Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Lower Niagara River salmon fishing is still going on and some trout are starting to move in. There are salmon and trout at Burt Dam, too, but things have been a hot and cold, depending on whom you talk to. Karen Evarts at the Boat Doctors in Olcott reports only fair action off the piers, usually early morning or at dusk for spoon and spinner casters. There has been quite a few salmon and trout being reported off the Route 425 pier and don’t rule out the Wilson piers off the main harbor for browns and steelhead with an outside shot at an occasional salmon. Egg imitations will also work at any of these spots. A pink bead worked for one angler on 18 Mile Creek for a beautiful Atlantic salmon. At the dam in Burt, brown trout top the list of preferred targets, followed by steelhead and salmon. Practice catch and release when you can. Small boaters have been fishing some of the deeper holes with egg skein and picking a few salmon up, too. Trolling with J13 Rapalas is another option in the creeks at Olcott and Wilson. In the lake, there aren’t too many people heading out but fishing can be good out deep (over 300 foot depths) for a mix of salmon and trout. Staging fish off the creek mouth has been limited so far at Wilson and Olcott.
In the Niagara River, it’s been more of a mixed bag with salmon still leading the way. Boaters are bouncing bottom with three-way rigs and a chunk of treated egg skein to take kings, cohos, steelhead and a variety of other fish. Casting from shore, Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls scored on 4 different species of fish one day while tossing No. 4 spinners off the NYPA Fishing Platform. The gorge is still producing salmon up to the Whirlpool and the steelhead are starting to show up, too. Using a float to drift eggs or egg imitations is starting to work. This is also a good time to target big smallmouth bass downriver toward Fort Niagara and on the Niagara Bar if the winds cooperate. Upper river bass action can also be good. And as waters finally start to cool down, muskellunge fishing should start to improve as fish start to move in and winter over. There should still be some walleye around, too.
Pheasant hunting season opens up for all hunters on Saturday, Oct. 20th and your best bet is to head to areas that have been stocked by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. Take note that three state parks in Niagara County – Joe Davis, Wilson-Tuscarora and Golden Hill – are permit-only for the first three Saturdays. However, there are other stocked locations in Somerset, Newfane and at the Tonawanda State Wildlife Management Areas. Next Saturday, Oct. 27, is the start of duck and goose seasons in the Western part of the state, too. If you want to go for a blind at Joe Davis, Fort Niagara, Wilson-Tuscarora or Golden Hill state parks, drawings will take place on Thursdays starting Oct. 25 at the Fort Niagara Maintenance Building starting at 6:30 p.m. Sharp! There may be some issues at Wilson-Tuscarora due to launch ramp renovations. Those are being worked out right now. If your preference is the upper river at Beaver Island, the West River Parkway, Motor or Strawberry islands, the lottery drawings will take place every Monday, Wednesday and Friday starting Oct. 26 at the Beaver Island Clubhouse starting at 6:30 p.m. When attending these lottery drawings, make sure you have your license, a signed duck stamp, your HIP number and your waterfowl identification certification card.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
Maxwell hasn’t opened to the lake as of yesterday, so the trout and salmon are not in that creek. Bear Creek in Ontario, Salmon Creek in Pultneyville and Hughes’ Marina in Williamson all have fish.
They are small tribs and access is limited, however there are spots to cast. Egg sacs…artificial or natural work.
Anglers caught some salmon at the mouth of Port Bay, which is at the end of West Port Bay Road. They are casting out in the channel.
You can also cast out in the Sodus Bay channel. Last night the winds were 30 to 35 mph out of the northwest, with gusts at 40 mph. Today they are 10 mph, so pier fishing should be good, although the water will be muddy.
Bays
Bay fishing in all Wayne County bays has been excellent. The bass are on the bite near the weedlines and perch fishing in Port and Sodus Bays has been great.
The perch are hitting small rubber minnows with spikes.
You can launch at Margaretta Road off Route 14 in Sodus Point for Sodus Bay. Or at the south end Bay Bridge Sport Shop has a launch site. For Port Bay you can launch at the south or north end. DEC will be pulling the docks; however, the ramps are permanent. Be careful because they can become very slippery.
Bass season is open until November 30th, the last Friday in the month. The weed cover on Sodus is very heavy, especially at the southern end. Use extra pound-test leaders.
Erie Canal
The water level is high at Widewaters for easy launching. Anglers were casting for bass on Sunday. Widewaters has the largest area of water between locks, so it’s the best place for boat anglers.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Bierstine of Oak Orchard Tackle and Lodge
The nice cool weather continues after some strong winds yesterday and forecast again later today. I don’t doubt these westerly strong winds are pushing salmon and browns from the Lake and into the Oak. There was a little bit of rain yesterday and there are more showers in the forecast tomorrow. Any chance at snow should be southwest or southeast of the area.
Fishing pressure has been pretty spotty on the Oak with the most consistent water flow at medium or just greater and clear. For this mid-week period, so far, it may ease up some. Most guys are targeting salmon, although more trout anglers are in the mix now too. There’s likely to be plenty of Kings around for a while yet. Guys are reporting good numbers of fish massed in the last of the slow water areas and there are likely salmon still passing through the lower river. Don’t look for many fish to linger downstream and it looks like most of the angling pressure there is easing up.
In the Oak, the Kings are spreading out now on different days. Most of the salmon are still in real good shape. No real zombie presence yet. Steelhead numbers are good to excellent, a real nice fall bonus so far. Browns are showing up more and more and most of the browns hooked up so far are bigger males. Some have been in the teens. A few cohos and Atlantics are in the mix too. The other area smaller tributaries have those low to moderate flows but determined salmon are still making their way upstream for scattered numbers of fish. In the Oak expect daily water level fluctuations especially on windy days thanks to hydro-power operations. The Archer’s Club catch and release fly fishing contest is scheduled for the latter part of this week. Details as follows:
