Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Yes, the 7th Annual Greater Niagara Fishing and Outdoor Expo – The Teaching Fishing Show – will open tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the Conference and Event Center Niagara Falls Jan. 17-19, 2020. There are over 200 seminars over the course of the 3 days. Imagine over 60 walleye seminars, over 35 salmon and trout seminars, over 30 bass seminars and a whole curriculum on getting started with fly fishing. There is a big focus on kayak fishing and kayaks in general. On Friday night, there will be abbreviated versions of the State of Lake Erie and State of Lake Ontario as we enter the new year, with New Information. On Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., there will be a DEC open house at the Expo that will allow for one-on-one time with lake manager, hatchery managers, finger lakes biologists, stream biologists and much more. Ask your questions on the Great Lakes, the Finger Lakes, the Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers, environmental law enforcement, women in fishing programs, the salmon river and the salmon river fish hatchery and more. For the seminars, some of the top names include Mark and Jake Romanack with Fishing 411; Lance Valentine with Teachin’ Fishin’ and Walleye 101; fly fishing guru Rick Kustich and more. There are over 100 different speakers! Don’t forget some 170 vendor booths in the main exhibit hall, too. Check out www.niagarafishingexpo.com for details. Make sure you print out a voucher for $5 parking off the website. See you there!
The water was terribly off-color following the wind and rain from last weekend. Charters were cancelled in Monday and Tuesday, but times like this is when shore fishermen can still pick up a few fish in the gorge. One case in point was Rich Pisa of Kenmore. Last Monday he hit the gorge area and went 4 for 4 on steelhead. Using his centerpin combination, he fished under a float with a homemade jig tipped with soft plastics. In the upper river, Denis Kreze of Fort Erie, Ontario found some spots that worked for lake trout and walleye on Monday and Tuesday. He was using some Venom Lures fish scent in garlic flavor to get some strikes and tip the fishing in his favor. One boat made it out Wednesday and they caught steelhead, lake trout and even a sucker, but conditions were still tough. More wind is in the forecast along with some cold temps so expect some more tough conditions into the weekend.
The bigger streams were high and muddy off Lake Ontario, but Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls found that the smaller streams offered much better conditions. Egg sacs did the trick for him to take brown trout and steelhead. However, the water should turn by this weekend to just stained. It will be getting cold again by Friday as well. Slow your drift down and using bright baits. There will be a State of Lake Ontario at the Fishing Expo starting at 6 p.m. on Friday night.
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 water flow has been running between 12,000-16,000 CFS. This morning it is flowing at 12,700 CFS. With the high flow, many areas along the river are difficult to fish. Trout and walleye fishing should be productive in the lower river. Bottom bouncing a night crawler in this area has caught their attention.
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 decent weather brought almost a dozen anglers out on the water yesterday and most were able to bring a couple fish to hand. Reports varied from 2/3, 2/2, “a good day” but a couple did go home empty handed. The water was running cold and clear at 36F. Beads size 8 & 10mm in frosted tangerine and green as well as blue egg sacs proved successful. The current water flow has dropped to 750 CFS and 1,130 CFS at Pineville.
Oneida Lake Report:
Temperatures have been up and down and although some areas of the lake have iced over, the ice is not safe at this time. Warm temperatures and high winds have not been a good formula for ice formation. Colder temperatures moved in overnight and the forecast is calling for a stretch of colder weather through the 7-day outlook. Wind is expected to be an issue over the weekend with gusts to 30 mph. Please be patient and wait for safe conditions.
Sandy Pond Report:
According to Greene Point Marina:
There is no safe ice on the pond. Although there were some areas that had iced over, the wind along with warmer temperatures up through yesterday have not been favorable for solid ice formation. We will keep you updated when we get into the upcoming stretch of colder temperatures.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
The muddy water flowing out of Maxwell Creek made for some difficult fishing last week, however it’s beginning to clear-up. Today the temps are again in the high forties, but at least the wind has stopped cranking. Maxwell has clear water.
Some steelhead and a few browns are coming from Maxwell Creek. You can fish either side of Lake Road. The small pockets holding some steelies are on the south side, while the north is the slower current.
It has been hit or miss with catches, however it’s the perfect day to fish.
This weekend is another predicted cold front coming through with some snow, but that won’t hurt any stream angling. Hopefully, there won’t be any more rain to muddy the water.
Bay Bridge Sport Shop at the south end of Sodus Bay has everything you need for stream angling.
The Sodus pier has no ice at the south end. Not sure if anyone is catching steelhead, but it’s another place to throw out bright spoons.
Bays
Nothing is happening on the bays. There is no ice anywhere. Even the smaller ponds like Sodus Center have nothing but slush.
If you do try to fish from a boat, make sure you know what your doing. Wear the PFD and don’t take any chances because the water temps are in th high 30’s. Hypothermia is a vey quick killer.
If you need tackle Bay Bridge Sport Shop and Davenports at the south end of Sodus Bay are always opened. They both have live bait if you like fishing with small minnows.
Check out the rest of the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops.
Erie Canal
No one is fishing the canal.
Niagara Fishing Expo
Don’t forget the Niagara Fishing Expo coming-up January 17-19, 2020. All the info is at
This is a fantastic event for anglers. DEC will be there answering all your angling questions.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Capt. John Oravec, Tight Lines Charters
The area received a fair amount of rain over the past weekend, but escaped the worst predicted rain amounts. All the tributary flows are up and dirty. The forecast through this mid part of the week is pretty agreeable with highs in the 40’s °F and mostly clear. There’s a chance of changeable weather toward the end of the week and colder temps for the weekend. By January standards, there have been a few more guys out thanks to the decent weather conditions. Flows in the Oak are high consisting of what looks like full bore turbine water. There appears to be no significant overflow levels. Water color is probably getting dirtier still through today with approximately 1 foot or less of visibility. Look for flows to stay on the higher side through this week with water color slowly on the mend through the upcoming weekend. Downstream drifts are going to be tough in these conditions and guys at the dam have scored some steelhead hook ups by slowing down the drifts with brite baits.
The other area smaller tributaries are high or nearly blown with dirty water color. Flows should be back on the retreat now and approaching better drift-able conditions with water color coming back around toward just stained through the mid and end of this week.