Pictured above: John Jarosz of Lake View made arrangements to get his two grandsons Anthony and Sam Berti of Hamburg out fishing the Niagara River and they caught trout like this fishing with Capt. Ryan Shea of Brookdog Fishing Co.
Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Happy New Year’s! Now that the ball has dropped on 2019, area fishermen should be aware of some changes in regulations. Lake trout season is now open below Niagara Falls in the Niagara River and on the Niagara Bar in Lake Ontario. Also, walleye fishermen must note that the daily limit drops from 3 to 1 fish per person from Jan. 1 to March 15 in the lower river. If you fish the Canadian side of the river, in either the upper or lower stretches, the new license year also started up Jan. 1. Be aware of these changes if you take advantage of the mild winter conditions we are now experiencing. As far as Niagara River fishing conditions, it was a little spotty before the last wind and rain storm New Year’s eve. Fortunately, water conditions weren’t destroyed. Action should be good going into the weekend with mild conditions in the forecast. Lisa Drabczyk at Creek Road Bait and Tackle in Lewiston says there are steelhead, brown trout and walleye all being caught. Anglers seem to be using more pinks and oranges when using egg sacs, beads and spinners. Kwikfish and MagLips are also hot lures off three-way set-ups at times. Minnows are working to take fish, too. In the Upper Niagara River, lake trout and walleye are being caught around the Thompson’s Hole area on jigs.
In the Lake Ontario tributaries, Gianni Etopio of Youngstown caught a dozen trout to start off the New Year using jigs, egg sacs and beads in 18 Mile Creek. His biggest brown was 28 inches and his biggest steelhead was 29-1/2 inches. Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors in Olcott reports that wax worms are also producing a few trout – on a single hook or on a jig and fished under a float.
The Greater Niagara Fishing and Outdoor Expo is Jan. 18-20 at the Conference center in Niagara Falls. Check out niagarafishingexpo.com for details. Mark your calendar for the new “Birds on the Niagara” Festival set for Jan. 25 and 26. More to come on that one before the event.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
Oswego River Report
The water level has been fairly consistent for the last week or so. This morning it is flowing at 15,900 cfs. Conditions are about the same on the river. With the high water level and fast flow, the lower east side behind the hotels is a suggested spot to try. Anglers have found browns, rainbows and a few walleyes using jigs or bottom bouncing egg sacs.
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:
The water flow was over 2,000 cfs to end 2018. At that level we were not open for fishing. The good news is the flow has dropped to 1,482 cfs, the weather looks decent for the upcoming weekend and we are open again to anglers.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
On Wednesday we had blue skies with plenty of sunshine and the temperature reached near 30 degrees. The water level continues to be high but a few anglers are still fishing both from the bank as well as drift boats. The majority of bank anglers are fishing the upper end of the river mostly between Altmar and Pineville. The drift boats have been taking advantage of the high water and floating most of the river. Anglers who are float fishing or bottom bouncing have had the most success with blue egg sacs. For those anglers who are fly fishing both dead drifting or indicator fishing with wiggle stones, rusher nymphs, steelhead stones, woolly buggers, sucker spawn and glo-bugs have all produced results.
Oneida Lake Report:
There is not a lot to report from the lake. High temperatures are expected to be above freezing through the weekend. With no sustained period of cold temperatures, safe ice formation is still a ways off yet.
Sandy Pond Report:
There has been no activity reported from the pond. There has not been a stretch of cold temperatures as yet for ice formation.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
The steelhead fishing in Maxwell Creek was great over the holiday. It can be hot and cold, however the last few days have been very productive for steelies.
Egg sacs, bright beads, flies, and small red spoons have all worked. Both side of Lake Road work. There is plenty of parking and the flow is excellent.
Salmon Creek in Pultneyville and Bear Creek in Ontario also have steelhead.
The Sodus Bay Pier didn’t have any ice build-up towards the south end, and now that the winds have calmed you can cast off the pier. Use small bright glow Little Cleos.
Bays
All the bays have open water and if the temps stay where they are there will be no ice making. The surface temp on Port Bay is 34 degrees so it will freeze fast if there is no wind and below freezing temperatures.
The perch are in the bays, although no one has been fishing from boats. Now that the holidays are over, we should see some action. It is supposed to be in the 40’s towards the end of the week, so prepare the boat for open water fishing.
Erie Canal
The canal is frozen with a skim of the ice. To thin for ice fishing.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Bierstine of Oak Orchard Tackle and Lodge
Thanks to rain a couple of nights ago, all the tributary flows have stained or dirty water color. Flows really haven’t bumped up all that much – if at all – in the Oak. Flows in the Oak are about moderate to medium or what you might call “one click less than medium”. Water color is stained at approximately 1 ft plus of visibility and may get a little dirtier over today or tomorrow. Flows in the other area smaller tributaries are about medium with dirty water color. Flows should be maintained, give or take, with generally the moderate weather ahead. Just a slight chance of snow showers are forecast over the next couple days but still no great prolonged cold snap is expected. Angler success is a little unknown thanks to few reports back in. Any presentations will need to be big and or bright and or slow and or deep and or stinky for best chance at hook ups given the present conditions.