Greater Niagara Region Fishing Report

by Bill Hilts, Jr.

Lake Ontario and Tributaries – Spring is trying to bust out all over but ice on Lake Erie is still helping to put a damper on things. More than an inch of rain earlier this week put all streams at high and muddy. It should definitely attract fish with the smaller streams clearing first like 4 Mile, Keg and Hopkins being good bets. Downsize your baits with a single egg, single egg pattern flies or sucker spawn. Casting the creek mouths with spoons or spinners should also work, the same general areas where trollers are starting to work the shallows inside of 20 feet according to Wes Walker at The Slippery Sinker. Use stickbaits off the back of the boat – long lining or with inline planers – to get your lure down. Troll the mudline, weaving in and out through the clean and dirty water. Chartreuse, orange, fire tiger and purple have been hot color patterns and mostly browns have been caught. Off the piers in Olcott, a mix of browns, coho salmon and steelhead were being reported. A few perch have been caught, too, but in the clean water areas outside of the mud. Some perch have been caught in Wilson, too, off the piers if the water is clean enough. There has been some reports of suckers starting to move into the creeks. The Wilson Conservation Club’s 3rd Annual Bullhead Contest is this weekend, starting Friday night at 5 pm and running through Sunday at 1 pm. Jean’s in Wilson is also having a bullhead contest April 25-27. At Burt Dam and 18 Mile Creek, Greg Stanley at All in the Same Boat Tackle Shop in Newfane reports high and muddy conditions. They were catching fish prior to the rain. In addition to egg presentations, small jigs tipped with a wax worm was another option. LOC Derby registrations are starting to come in at www.loc.org but you can also register at area outlets.

Lower Niagara River – Trout action was going pretty good until the rain. Water was stained at mid-week, but it should start to clear by the weekend. Devil’s Hole had clearer water than down river, which could make a difference. Getting down to the shoreline isn’t easy with both Devil’s Hole and Whirlpool state parks stairs still closed as of this report. Call for updates at 716-284-5778. The Artpark lower trail is your best gorge option, not the stairs off the main parking lot in Lewiston. Those stairs are still closed, too, until mid-May. On the Niagara Bar, a few lake trout and brown trout are hanging around with minnows or Kwikfish your best enticements. No reports on smelt yet other than a few smaller ones have shown up in the bellies of hungry trout on the bar, but none in the river yet.

Upper Niagara River – As the waters start to warm, look for panfish in the bays start to turn on a bit. Broderick Park and Bird Island Pier are good spots to try and cast for trout with spoons or spinners. The ice boom at the head of the river is still in place and it will not be removed until there is less than 250 square miles left in the eastern basin of the lake. NYPA is conducting fly-overs to assess the situation on a regular basis.

Chautauqua County Fishing Report

Lake Erie, Lake Erie Harbors and Tribs – All Chautauqua County Lake Eire tribs are open and running high but are fishable.

While the Catt is high and running dark due to recent rains and snow run off, the small tribs like Chautauqua, Canadaway and Twentymile are running nicely and are producing good creels. The key to this coming week of fishing will be rain, so keep an eye on levels. Lake Erie spring run steelhead hit a variety of baits including egg sacs, egg pattern flies, trout beads, jigs with grubs with a fished a float, minnows, nightcrawlers, streamer patterns and bugger patterns. For fishing murky conditions, brightly colored baits and flies are good bets.

Shore anglers have been catching rainbow trout in Dunkirk Harbor from the city pier, fishing platform, and from boats. Natural baits such as minnows or small jigs tipped with a grub fished under a float are working well. Spoons, spinners and stickbaits have also caught some trout.

Chautauqua Lake – Chautauqua Lake is currently not safe for hard water anglers. The good news is many of the cannels and shallow bays in the southern basin have opened up.

Traditionally, crappie can be found in Burtis and Ashville Bays. Working a 1/32 once jigs tipped off with a minnow is a great spring time offering.