Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Get ready for the Greater Niagara Fishing and Outdoor Expo Jan. 20-22 at the Conference and Event Center Niagara Falls. Just today, the show announced that Bassmaster Pro Mark Menendez will be stopping by the Rapid Fishing Solutions booth Saturday and Sunday, as well as give a couple of seminars in the Rapid Fishing Solutions Bass Seminar Room! How cool is that! Squeezing in a couple seminars isn’t an easy proposition for a show that already has 130 talks lined up with 70 different speakers. Clam Outdoors will be there with Thorne Brothers taking up a big chunk of floor space for all you ice fishermen out there, bringing with them some of the ice team … like Dave Genz! Mark Romanack with the Fishing 411 TV show will be there with his son, Jake to talk walleye and salmon fishing and Lance Valentine with Walleye 101 will be talking boat electronics. The list goes on and on. Go to niagarafishingexpo.com for all of the details. And make sure you grab your $5 parking pass voucher!!
Lake Ontario And Tributaries
Fishing was tough at 18 Mile Creek and Burt Dam due to the rain, creating muddy conditions on Tuesday. Today’s temperatures are in the teens and there’s no one fishing. When things settle down, look for the extra flow to bring in a few more fish. Last weekend we saw a few more salmon showing up – a mix of kings and cohos. Steelies and browns are still available, too. Use jigs tipped with wax worms and fished under a float. Wooly buggers, egg flies and other baits will work, but with the water off color, use bright colors like chartreuse and orange. Using scent can also help.
Lower Niagara River
Water was like chocolate milk this morning. We’ll have to wait and see what the weather brings us. Winds with gusts up to 50 mph yesterday did some damage to the water and with lake effect storms happening up on Lake Erie as this is being written, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen. The shoreline usually clears up first. Casting spoons and spinners is the best approach, but eggs or egg imitations will also work; jigs, too. Lake trout, steelhead and the occasional brown can be caught along Artpark and Devil’s Hole. Be careful of icy conditions. Walleye is still open but the daily limit is now one fish through March 15. The Niagara River Anglers have announced that the Roger Tobey Memorial Steelhead Contest is set for Feb. 4 this year. Check out information on their website at niagarariveranglers.com.
Upper Niagara River
Not too much happening above the falls except for late season duck hunting. Action has been good for divers.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Oswego River Report
The water flow is up to 14,600cfs this afternoon. The wind has been strong over the last couple of days but we have not received any snow.
According to Capt. Kevin Davis of Catch the Drift:
It has been mostly browns lately with a couple steelhead mixed in. Earlier this week we could not catch a brown trout until the end of the day. All of the spots where I’ve been getting browns produced nothing. A few steelhead decided to bite so we looked ok at the end of the 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:
With the rain we received earlier this week and additional runoff, the water flow increased to 750cfs at the dam and 1080cfs at Pineville. Even with increasing winds and rain/snowmelt we did have five hearty steelhead anglers brave the conditions. I spoke with two of the anglers on their way off the water yesterday and both had decent success considering the conditions. Three steelies were hooked on spawn and another five were hooked on small egg patterns.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
Despite the wind and rain yesterday, anglers staying in the motel managed to land a few steelhead while fishing in the upper end of the river in Altmar. During the night the heavy band of lake effect snow stayed north of us and as of early today we had just a dusting on the ground.
Oneida Lake report:
The temperature has definitely dropped but we have had strong winds over the last couple of days. There has been some ice on the north shore and provided it holds up through the winds and along with the cold temperatures the next few days, hopefully we will have safe ice soon. There will likely be varying conditions so please use caution.
Sandy Pond report
Due to the warmer temperatures we had earlier in the week and the very high winds, many areas of the pond are not safe at this time. Temperatures over the next few days will be cold with highs in the 20s and lows in the teens. Hopefully the ice will lock back up soon.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
The streams in Wayne County are flowing. Matter of fact they now have too much water, however we’ll take that scenario over drought conditions.
For Maxwell Creek, try the north side of Lake Road where the water is flowing slower. Use egg sacs under a bobber. You’ll need heavier weight because of the rapid current.
You can also cast out some bright red spoons that will work better with Maxwell’s current flow.
The Sodus Pier is another option for catching steelhead. Currently, there is no ice build-up however the wind is predicted to blow 30 to 35 mph from the north-west later today, so if you want to fish the pier always check the wind forecast.
Bays
ere is no safe ice on any of the four bays in Wayne County. Yesterday’s rain opened holes in what ice we had…it’s not safe. We’ll have to start over once again.
Remember…if we have open water and you use your boat you need to wear your PFD from November 1st until April. It must be worn 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. 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 canal is still frozen, however not safe enough to drill holes. Like the bays, we need cold days and nights. Forty-five degrees does not make ice.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism
After a very mild start to 2017, winter begins again this week with temperatures in the 20’s for daytime highs.
The rain of the past day or so should keep water levels on the tributaries within Orleans County at very fishable levels for at least the rest of this week.
Ice should start forming rather quickly with the forecasted temperatures so those tributary fishermen should be ever mindful of their surrounding conditions as they could quickly change.
On the “Oak” fishing has been good to very good especially for steelhead and brown trout, with a good number of hook ups being reported each day.
A few Atlantic salmon are still in the mix but their numbers are quickly dwindling as the season progresses.
Some flies being mentioned are stone flies and woolie buggers in various colors.
The other smaller tributaries are running higher and more stained water than the “Oak” but are still offering fair to good fishing conditions.
On the Lower portion of the “Oak” Perch fishing has picked up again especially around the bridges area but you still have to sort thru a lot of smaller ones to have a decent catch.
With the number of smaller Perch being reported, the coming years should offer a great Perch fishery for a few years.
On Lake Alice the warmer weather has weaken what ice there is to a very unsafe state but again with daytime highs only in the 20’s it shouldn’t take long for those conditions to change for the better.