Upstate New York Fishing Report for 2-12-15

Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.

Lake Ontario and tributaries – Not much open water below Burt Dam on 18 Mile Creek, but it is fishable if you want to brave the elements out there. There is some open water from the dam to the trestle and the best approach is a jig tipped with a wax worm and fished under a float. A straight wax worm or minnow might also work for you, but fish it as slow as you can. It’s cold out there and be careful around the shelf ice. Ice fishing is taking place at both Wilson and Olcott harbors, but it’s not anything crazy good. You have to work for your fish. If you are going to be ice fishing, check out the contest being sponsored by All in the Same Boat in Newfane. They have a contest going on until March 15 so get signed up and start catching! There are two divisions – panfish and pike. Some nice pike were being caught out of Olcott Harbor this past week. It was just announced that the Region 9 State of Lake Ontario meeting will be held in Lockport at Cornell Cooperative Extension Niagara on March 16starting at 6:30 pm.

Lower Niagara River – Fishing in the lower river has offered up anglers some good to very good trout opportunities, but you have to deal with the weather and ice chunks bobbing through the system. Steelhead is the top catch, but brown trout have turned on and lake trout are still available, too. Joe Bell of Beaver Creek, Ohio was fishing with Capt. Randy Lingenfelter and First Choice Charters last Saturday during the Roger Tobey Memorial Steelhead Contest run by the Niagara River Anglers Association out of Lewiston. While working bait along the Artpark Drift, the lucky angler reeled in a 12.34 pound steelhead to claim the top prize among 61 diehard fishermen competing against each other and the elements. Second place prize went to Ed Waller of Lewiston while fishing with Capt. John DeLorenzo along Fort Niagara. He was using a pink egg sac to take his 11.5 pound fish. After they caught the fish, they had to bust through the ice floes with the boat just to net the fish. Third place went to Capt. Tyler Morrison of Appleton while fishing along the high banks with a Pautzke-cured egg sac. His fish weighed 11.18 pounds. Winner of the special brown trout prize went to Capt. Joe Fonzi of Gasport with a 9.56 pound fish caught on a chartreuse floating jig tipped with a minnow. He was using a three-way rig to get his offering down to the bottom around Fort Niagara area. That same approach produced nine other browns between 4 and 10 pounds. There was also a 12.7 pound brown that came to the scales – but they weren’t in the tournament. Like the state lottery, you have to be in it to win it! Some hardy shore fishermen were casting some jigs, spoons and spinners to take a few trout, but again, conditions are tough. Try a jig tipped with a wax worm and fished under a float, too. Be careful out there! There probably won’t be much fishing going on this weekend with temperatures dipping once again into the single digits.

Upper Niagara River – No change from last week. Some opportunities exist around Grand Island such as Beaver Island State Park at the marina and around the hotel at the foot of Whitehaven Rd. Perch, pike and panfish. There will be an antique tackle show in Lockport on Feb. 28 from 10 am to 2 pm at the Elk’s Lodge, 6791 North Canal Road, Lockport. Call 716-713-9410 for more info.

Wayne County
Christopher Kenyon

Streams- No stream or pier fishing this week. All the streams are covered over with ice and snow.

Bays- There is plenty of ice on all the Wayne County Bays. If you don’t have a machine make sure you have snowshoes. The accumulating snow is very hard to walk through. You need to walk on top of it. If you are not in great physical shape take your time. It’s not easy pulling a sled through 12 to 24 inches of snow.

The perch are schooling and anglers are catching them over on the east side of Sodus Bay. They have been in 16 feet of water. Perch are coming from Sodus Point near the loop. Parking has been a problem because of the recent snow storms. Make sure you park where it’s legal. Some anglers are parking off of Shaker Heights Road and walking quite a distance to drill holes. If you have a machine this is the best place to park.

Port Bay has been rugged because of the snow pack. There have been reports of perch caught at the north end of the bay. Don’t block the turnaround or you’ll be ticketed.

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- The action is at Widewaters where there is more than 12 inches of ice. You will catch smaller panfish; however a mess of those tasty bluegills is a treat.

Oswego County
This report courtesy of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.

Oswego River – With the snow and the cold over the last week or so, there has not been much activity on the river. Anglers who have ventured out have found a mix of steelhead and brown trout. Very cold temperatures including dangerous wind chills are expected for the weekend. The water flow is running at 4,500cfs this morning.

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 Douglaston Salmon Run, yesterday was likely the best fishing day of the next several days. The coldest temperatures of the season will begin moving in today. This along with the wind will create frigid wind chills. Slush ice continues to make fishing a bit more difficult. Once the temperature moderates again, we could see some of the best fishing of the year as the pre-spawn steelhead will be preparing for their spawn by fattening up on almost anything including large flesh flies that seem to work well this time of year. The water level will remain at 285 cfs until we get some run off from snow melt or rain.

 

Oneida Lake – Traveling on the lake has been difficult with the amount of snow we have received over the last few days. Reports are indicating the bite has been slow for those that have ventured out. A few small walleye along with some perch activity in 20-30 feet of water has been reported. The ice depth is about 15 inches in many areas but the real news is the artic cold that is coming in for the end of the week. Temperatures may be in the single digits if that with wind chills well below zero.

Sandy Pond – According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, we have definitely had cold temperatures and plenty of ice. The snow is now the issue. The snow depth on the ice is making travel very difficult. ATVs are finding it impossible; by foot or snowmobile are your options. The fishing has been slow to fair with some pike activity; less action with the perch. Baits remain the same with small minnows, spikes and wax worms along with large shiners working well.