Pictured above: Denis Kreze of Fort Erie (@deniskreze on Instagram) shows off the Atlantic salmon he caught in the upper Niagara River this week.
Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
It’s a free fishing weekend in New York! Feb. 16 and 17 are designated Free Fishing Days in the state, originally approved to help promote ice fishing in the state. It looks like there will be plenty of that going on, but thanks to some untimely warm ups, make sure you check your ice thickness, especially around the shoreline.
While you don’t need a fishing license, you do need to abide by the regulations for the body of water you intend to fish. Check out the DEC website at dec.ny.gov for more info.
The only hardwater action going on is Wilson Harbor in Tuscarora Bay. Steelhead, pike and panfish are the types of fish being caught.
Soft water action in the lower Niagara River has been on fire. At least when you can get out there. Heavy winds last week pushed lots of ice into the river and created problems for a few days around the launch ramps. When the ice was gone, though, it was game on and it’s blowing again right now!
Capt. Matt Yablonsky has been doing well on trout and walleye using a mix of minnows, egg sacs and plugs like MagLips or Kwikfish. These are all fished off three-way rigs. All the main drifts are holding fish and they are eating everything. Incidentally, the daily limit on walleye is 1 fish in the lower river. Shore anglers in the gorge are also catching some fish on No. 4 spinners, jigs and egg sacs but caution is advised due to the icy shoreline.
Above Niagara Falls, walleye action has been good for jiggers in some of the deeper holes. Denis Kreze of Fort Erie even caught an Atlantic salmon this past week, a very rare catch indeed for this stretch of river.
The Niagara River Anglers have rescheduled its Roger Tobey Memorial Steelhead contest for the lower Niagara River and Lake Ontario tributaries. The date is March 2nd and the hours are sunrise to 2 p.m. with awards to follow at Lewiston No. 1 Fire Hall. You must be a member of the club to compete. Call Paul Jackson at 998-8910 for more info. Also on March 2 is the Antique Fishing Tackle Ice Breaker show at the Elk’s Lodge on North Canal Road in Gasport from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bring your old fishing tackle in.
Lake Ontario tributaries are tough to fish right now with the ice and cold temperatures. Look for open water near dams like Burt. The WNY Boat Show is coming up next week, set for Feb. 20 to 24 at the Adpro Center at One Bills Drive in Orchard Park. Admission is free on Wednesday and Thursday. Check out www.wnyboatshow.com for details.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
Oswego River Report
According to Oz Angling Tackle:
The current water flow is 13,400cfs. Anglers have been getting into some fresh steelhead on the Oswego River lately. We have had a number of good trout fishing reports come in over the past few days. Browns are being caught in the lower river while steelhead have been found throughout the river.
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 Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
We have had a wintry mix of lake effect snow, sleet and freezing rain along with very high winds over the last couple of days. With less than ideal weather conditions it’s no surprise we only spoke with a handful of anglers who ventured out, but one of them did report having a few hook ups in Altmar. Tomorrow will be a bit warmer with rain and snow showers. The weekend is expected to be in the upper 20s with scattered snow showers. The river flow is scheduled to be at 1650cfs for the next few days.
Oneida Lake Report:
Anglers reported some decent fishing on Oneida Lake last weekend. A good number of perch along with some walleye were taken. The ice was good but there are a few pressure cracks so use caution as you go. We have had a mixed bag of weather this week with snow and freezing rain along with strong winds at times. The thermometer is going to rise overnight and reach into the 40s tomorrow with some rain. Cooler air will move in for the weekend and early next week with scattered snow showers. Area first responders are asking people to be aware of the weather conditions and the forecast after being called to the lake twice in the last few days. It can become very difficult to make your way back in off the ice if the snow and wind pick up once you are out there. Please heed the forecast – it is not worth your life or that of the responders who come to your assistance.
Sandy Pond Report:
With the weather conditions this week, we do not have a lot to report. There has not been any anglers on the pond in our area in three days. It has been cold so the ice should be good, however, it is covered with some snow at this time which is likely crusty with the freezing rain we had Tuesday. Rain is expected over night with slightly warmer temperatures tomorrow but the thermometer will drop into the upper 20s with just scattered snow showers this weekend.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
There are a few openings in Maxwell Creek, however stream fishing that creek is difficult. If we have a thaw, the steelhead fishing will be excellent this time of year.
Bays
Currently, there is still solid ice on all the bays. A few inches were lost during last week’s warm-up; however, Sodus and Port Bays have 8 plus inches of black ice.
Hopefully today’s snow fall will blow-off the bays. Tomorrow we have another round a gale force wind. That’ll blow off snow but will make ice fishing a chore.
The perch fishing continues to be excellent. Last Saturday there were hundreds of shanties on the bays, reeling in 10 to 12-inch perch. The Saturday before the Super Bowl there were over 500 shanties on Sodus Bay.
Make sure you don’t leave anything behind when you finish for the day. That includes on the ice as well as next to your vehicle. Take in-take out is the theme while ice fishing.
The productive areas are still off the points; however, the perch appear to be everywhere. They are hitting bright jigs tipped with perch eyes or spike. Or you can use tip-ups with minnows.
If we can keep the ice… this year will be as exciting as last year’s phenomenal ice season.
If you need bait or equipment go to B-E Fishing Tackle in Ontario or Bay Bridge Sport Shop at the south end of Sodus.
Check out the rest of the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops.
Erie Canal
Some ice shanties were on Widewaters last Saturday. The canal is a great place to ice fish for panfish.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Bierstine of Oak Orchard Tackle and Lodge
Just when you think the weather will get somewhat consistent – it changes again. Seems to be the pattern. This week’s forecast temperatures are probably not as cold as anticipated, at least until the end of week or upcoming weekend, so look for most tributary flows to be open and fishable for now without icing back up. Given this February time frame, it would take a good bit of consistent cold to lock things back up. Snow is expected today changing over to a wintry mix of rain and then changing back over to snow tomorrow. Warmer temps and the rain may get some runoff rolling again just as things were trying to retreat.
For now flows in the Oak are slightly high consisting of a good head of turbine water and diminished overflow water. Water color has been improving at about 1 – 2 ft of visibility. Flows may be back on the increase and getting dirtier through the mid part of this week. There has been a fair amount of pressure at the dam at times, but generally the rest of the downstream water has not had a lot of pressure. Guys are into a mix of old and fresh steelhead with some legit 30+ inch fish reported. The other area smaller tributaries have slightly high to high and stained flows that are pretty well open. Reports from those waterways are somewhat quiet but there’s likely some fresh steelhead chances there too. The stormy weather today and tomorrow may make for some challenging drifting and we’ll have to see what the end of week and upcoming weekend weather may do to the water levels.