Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Lake Ontario And Tributaries
Local fishing action is really starting to heat up again after things shut down after muddy water in the Niagara River and high, turbid conditions in 18 Mile Creek made for some tough fishing last weekend. Despite the less than ideal conditions, some nice fish still came to the scales during the Niagara River Anglers Association’s Roger Tobey Memorial Steelhead Contest out of Lewiston. Because of the muddy conditions in the river, some anglers opted to fish the tributaries and the winner was a repeat performer. Bob Rustowicz of Cheektowaga used a small egg sac in the Oak Orchard River to take home the top prize this year with a 12.22 pound steelie. He also won in 2006. Second place was Matt Roche of Cleveland, Ohio with a 10.18 pound Niagara River fish while fishing with Capt. Joe Czyrny. Third place was Francis Slovakia of Kentucky with a 9.50 pound lower river trout, caught while fishing with Capt. Jim Rores. Big brown trout was caught by Ken Jackson, Jr. of Sanborn, a 5.58 pound 18 Mile Creek fish. Bigger browns came Sunday from 18 Mile Creek according to a report from All in the Same Boat in Newfane. Brian Przybyl of West Seneca reeled in some nice browns on Sunday from the Burt Dam area – one tipping the scales at 13 pounds and a second checking in at 11 pounds. He was using a chartreuse bead tipped with a 3-inch steelhead worm. With frigid temperatures in the forecast this weekend, it will create some problems for all fishing opportunities, be it the streams, the piers or the lake. Bad luck if you were banking on the Free Fishing Days weekend that DEC announced for Feb. 13-14 to promote ice fishing opportunities. Not too much safe ice around this year. DEC has finally announced the date for the State of Lake Ontario meeting locally, set for March 3 at Lockport’s Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Lower Niagara River
A 16-1/2 pound brown came from Troy Zokey of Pennsylvania while fishing with Capt. Matt Yablonsky of Wet Net Charters. Fishing was a little slow on Sunday but the action slowly started to improve on Monday and they picked their way through steelhead and lake trout most of the day. Capt. Jim Rores was reporting some excellent success earlier in the week using minnows and one day reportedly hooked up with over 20 trout for the day. That said, the condition of the water is susceptible to quick changes when a storm blows in due to the fact that Lake Erie is completely open. Water temperature at the beginning of the week was 36 degrees in the lake. Water clarity can change overnight. When water does become murky, shore fishermen can do well by casting spoons or spinners. Eggs or egg imitations tight to the shoreline where the water is a bit clearer can also improve your chances at hooking up. Looking for a safe boating course? The local Coast Guard Auxiliary will be holding a safe boating class on March 12 and April 2 at Fort Niagara from 9 am to 5 pm. This is a required course for jet skis operators as well anyone born after 1996 who wants to drive a boat. Call 954-3453 to register.
Upper Niagara River
Casting spoons and spinners off Broderick Park is still an option but with the cold snap there could cause some ice chunks to contend with if you want to try and tackle a trout or two. Look for water temps in the lake to drop a few degrees from the 36 degree mark at the time of this report.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Oswego River Report:
Wintry conditions have hit the City of Oswego with heavy lake effect snow falling since last night. Upwards of two feet has fallen by noon today. The water level is up some running at 8,660cfs. The frigid temperatures moving in are the story for the weekend. Daytime highs will be in the single digits with wind chills below 0. Anglers are finding some steelhead and brown trout with egg sacs working well.
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 Whitaker’s Sport Shop and Motel:
Wintry conditions have hit the City of Oswego with heavy lake effect snow falling since last night. Upwards of two feet has fallen by noon today. The water level is up some running at 8,660cfs. The frigid temperatures moving in are the story for the weekend. Daytime highs will be in the single digits with wind chills below 0. Anglers are finding some steelhead and brown trout with egg sacs working well.
Oneida Lake Report
Although we have very cold temperatures coming we also have had varying degrees of snowfall on the lake since yesterday. With conditions being very questionable in many areas of the lake before the snowfall, it will be difficult to determine where safe ice might be. Once this snow event is over, we will update with conditions as they are reported.
Sandy Pond report
According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle:
There is good ice on the pond and with this cold snap we should have 10-12 inches in the next couple of days. Although many areas in Oswego County received 2-3 feet of snow since yesterday, the Sandy Pond area as of Thursday morning has received very little. The area may receive some snow later today as a band of lake effect snow is expected to move to the north. The bite has been decent with a number of small perch but there are some good ones mixed in and anglers are finding a few walleye. Live minnows and small jigs tipped with a maggot are working well.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism
Winter returns to Western New York thru the end of this coming weekend.
Temperatures will remain well below freezing until Monday and snow is in the forecast for several of those days.
Right now flows in all of the tributaries within Orleans County are up, especially on the “Oak”, and are showing slightly stained water.
Catches of dark steelhead and smaller browns are being reported but with the increased water flow we should start seeing some fresh steelhead in the mix.
The best fishing on Johnson Creek seems to be around the Blood Road area.
Both Marsh and Sandy Creeks are showing fish movement but I haven’t had any solid reports yet.
Fishing on Lake Alice has been spotty at best with the only fish being taken are around the Kenyonville Bridge area.
Salmon River
Michael De Rosa – Zero Limit Adventures – Tailwater Lodge
It continues to be a very different winter this year as temperatures are very mild and snowfalls very low. Last week’s improving fishing proved to be short lived. We were taken by surprised when water levels were raised. Currentlythe river is at 750 cfs cfs at the dam and 1100 cfs a Pineville. Numbers of fisherman are way down throughout the watershed and including Douglaston Salmon Run. The DSR reported no fish yesterday and the reports throughout the week have been slow.
Upriver fishing reports are much the same. We saw 4 cars in the Lower Fly Zone yesterday and only one Drift Boat. We have some snow in the forecast with colder temps coming up.