Greater Niagara Region
By Bill Hilts, Jr.
Lake Ontario and tributaries – Frigid cold invaded the region once again with single digits temperatures occurring on Wednesday. This will cause some problems with stream fishermen but it will help solidify the ice fishing action in Wilson. For any open water at 18 Mile Creek, use a jig tipped with a wax worm and fished under a float. A wax worm all by itself is another good tactic for this time of year. Steelhead is the primary target but you may catch a brown.
Lower Niagara River – Trout fishing was happening once again according to Capt. Matt Yablonsky of Youngstown. Monday and Tuesday he was hosting outdoor writer Bud Cole of Pennsylvania and they did extremely well despite the cold. Best spot was Devil’s Hole and best bait was a pink egg sac both days. Each day they averaged about 10 fish, steelhead and lake trout. Water was a little murky for Kwikfish, MagLips or minnows, but that should improve as Lake Erie continues to ice over. As of mid-week it was 85 percent ice covered. A few shore fishermen were out this week, too. You have to pick your spots because of ice along the shoreline. However, a few steelhead and lake trout were caught on white maribou jigs. Be careful out there! Starting on Friday, Jan. 23rd at 1 pm and running right through until Sunday at 5 pm, the Greater Niagara Fishing and Outdoor Expo will be up and running at the Conference and Event Center in Niagara Falls. This is one outdoor event that you don’t want to miss. If you want to try and learn anything about fishing, there isn’t a better show for you – with over 100 seminars on salmon, trout, bass, walleye, musky, carp, perch and more. The focus is on the waters of Western New York including Lake Erie, the Niagara River and Lake Ontario. The lineup is amazing! Check out the complete list at www.niagarafishingexpo.com. There is a long list of attractions for the three days so you might want to attend more than just one day with the speaker lineup this is available free to attendees. For fishing, Matt Straw from In Fisherman and Lance Valentine from Walleye 101 top the list of expert instructors. For hunting, Charlie Alsheimer is a big one on Friday; Gerry Rightmyer and Steve Schicker of Forever Wild Outdoors TV show are big ones Saturday and Sunday – to name but a few. You can learn about kayak fishing from Paths, Peaks and Paddles or how to fish for salmon out of a kayak from Lockport’s Phil Ptak. There’s stuff for the ladies, too, thanks to Colleen Gaskill with the Ladies Shoot N’ Hoot program and there’s even seminars on fishing and the shooting sports for the kids. Speaking of kids, anyone 10 years of age and under will get a free ticket for the show … and the fishing pond run by the Niagara River Anglers Assn. The Niagara County Federation of Conservation Clubs is running their shooting trailer for the three days, too – teaching safe gun handling. If you want to see some exciting outdoor related exhibits, the main hall has over 100 booths. On Sunday, the Lake Ontario Marketplace will be going on in the ballroom – a show within a show at no additional cost. There will be another 60 tables of new and used gear, charter captains, and manufacturers that should peak your interest. Friday hours are 1 to 8; Saturday 9 to 8; Sunday from 9 to 5. Hope to see you there! Don’t forget the NRAA steelhead contest on Feb. 7 which also includes tributaries like 18 Mile Creek. Check outwww.niagarariveranglers.com for details.
Upper Niagara River – The cold is hampering fishing action in the river itself. Look around the marinas in Grand Island for some ice fishing opportunities. The Buffalo Harbor area should have plenty of safe ice. Perch and sunnies are the target species but you may catch a pike, too.
Wayne County
by Christopher Kenyon
Streams-The creeks in Wayne County are frozen and Maxwell only has a few open spots to fish. We have the smaller tribs so this is not unusual, however a thaw will open them up for steelhead fishing.
Pier fishing is not an option because of the ice build-up but that can change very fast with a warm-up.
Bays– The ice is safe with a solid 8 to 10 inches on all the bays. There is little snow on top so the ice will continue to thicken. That’s good news for skaters but the fishing has been tough. The perch are scattered and they small if you find them around Sodus Bay. Port Bay has seen some larger fish however they are also scattered. You will be digging a few holes before you catch any quantity.
The fish are full of alewives, so the trick is to be creative and get them to strike something they are not use to. Use a different color jig.
We have the ice…now we need the fish.
Check out the rest of 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– A few shanties were on the Widewaters section of the canal this past weekend. The anglers were catching bluegills and perch.
Oswego County
Oswego River: According to Capt. Kevin Davis of Catch the Drift, ice, ice and more ice this week with constant slush that never cleared. Early in the week our clients fished hard through the bad conditions and came up with a very good day. Best trip they have had they said. Next day our clients had two hours of a very good bite but then it shut down. Tough conditions right now. The flow has been under 5,000cfs at times this week, reached about 6,500cfs yesterday and is back down to 5,000cfs this afternoon.
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. The Oswego Fire Department offers loaner life jackets at no charge through its “Loaner For Life” program. For more information contact the fire station, 35 E. Cayuga St., at 315-343-2161.
Salmon River: According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel, the extended forecast shows a little warmer weather for the upcoming weekend. With the cold temperatures we have had there has been slush ice in the lower end of the river for most of the day. The upper end of the river in Altmar did not have slush ice and that is where anglers fished. Yesterday anglers reported having some action in the Lower Fly Zone in the afternoon once things warmed up. In the upper end of the river anglers are fishing the Schoolhouse Pool, Wire Hole, Trestle Pool and Sportsman Pool. In the lower end of the river on days we don’t have slush ice, anglers are fishing RT2A, Papermill, Town Pool, Longbridge and Black Hole. The river flow is running at 285cfs through midnight tonight.
Oneida Lake: The temperatures are holding the ice and there has been very little snowfall to deal with over the last few days.
Single digit nighttime temperatures are returning the first part of next week so the ice depth will likely increase. We currently have 10-12 inches of ice in many areas of the lake. As always use caution. Generally anglers are reporting a somewhat tough bite – marking fish but they just don’t bite.
Sandy Pond: With daytime temperatures in the 20s for much of the week, we have 8 to 12 inches of ice on the pond. Reports are indicating it has been a slow bite although a few anglers have had decent catches. Suggested baits are small minnows, spikes and wax worms on a jig for panfish and large shiners on a tip-up for northern pike.