Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
For Lake Ontario, lots of rain late last week and part of Saturday caused turbid conditions in the bigger creeks.
Smaller creeks are producing browns and steelhead right now. Egg patterns and streamers work well according to Scott Feltrinelli of Ontario Fly Outfitters. Try using egg patterns in orange and natural color buggers. Many fish are spawning on the redds right now, so those fish have had lockjaw. Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors in Olcott reports good action on egg sacs, artificial eggs, marshmallows, beads and wooly buggers. Pier action has been slow, primarily due to the winds keeping people off of them.
The Niagara River was still very stained as of today, but we’re getting close to fishable conditions for boaters. Use scent or something with vibration. Steelhead and brown trout top the list but a few out-of-season lake trout are showing up, too. There are still bass and walleye around, too, according to Lisa Drabczyk with Creek Road Bait and Tackle.
Lower river fishing has been better for the shore casters than the boaters for sure with the condition of the water since the storm. The shoreline usually clears first when you have conditions like this, allowing for better fishing close to the rocks. Egg sacs or imitations, spoons, spinners will all work. It should continue to improve the closer we get to the weekend, barring any further wind events. If we see some snow and ice, there’s a good chance that the New York Power Authority fishing platform will be closing temporarily. Call 796-0135 Ext. 45 to find out if it’s open.
In the upper Niagara River and Buffalo Harbor, musky fishermen are chomping at the bit to get out there and target these toothy fish. The season ends there on Nov. 30. Hans Mann of Buffalo Harbor Outfitters reports that we need some green water for fish to start turning on, and they should be hungry. Fishing was good in the river prior to the storm. When the water finally clears, it should be game on in Buffalo Harbor, just in time for the re-scheduled Tim Wittek Memorial Musky Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 10. The contest is sponsored by the Niagara Musky Association.
Remember that there will be a meeting hosted by DEC to discuss the Lake Ontario forage base on Wednesday, Nov. 13 starting at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will take place at Cornell Cooperative Extension Niagara, 4487 Lake Avenue, Lockport and it is free and open to the public.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
Oswego River Report
According to Oz Angling Tackle:
We had a great day on the Oz recently as we centerpin float fished with beads and egg sacs for some beautiful trout including a rare fantail rainbow. While we typically hear of one or so per year being caught in Oswego, we know of three that have been landed already this fall. Some quality trout have been reported in the Oswego River over the last few days. Among the nine trout we landed, out of 18 hooked, was a personal best brown trout that weighed 15.2 pounds. Chartreuse beads produced the most bites and marabou jigs enticed a couple browns as well. The river flow having been near 20,000 cfs over the weekend is running at 13,600 cfs this morning. This high flow does make many areas very difficult to fish.
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:
A mix of browns and steelhead were reported over the last couple of days being picked up mainly on beads and eggs. Some anglers were able to bring a fish or two to hand, while a few others went home without a tug on the line. Water temperature this morning was 48F. The water flow dropped to 750 CFS last night and Pineville is 1040 cfs this morning.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
We have gotten mixed reports from anglers with some getting into a few fish, while others have had a couple of tough days with no action at all. For those anglers who were fly fishing dead drifting with egg patterns produced the best results. For those anglers who were bottom bouncing with spinning gear or float fishing had the most success with blue and pink egg sacs or beads.
Oneida Lake Report:
There is not much new to report from the lake. Anglers are still finding a night bite casting stickbaits from shore just before and after dark.
Sandy Pond Report:
The pond is quiet this time of year.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
Some nice browns came from Maxwell last weekend. They are on both sides of Lake Road. Egg sacs and green beads are working. Anglers were also fly fishing, using bright flies.
One angler was using a center-pin reel, attempting hits from steelhead.
The kings will hit anything bright. The run in Wayne County was late, however there are dark kings in the streams.
The water flow was much better last week and the beginning of this week. Fish the pools on the south side of Lake Road.
Hughes’ Marina also had some brown action near the outlet to the bay.
No reports on fishing the pier at Sodus Bay. Last week the wind was cranking at 50 plus mph gusts. Waves in the lake were 15 to 20 feet high.
If there is no ice build-up you can catch trout and salmon from the pier. Make sure you bring a long- handled net.
Bays
Bass fishing in New York State ends November 30th. There are still anglers casting in Sodus Bay waters. They launch their boats at the Margaretta Street launch.
Remember…if you are on a boat during late autumn, you always need to wear your PFD. That regulation started the last day of October and is in effect until May1st.
If you need tackle Bay Bridge Sport Shop and Davenports at the south end of Sodus Bay are always opened.
Check out the rest of the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops. waynecountytourism.com.
Erie Canal
There were anglers fishing the canal at Widewaters Sunday afternoon. They were after late season bass. You don’t need a boat to fish the Erie Canal. There are plenty of pull-off locations along Route 31 for fishing.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Capt. John Oravec, Tight Lines Charters
There are some showers and gloom today with temps in the 40’s °F. Clear weather in the forecast this afternoon and tomorrow and then unsettled weather or Lake Effect Snow (LES) with colder temps forecast through the end of week and weekend. No serious accumulations are expected and any LES is so far forecast mostly south and west of the area.
All the waterways are still on a retreat from precipitation and higher flows the end of past week and weekend. Flows in the Oak are near slightly high and about 1 – 2 feet of visibility. There are real nice drifting conditions up and down the waterway although the higher flows may be a little more then the average fall angler is used to. Look for continued dropping flows more toward medium. Flows consist of turbine water although with heavy leaf fall occurring now, expect daily water level fluctuations with resultant overflow water. No doubt some fish have made it up that overflow channel.
Fishing pressure remains high and action is reported tougher over the past couple days. Anglers are into a few good browns though, still the bright spot Atlantics (pictured above) and the tardy Kings remain in pretty good shape. No reason to believe that brown trout and steelhead migrations won’t proceed on the same slightly late and drawn out runs like the Kings and I do believe that the overall numbers should be good.
The other area smaller tributaries have medium-ish flows and stained water color. Most guys are reporting good action west on Johnson Creek and more on/off action on tributaries to the east. Hopefully with all the waterways coming back now in good fishable shape this week, some of the angling pressure can spread back out.