Upstate New York Fishing Report – March 2, 2017

Greater Niagara Region

Bill Hilts, Jr.

That rollercoaster weather ride is still continuing, creating problems for area anglers. Warm temperatures into the 60s this week plunged into the 20s within 24 hours. Mild temperatures into the 40s are in the forecast for the weekend. There has been no consistency … like the fishing. For Lake Ontario and the tributaries, fishing in 18 Mile Creek has been hit or miss. You have to work for your trout … or an occasional salmon. Along with that, there have been perch and northern pike swimming around from the dam to the harbor. Even out in the lake. In fact, some brown trout trollers off the mouth of the creek trolling stickbaits off planer boards are reporting a fair number of pike being caught, too. Back to Burt Dam, the water has been stained, primarily due to recent rains. Flow last Sunday was over 300 cfs, but that is settling down a bit now. The increased flow definitely pulled some more fish into the creek. Egg sacs and egg imitations are both good baits to start with. Jigs fished under a float and tipped with a spike or a wax worm will catch some fish, too. Over in Wilson Harbor, pike and a few trout are hanging around. Some perch as well. Try casting for brown trout off the short pier at the end of Route 425. Check out some of the other small streams, too, like Keg and both branches of 12 Mile. Speaking of Wilson, make sure you mark April 7-9 on the calendar for the annual contest sponsored by the Wilson Conservation Club. Call Eric at 628-6078 for details. Remember that the State of Lake Ontario public meeting is set to be held at Cornell Cooperative Extension Niagara, 4487 Lake Avenue (Route 78), Lockport on March 7 starting at 6:30 p.m.

Lower Niagara River action was on hold after the most recent set of wind and rain that saw temperatures soar into the 60s and drop 40 degrees. Water was stained at mid-week. Just prior to the blow, there were mixed reports on success. Buffalo Sabres coach Dan Bylsma had a good day on the water with Captains Frank Campbell and Jim Hanley last Thursday. If you want to see how good, check out today’s Buffalo News. Egg sacs, Kwikfish and minnows all caught fish that day, but the most effective was treated eggs put into sacs by Campbell and fished up in Devil’s Hole. Around that same time, some shore guys were casting spoons and spinners in the gorge and taking some nice steelhead and lake trout. The Niagara Bar has been a little slow, in part because of the excessive amount of baits around and the stained water. Look for fishing to slowly improve by the weekend. It was tough today in the river and the bar. For those of you we have been asking about the Fort Niagara launch ramps, the total project should be completed by the end of May. As least one ramp will be functional by early May for the start of the LOC Derby May 5. They are connecting the two launches with docks on the water. April 2 is the John Long, Sr. Memorial feast with the Niagara River Anglers. More information will be on their Facebook page soon.

Oswego County

Mary Ellen Barbeau

Oswego River Report

According to Capt. Kevin Davis of Catch the Drift:
We have had a couple of tougher days with fronts coming through. We did find a number of browns with just a couple steelhead and a rainbow. With the rain over the weekend, the water flow reached 15,000cfs earlier in the week but has dropped to 12,600cfs this morning.

According to Jake Metcalf of fishoswegoriver.com:
The water temperatures are heating up and more trout are moving into the river daily. With water levels being so high, fishing access is limited but anglers are still catching a few trout. There are plenty of browns in the river with less steelhead.

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:
Monday we had three anglers on the run and between two of them, they went 3 for 7 on steelhead using tangerine beads. The last client swung flies and did not meet with success. Yesterday there was very little activity to report. The cfs continues to be relatively high at 1800cfs. Almost all of the snow has melted away so we may see a drop in the next few days.

According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
Very few anglers have been fishing with the high water conditions but we did speak with a couple anglers who landed some fish in the upper end of the river between Altmar and Pineville.

Oneida Lake report:

With the warmer temperatures and heavy rain, there is open water in many areas around the river. We had a record high temperature yesterday and high winds through today. Colder temperatures have returned but will not be with us for long.

Sandy Pond report

The temperature has been on a roller coaster and will again likely reach record warmth again yesterday before dropping back into the 20s for the next couple of days. This will be short lived as we are back into the 40s Sunday and Monday. We may be looking at an early open water season.

Wayne County Fishing Update

Chris Kenyon

Streams

It’s the last day in February and the steelies are spawning. Fishing has been great in Maxwell Creek with both sides of Lake Road producing trout. The water flow is currently clear, however a predicted cold front later this week will bring rain and some snow, which might muddy the creek.

Use the basic bright stuff for the rainbows with egg sacs being the dominate bait.

The other smaller creeks have fish…just like any trib that dumps into Lake Ontario.

You can also fish the pier heads at Sodus, which currently has no ice build-up.

Another option is Hughes’ Marina, which is just east of Pultneyville.

Bays

The boats are in the water with anglers searching for perch. Be careful of the ramps as they can be very slippery. You also are required to wear a PFD, which is a great law.
The perch have been all over Sodus Bay…on the east and west side. You can use minnows or jigs tipped with spikes. Try over by LeRoy Island at Sodus Bay and fish the points anywhere on Port Bay. Port Bay ramps are at the north and south end of the bay.

With February logging-in as one of the warmest on record, the bullhead fishing might get an early start. We might be fishing for bullheads in mid-March.

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

There is open water in sections of the canal, however no one is fishing.

Orleans County

Orleans County Tourism
Its spring, which will be followed later this week by winter and then either next week or the week after by spring again.

Word has it that the Welland Canal is due to open very soon which put this opening as one of the earliest ever.

The ice is now but just a memory so the ice fishermen have lost yet another year to warmer weather.

Over this past weekend fishing was good to very good on both Johnson Creek and the “Oak” with good numbers of both brown trout and steelhead being caught.

From what I’m told egg sacs seemed to be the secret weapon of choice

On the lower stretches of the “Oak” Perch are being taken but you still have to sort through them to get a good catch.

All of the ice is off Lake Alice and fishermen are catching Bluegill, Perch and some Crappie off the Kenyonville Bridge but again you have to sort through the smaller ones for a decent catch.

On Lake Ontario when the winds are kind smaller boats are working the discharges of our tributaries and producing brown trout, steelhead and an occasional Coho.

Just think, only 64 more days until the first day of the Spring LOC Derby.