Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Lake Ontario And Tributaries
It’s raining out as this report is being written. Could this be the rain that triggers a more substantial run in 18 Mile Creek and some of the other tributaries? We certainly hope so! Salmon and trout are being reported in 18 Mile Creek despite the lack of flow and warmer water temps. Best action has been in the harbor and in some of the deeper holes in the lower sections of the creek drifting treated egg skein under a float or casting Rat-L-Traps, Rapalas or other body baits. The same program will work off the piers where some salmon and browns are being reported. At Burt Dam, some fish are available include kings and browns with an occasional steelie or Atlantic salmon. Egg sacks or egg imitations have been working best at the dam. Perch action has picked up in Wilson and Olcott harbors and pike fishing continues to be decent if you want to target those toothy critters. In the King of the Creek contest being run by All in the Same Boat, a new Boat Division leader was carried to the scales by Bob Rustowicz – a 29.85 pound king using a “secret” bait.
Lower Niagara River
While the run of salmon is definitely slower than what it was, there are still some fresh fish available to those wanting to fish the Devil’s Hole area from boat or shore. Treated egg skein from boats fished off three-way rigs, bouncing bottom. Capt. Frank Campbell of Niagara Region Charters was one for two today with one list at the boat and 4 or 5 other “misses” so there are some fish out there. From shore, you can fish eggs under a float or cast hardware like jigs, spoons or spinners. Best colors have been blue, green, pink, firetiger and orange. The fishing platform has been producing some nice catches, but they are talking about doing some maintenance in the near future on the corner generator so that will slow things down a bit when that happens.
Upper Niagara River
A few muskellunge are starting to show up but it will only get better as the water cools. Capt. Chris Cinelli of Grand Island ran a recon trip with his wife and two sons and they boated a nice ‘sky yesterday and lost another. Some night fishing is also going on for walleye and musky. For walleye, try the head of the river and into Buffalo Harbor. Cinelli also reported some good fall bass action around Donnolly’s Wall. The Niagara Musky Assn. will be holding its next meeting on Nov. 1 at the Eldredge Club in Tonawanda. Guest speaker will be Chris Legard, DEC fisheries biologist talking about recent Niagara River studies on muskies and other species.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Oswego River Report
According to Capt. Andy Bliss of Chasin’ Tail Adventures:
We finally have some water, 6,070cfs. We made it to the dam and it is loaded.
According to Jake Metcalf of fishoswegoriver.com:
The fishing has been strange over the last couple days with the warm weather. These kings just seem to get lockjaw when it gets too warm. We landed a couple kings early along with a small rainbow, then the bite died out. Water was low, sun was high, air was warm, and the water was getting warmer. Not a good combination for salmon fishing. This pattern is about to change with cooler temperatures and significant rainfall over the next couple of days. The flow bumped up to 6,000cfs today and I’m expecting a lot of salmon to enter the river over the next week. You know what more salmon means – more trout!
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
Salmon River Notice: Due to the low water conditions anglers should be aware that the Lower Fly Zone is closed until further notice. For more information https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NYSDEC/bulletins/16822b1.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop and Motel:
Wednesday was another warm day with a mix of sun and clouds and the temperature reached into the 60’s. Colder weather along with rain is expected as we head through Saturday. Yesterday the anglers we spoke with who had the most success fished the mid to upper section of the river. Anglers reported having a good day with mostly kings in the Upper Fly Zone, Ellis Cove, Trestle and Ballpark. For those using spinning gear, blue or pink egg sacs have produced steady results.
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
The weather is currently rainy and rain is forecasted for the next couple of days. For lower clay did well for a while this morning but slowed down. The Estuary has not been very active; the mud hole has however seen good fishing. The upper line down to the flats has slowed down with occasional hook ups with a mix of kings and steelhead. The forecast for the rest of the week is cool and rainy which is perfect for fishing. We suspect the fishing population to increase throughout the week.
Oneida Lake Report
Reports are indicating the perch bite has been decent in the deeper water. After having a few days of warmer weather, the temperature is dropping and with the rain anglers are hoping for a kick start to the fall walleye bite. Minnows, shiners and nightcrawlers are suggested baits.
Sandy Pond report
There has not been much activity on the pond.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
Lake fishing is over for all practical purposes. This year’s staging salmon run was not a productive one for anglers.
You can catch some browns by casting out in the lake at the mouth of Maxwell Creek.
Matter of fact if we get two days of rain maybe we can see some water in Maxwell. Pier fishing has also been slow. The following report is from Martin Mathews who likes to fish the piers. This year he brought along ten fellow anglers from New Jersey to fish Wayne County. Or did they come from Delaware…I forget. Anyway, they had a good time and next year I think I’ll cast along side the group. Here’s the report from last week:
Good afternoon Chris. I thought I would give you a report on our annual fishing excursion to Sodus. We had a large group this year totaling eleven fishermen. We fished hard off the pier from Thurs. through Sun all morning and every evening until way after dark. We caught a total of just three kings, one rainbow trout, one 40-inch pike, and a drum. Not very good fishing for the manpower and time spent casting. We went two complete days not catching a fish.
However, we had a great time in Sodus and stayed at a new place which was great and had dinner several times at Captain Jacks.
We will be back next year and maybe we will hit them better then.
Bays
The water level in all the bays is extremely low, however that shouldn’t affect anyone from launching a boat. The bass are hitting in Sodus Bay and there have been some perch caught off the points in 20 feet of water.
If you like pike, you can fish between the islands on the east side of the bay. The water is five to six feet deep in spots, but pike like the weed cover. Use spinner baits or still fish with minnows.
Check out the rest of the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops. 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
It was a busy day on the canal last Saturday. The weather was perfect for anglers. They are still catching crappies near the Port Gibson bridge and the largemouth bass are hitting…usually on the south side of the canal, where there are plenty of weeds.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism
I thought that this was supposed to be fall but with the temperatures in the 70’s I guess Mother Nature is up to one of her tricks again.
The rain that we received last night wasn’t enough to make any big change to the water flows within the tributaries within Orleans County.
Cooler temperatures and more precipitation are in the forecast for later this week but how much rain is yet to be seen.
Right now improved water flow would go a long way to greatly improve the fishing on all of the waters of Orleans County.
The good news is that there are Chinook, Coho and Atlantic salmon scattered throughout all of our tributaries as well as Brown trout and Steelhead.
The problem is that they are not there yet in the numbers due to the warm water conditions.
Hopefully this will change with the next cool down which should occur later this week.
Today is the start of the St. Mary’s Archer’s Club’s Catch and Release Derby.
For all of you who missed out on the opportunity, there is always next year to join the fun, and have great fishing, food, friends and prizes.
On Lake Alice they are still catching Bluegills off the Waterport Bridge but fewer than last week.
Bass are still fairly active throughout the lake especially in the upstream areas.
Perch fishing is starting to become more active on the lower stretches of the “Oak” but there are a lot of smaller ones in the mix, which is a good sign for future population.