Pictured above: Double on Musky! Brad and Virgil Mosiman were fishing with Capt. Ted Kessler of Grand Island on the upper Niagara River this week.
Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
The place to be this week is the Niagara River both above and below Niagara Falls. At the top of the list the past week in the lower river has been the steelhead and brown trout.
As of Monday, river conditions were near perfect according to Capt. Chris Cinelli of Grand Island. Pink egg sacs were the ticket for steelhead in Devil’s Hole and along Artpark. Head down river for brown trout. Egg sacs were working on them as well.
Remember that musky season is open until Dec. 15 in the lower river and Lake Ontario. Gary Hall of Niagara Falls had a good day fishing with Capt. Frank Campbell on Monday and he was rewarded with a big musky on a MagLip lure in silver and chartreuse. The Niagara Musky Association will be hosting the John Henning Memorial Musky Tournament on Dec. 2. Call Scott McKee at 225-3816. You must be a member to participate.
Lake trout continue to be caught, too, as part of an incidental catch. Lake trout season is closed until the end of the year.
One popular fishing spot will be closing for the winter on Nov. 30 at dusk. The NYPA fishing platform in the gorge, as well as the parking area and stairs, will be shutting down for the season due to the winter conditions. This also includes the Upper Mountain Road access point for the reservoir.
Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls is still picking up a few fresh salmon and some walleyes at the platform on spinners and jigs. Swimbaits work, too.
In the Upper Niagara River, Capt.Ted Kessler was reporting some good musky action recently, including a double-header for two brothers – Virgil Mosiman of Kenai, Alaska and his brother Brad from Warsaw, NY with 47-inch and 38-inch ‘skies while fishing with Capt. Ted Kessler of Grand Island in the Upper Niagara River. The season closes on Nov. 30 in the upper river and Lake Erie, as well as the rest of the state, except for the lower river and Lake O.
Speaking of Lake O., the action in the streams off Lake O. has slowed for browns and steelhead, as well as the occasional late king salmon. We’ve heard a few Cohos being caught, too. Water has been slightly stained and conditions aren’t too bad, but fish have been finicky. It’s a good bet that many people are hunting. There hasn’t been a lot of fishing pressure. Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
Oswego River Report
According to Oz Angling Bait & Tackle:
The salmon spawn is coming to an end and the trout will start feeding more heavily on baitfish because there is no longer such an abundance of salmon eggs in the Oswego River. The next five months opens a great opportunity to capture trout on Lake Ontario tributaries with marabou jigs. Our favorite way to fish them is by center pin float fishing. Although, you can still fish them like any other jig by casting out and jigging it back to you along the bottom. If you are looking to target brown trout right now, then marabou jigs are the way to go! The water flow has dropped to 10,400cfs as of this morning.
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 visitoswegocounty.com and click on 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:
Reports from most of our anglers Monday indicated a fairly productive day down on the run. Once again, covering water was the name of the game. A mix of angling types on the water, however all methods seemed to fair pretty well no matter what you threw at them. A bit quieter yesterday than the days past. You really had to work for them which proved somewhat difficult for some with the recent bump in water. Most anglers were able to get into just a couple of fish over the course of the day but no significant numbers reported. The release at the dam is 750cfs through midnight tonight with a flow of 1010cfs at Pineville.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
The majority of anglers we spoke with on Monday reported getting into some fish throughout the river. In the upper end of the river anglers reported fish holding in and around the deeper holes and larger runs. In the mid to lower section of the river anglers reported that covering lots of water was the key to success with the most active fish holding along the inside seams of the transition water. For those anglers who are fly fishing, using egg patterns under a strike indicator or dead drifting with nymphs has produced the best results. The most productive fly patterns were sucker spawn, wiggle stones, steelhead hammer, rusher nymphs, steelhead buggers and flesh flies. For those anglers who are bottom bouncing or float fishing, pink and blue egg sacs or beads have produced steady results.
Oneida Lake report:
The shore night bite is still producing a few walleye with stickbaits.
Sandy Pond report:
There has been no activity reported from the pond. There likely won’t be much until the beginning of the ice fishing season.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
There were a some souls fishing Maxwell Creek on the south side of Lake Road a few day’s ago. The word was slow fishing; however, a few browns were caught on the slower north side.
Driving Lake Road to Rochester, anglers were observed fishing many of the tribs. No idea how they made out.
The salmon run is over, however hold-over browns can be caught with egg sacs and bright beads. Water flow is excellent and currently the shoreline doesn’t have much snow.
Bays
Starting November 1s you need to be wearing a PFD while in your boat. You need to wear it…not just have it on your boat.
Some of the smaller bays and the south end of Sodus has a skim of ice. The temperatures are going to dip to the 20’s Thanksgiving Day, so we should be left in the transition of ice and open water.
Launch sites have been slushy, so the freezing temps will make it a challenge to put a boat in the water. The weekend looks warmer so maybe there is a chance to still use a boat.
Actually, you are better off hunting this week. But…if you can get on the water, the perch are in all the bays. Fish off the points.
Check out the rest of the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops.
Erie Canal
Nothing happening at the canal, however it’s a neat place to walk the trail.