Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Yes, people are catching fish … but you do have to work for them. More importantly right now is the fact that the Greater Niagara Fishing and Outdoor Expo is about to open, slated for Jan. 19-21 at the Conference and Event Center Niagara Falls. Check out the website at www.niagarafishingexpo.com for all the details and make sure you print out your $5 parking voucher for the city lots. With 70 speakers, 120 seminars and clinics, as well as over 150 booths, this is a fishing extravaganza like no other. I can’t emphasize enough how good this event is from an educational standpoint. You are guaranteed to learn something new. There are too many quality speakers to list. Simply click on the website and be amazed.
One of the educational opportunities for the Niagara Fishing Expo already started this morning when Capt. Frank Campbell of Niagara Falls hit the lower Niagara River and took out a couple brothers for a trout fishing lesson. Yes, on-water lower river trips are available through Monday morning, held in conjunction with the Expo. Despite the cold conditions, Craig and John Austin of Niagara County still managed to go 4 for 7 on steelhead this morning using MagLips and fished off three-way rigs. It’s been tough fishing with the colder weather, but that should change this weekend when things will warm up into the 40s. Last Thursday when the temperatures soared into the 60’s, quite a few people made it out and took advantage of the spring-like weather. Rick and Jason Henniger of Ohio reeled in a dozen nice browns and steelhead in the lower Niagara fishing with Campbell using MagLips and Kwikfish in gold and silver. The best fishing was downriver, away from the boating pressure on Artpark. Shore fishermen have it a bit tougher with the shoreline shelf ice and extreme caution is advised.
The last warm up also produced some good walleye fishing in the lower river according to Capt. Chris Cinelli of Grand Island. He reported better than a dozen fish caught last week using minnows and Kwikfish. Just a reminder that the walleye limit in the lower Niagara River is only one fish per person from Jan. 1 to March 15.
Off Lake Ontario, Wilson has some safe ice but Olcott was busted up with the excessive run-off created by the warm weather and ensuing rain. Water is stained in 18 Mile Creek but it’s still fishable. Use jigs tipped with a wax worm and fished under a float to take trout and a few Coho salmon that are still hanging around. Things should open up nicely this weekend.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau
Oswego River Report
With the rain and snow melt that we had during the warm weather last week, the river rose to over 20,000cfs. It is currently running at 13,800cfs. The flow makes it difficult to fish along the river. Once the frozen sections of the river broke up, driftboats were able to access the water for a day or so with some nice catches. Then we had high water and not much activity. Warmer temperatures are expected over the next few days with some rain in the forecast so we will have to keep an eye on the water level.
Notice: The bridge to Leto Island is closed, and there are mandatory personal flotation device (PFD) zones on the river. For more information, visit our website at www.visitoswegocounty.com and click on the Fishing Report along the top bar on the home page.
Salmon River Report:
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
Over the next couple of days we are going to have some improvement with the weather conditions. If you plan on coming up, make sure you check the waterline for the latest update. Some of the more experienced driftboat guides will be taking advantage of the high water conditions (2,200cfs through Thursday evening) and mostly floating the mid to upper end of the river. The few bank anglers who are around will most likely be in the upper end of the river between Altmar and Pineville.
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
Unfortunately another day of forecasted high water flows has kept the DSR closed for fishing. We are hoping that the flows will moderate by the weekend if not sooner. The high flows have washed out most of the shelf ice so the river should be more accessible once the flows drop. The DSR will remain closed until the flow from the dam drops below 2,000cfs.
Oneida Lake Report:
After the warm up we had last week, temperatures dropped again with nighttime lows being below zero early this week. We did have some snow early in the week but there has not been much accumulation in the last two or three days. Anglers reported that slushy areas have tightened up but as always use caution near shore and areas of running water. Areas such as North Bay, Lewis Point and Shackelton Shoals are seeing some walleye action.
Sandy Pond report:
According to Woody’s Tackle:
Ice fishing conditions have been good on Sandy Pond. Most areas have 8-12 inches of ice and anglers are doing well with perch along with a few walleye and Northern pike. Areas off the Elm’s, Green Point and the state boat launch at Groman Shores have been very active.
Eastern Finger Lakes / Central New York Fishing Report
Mike Crawford of upstateguideservice.com
The unsettled weather accompanied by record high temperatures last week here in Upstate New York caused ice jams and flooding on many watersheds. But the ice has survived! Extreme low temperatures in the second half of December 2017 and the first half of January 2018 combined to create a solid base of ice on area lakes. The Adirondack lakes have a solid 18 to 22 inches of ice cover at present, while the lakes around Syracuse, the heart of Central New York, have 10 to 12 inches of good ice. Thickness always varies depending on location but it is safe to write that ice fishing is in high gear throughout the region.
Oneida Lake, with 50,000 acres of frozen surface and an excellent population of yellow perch and walleye pike, is the King of ice fishing lakes in Central New York. Ice anglers on Oneida have been enjoying good catches since the beginning of January. With the past thaw of last week many tributaries swelled with flow and caused flooding and increased the danger of pressure breaks in the ice sheet. These open water obstacles require extreme caution when traversing on foot or with a machine. Hot jigs have been firetiger jigging rapalas, clown color jigging shad rapalas and Goby Moonshine lures for both walleye and perch.
On the Eastern Finger Lakes ice is growing in thickness as of this writing and anglers are venturing out on the extreme ends of many lakes such as Cayuga Lake and Otisco Lake. Other Eastern Finger Lakes are looking promising. Ice anglers target a wide variety of species on the Finger Lakes including jumbo perch and lake trout.
The extreme cold and thaw has made Lake Ontario tributary fishing for trophy trout almost impossible. Anchor ice and flooding, in the same week! But as we get into February weather patterns will likely bring more stable water levels, allowing steelheaders fishable water and tolerable conditions and plenty of fish.
Upstate New York has some of the best ice fishing that can be found anywhere in the eastern US! To learn more please visit upstateguideservice.com
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Bays
The recent thaw hasn’t really affected ice thickness, however with last week’s rain the run-off from streams into the bays is creating unsafe ice is certain locations. Beware where the streams pour into bays and stay away from those areas.
The ice is 12 inches on sections of Sodus and Port Bays. Anglers are fishing for perch off the points of Port Bay and near the north end of the bay.
Sodus Bay has action near the south end, over by Arney’s Marina, and near the old Malt House area. Again…not all ice is uniform after last week’s two inches of rain and 57-degree temps.
The perch fishing has been excellent. Once you find the schools of larger fish, stay put and entice the bites with jigs, small paddle tail rubber bait tipped with spikes.
Remember, as ice anglers you are visiting the bays, so don’t trespass on land where you don’t have permission to park. And don’t leave stuff on the ice, like propane tanks. The word is that there have been parking issues and litter left behind near the loop at Sodus Point. Make sure you respect where you are because the hospitality given to ice anglers can end quickly.
Wayne County has an ice fishing guide which gives you the basics of fishing on our bays. Contact the tourism office if you wish the brochure.
Erie Canal
There is plenty of ice on the canal and if you are tired of catching all the perch from the bays, try for bluegills at Widewaters.
Check out the rest of the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops. waynecountytourism.com.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Ron Bierstine at Oak Orchard Tackle & Lodge
Not much drop in Oak Orchard flows thanks to slightly warming temps and good upstream supplies. By January standards, real nice flows at slightly high and about 2 feet of visibility. Water color is definitely going from brown and stained to just stained. Forecast ahead is for 40’s °F thru the beginning part of next week so flows are not likely to drop or could go higher thanks to continued slow melt-off and recharge. We were away at a dealer sport show for a couple days so haven’t heard much on the reports. Guys today reported better action nearer the dam and little slower downstream – although there were still hook-ups all around. Conditions are such that steelhead could be anywhere they want to be in the rivercourse more or less right now and I wouldn’t be surprised to find fresh fish moving in, especially with the good flows continuing. Fishing pressure is moderate – and it would take a whole lot more guys to put any significant pressure on the fish right now thanks to the higher and stained flows. The other area smaller tribs are mostly frozen, but open here and there. Look for upcoming higher and stained flows there that could be moving out some ice and debris with more then a few days above freezing temps hanging in.