead were caught on the south side of Lake Road. The other smaller creeks in Wayne County are covered with ice.

Bays – Safe ice is on all bays. Sodus has eight inches, Port Bay a solid eight to ten and Blind Sodus ten. They are catching pike between Leroy Island and the east shoreline of Sodus Bay. Perch is the query further south between the islands. The perch appear to be following bait fish around in Port Bay. You need to move around until you find the action. The fish are big..12 to 14 inches, which are large perch for Wayne County waters. Small football jigs of any color work. Make sure you use spikes. Tip-downs are also used for perch; however you have a lot of misses.

Wear your creepers. The ice is very slippery without any snow cover.

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.

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 – Some anglers were fishing near Widewaters catching panfish. The ice is safe.