Upstate New York Fishing Report for January 28, 2016

Greater Niagara Region

Bill Hilts, Jr.

Lake Ontario And Tributaries

Melting snow is helping to create a bit more water flow at Burt Dam and 18 Mile Creek. The water has cleared nicely according to Wes Walker at The Slippery Sinker, with steelhead being the most popular target, and conditions are good. Best bait has been a jig fished under a wax worm and fished under a float. Egg sacks will also work for you, as will egg imitations like beads. The Lazy Larry’s beads that were featured at the Expo last weekend opened up some eyes and they are catching fish wherever they are used. Local ice fishing is continuing in Wilson Harbor as well as some of the small embayments to the east like Braddocks Bay, Long Pond and Cranberry Pond to name but a few. However, caution is advised with a little bit of a warming trend this weekend. Make sure the ice is safe before you venture out. Another hot spot is Irondequoit Bay for perch. Tom Danaher from Waterport makes the drive down and he reported decent action just before last weekend. His fried perch for the County’s fisheries board meeting last Tuesday is the main reason most people are on the Board. Remember that new ice fishing regulations are now in effect. Anglers are now allowed a total of seven “ice fishing lines” for ice fishing, in any combination. An “ice fishing line” means any device used for fishing through the ice, including but not limited to a jigging rod, hand line, tip-up, tip-down, etc. Name and address is no longer required on ice fishing devices.

Lower Niagara River

The Third Annual Greater Niagara Fishing and Outdoor Expo is over and if you didn’t attend, you missed a good one. The quality of the seminars and the exhibitors was excellent and plans are underway to try and offer a repeat performance in 2017. Dates are set for Jan. 21-23 next year at the conference and event center. Check out www.niagarafishingexpo.com for all of the details, including the list of seminars, speakers and vendors that you missed. Some of the headline acts of the WNY Fishing Academy including Dave Genz – the Godfather of ice fishing from Minnesota – and Mark and Jake Romanack with the Fishing 411 TV show out of Michigan took time out on Monday to hit the lower Niagara River and the Niagara Bar with Capt. Frank Campbell. They had a successful day on the water filming a show, catching brown trout, lake trout and steelhead for the morning and early afternoon. Genz caught his first steelhead ever, as well as his biggest brown trout ever. Mag Lip plugs were the hot baits for the day, fished off three-way rigs. In the Thrillseeker boat, it was Capt. Vince Pierleoni taking out Shane Ruboyianes of Dreamweaver and the Slide Diver crew who had exhibited at the show and they also had a banner day reeling in trout in the river. Meanwhile, Capt. John Oravec of Troutman sends word that they had a success outing earlier in the week with some customers from Ohio led by Dave Estadt. They worked the waters from Lewiston Landing to the Bar to take five different fish species including a 44-inch musky, a couple nice walleyes, browns, steelies and lake trout. Best bait was golden shiners fished off three-way rigs, but they did use an attractor bead to help show off their baits. They also caught fish off the High Banks, Peggy’s eddy and the Coast Guard drift to name but a few spots. Some high winds are in the forecast so it’s anyone’s guess what that will do to the river conditions for the weekend. Lake Erie water temperature finally hit 32 degrees this week and we’ll have to see if we get any ice cover, although temperatures in the 40s will greet us on the weekend. Next weekend is the NRAA’s Roger Tobey Memorial Steelhead Contest, set for Feb. 6 from Sunrise to 2 pm. Check out www.niagarariveranglers.com for details.

Upper Niagara River

Trout off Broderick Park and the foot of Ferry Street on spoons or spinners is an option if there isn’t too much ice flowing down the river. Some ice action is going on the Small Boat Harbor – perch and panfish. Remember that the state is offering a free fishing day weekend Feb. 13-14.

Oswego County

Mary Ellen Barbeau

Oswego River Report:

The water flow has been running between 6,000-8,000cfs for the last few days. This afternoon it is flowing at 7,800cfs. Temperatures will be in the 30s through Saturday and possibly reaching 40 degrees Sunday and Monday. Anglers are finding steelhead and brown trout throughout the river.

According to Capt. Kevin Davis of Catch the Drift:
Conditions are still pretty good for January with some spawners around plus hold over brown trout. All released to fight another day.

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 along the top bar on the home page. 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 Report:

According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
Almost a dozen anglers came out to fish the run Tuesday. Nearly all reported landing a steelie or two, with as many as a half dozen hookups. Slush and anchor ice were not an issue, shelf ice is at a minimum. The wind picked up midway through the day making casting conditions tough. The area received a couple of inches of snow this morning during a bit of lake effect.

According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop and Motel:
The mild weather conditions are expected to continue right through the upcoming weekend and it’s a great opportunity for anglers to be on the water. With the low water, 350cfs, and nice weather we’ve already seen an increase in the number of anglers over the last few days. Anglers in the mid to lower end of the river have been getting into some fresh fish while bottom bouncing or float fishing with egg sacs. Anglers in the upper end of the river have had some success in the deeper holes with a mix of flies, egg sacs, beads or pink worms. Anglers who had success in the Lower Fly Zone reported that pale colored single egg patterns and natural looking nymphs produced the best results.

Oneida Lake Report

Although we had very cold nighttime lows over the weekend, the daytime highs early this week were warm including near 50 degrees yesterday. The forecast calls for temperatures in the mid to upper 30s and near 40 degrees by the weekend. Nighttime lows will be in the low 20s for the next three nights but near the freezing mark Saturday night. Areas such as Big Bay, Godfrey Point and the Cleveland area have had good ice but use caution and check the ice as you venture out as you may find some thin spots.

Sandy Pond report

According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
The cold temperatures over the weekend added to the ice on the pond. The south shore (near the Wigwam) the ice has 4-7 inches. On the north end (near the Elm’s) there is about 6-10 inches everywhere so we have good ice in this area. Baits to try are spikes and mousies for panfish, small minnows for perch and large minnows for pike.

According to Green Point Marina:
The ice on the North Pond is safe with 5-7 inches. With the good conditions we have opened up access to Renshaw Bay. Parking is available at our facility for a minimal charge.

Orleans County

Orleans County Tourism
The warmer temperatures over the next week will again dash the hopes of the solid water fishermen.

At the same time the temperatures should provide for melting snow and increased water flow in all of the tributaries within Orleans County.

Please be mindful of your surroundings if wading in the tributaries for these conditions can cause chunks of ice and other debris to break loose from the shoreline.

On Lake Alice by the Kenyonville Bridge they were catching both Rock bass and Bluegill through the ice but that is very short lived with the weather conditions.

On the “Oak” both spawned and fresh Steelhead along with some spawned out Brown trout have been taken near the power plant.

Hopefully we will soon have more open water and higher water levels which should get fish moving again.

This weekend I will be in Somerset, New Jersey attending the Fly Fishing Show.

Stop by and say hi if you’re in the area.