Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
Niagara River water was starting to change for the worse on Tuesday after the heavy rains followed by winds. Today, there were no boats headed out because of the stained water conditions. There was also a bit more wind. Shore fishermen will be the first to hit the lower river as they work spinners, jigs and beads or sacs in tight to shore in the clearer waters. Capt. Ryan O’Neill and Capt. Ryan Shea tag teamed a trip in Devil’s Hole this past week to take several steelhead and a lake trout reeled in by Tracey Mikolajek of Boston. Lake trout season is now open as of Jan. 1 in the lower river. There are still a few walleyes being caught. The daily limit on walleye is now 1 fish per person through March 15 in the lower river. Shore guys were getting steelhead off Artpark according to Lisa Drabczyk of Creek Road Bait and Tackle in Lewiston. Top baits were pink egg sacs or No. 4 green/chartreuse spinners. Trout action on the bar was good, too. Sacs, beads, Kwikfish or live bait was working on the Niagara Bar. Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls has been hitting the gorge area from shore and he’s been pulling about 4-5 steelhead a trip using No. 4 green/chartreuse spinners or a jig. You should be able to fish again by this weekend.
According to Ethan Bronschidle of Newfane, many of the Lake Ontario creeks are high and muddy due to the recent heavy rains. However, bead and bag combos have been doing the trick when you can find the right conditions. Smaller streams will clear before the larger ones. Good numbers of fish were reported at Burt Dam. If we don’t see any more rain, we could be fishing by the weekend. Jim DeGirolamo of Derby did well over the weekend on browns trolling the shoreline off Olcott. He worked shallow running Storm Thundersticks in 8 to 12 feet of water, keeping his baits 75 and 150 feet back. They caught 5 fish in 3 hours of fishing.
It’s not too early to start planning for the Greater Niagara Fishing and Outdoor Expo Jan. 17-19 at the Conference and Event Center Niagara Falls. Over 200 seminars and over 170 vendor booths. Check out www.niagarafishingexpo.com.
Remember, for all motorized boaters out there, Jan. 1, 2020 is the trigger date for Brianna’s Law, a new law that requires all boaters to take a boating safety class over a 5 year window. For phase 1, all boat operators born on or after Jan. 1, 1993 must complete a safety course to operate a motorized vessel starting in 2020. Happy New Year!
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
Oswego River Report
The river flow rose to 17,000 CFS late Tuesday night. This afternoon it is flowing at 14,700 CFS. The higher water makes fishing along many areas of the river difficult. Anglers were finding a number of brown trout and steelhead with behind the hotels a suggested area to try.
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:
While we had considerable wind yesterday, the snows that were predicted for our area stayed north of us and we only received a slight dusting (about two inches on the ground) A handful of anglers brought in the new year with a day on the run and had mixed results. The first angler off the river this afternoon went 0 for one, but thought he may have had a couple more bites, but with the strong winds getting the hook set posed a considerable challenge. All of our anglers noted that the winds made things difficult to say the least. Another angler went 0 for 2 and indicated that the wind was “brutal” down low. Another angler getting off the water late after spending the day on the run indicated that although the wind was difficult he “had no complaints”. The current water flow is 750 CFS and 1,110 CFS at Pineville.
Oneida Lake Report:
There is no new report from the lake. Daytime temperatures will be in the 40s through Saturday. Then it appears that some colder temperatures will be moving in with highs in the low 30s for several days.
Sandy Pond Report:
There is nothing new to report from the pond. After the next couple of days, colder temperatures are expected to move in for several days so we will have to see how long that lasts.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
The last two days saw 1.12 inches of rain and yesterday the flow at Maxwell Creek was moving fast. On the south side of Lake Road, the current was intense and if you fish that area use heavy terminal ends, whatever your choice of lures.
The north side opens-up into Maxwell Bay and you have a chance to cast flies, spoons, or bounce the bottom with egg sacs. The current is always slower on the north side. Some steelhead are hitting, however it has been a limited bite.
Bay Bridge Sport Shop at the south end of Sodus Bay has everything you need for stream angling.
All the smaller streams are running fast and furious and some steelhead and browns are coming near Salmon Creek in the town of Pultneyville. The smaller tribs are located off Lake Road. (Seaway Trail)
You can also try pier fishing. The Sodus pier is free of any ice and the current coming out of the bay is fast, bringing in some trout.
Bays
Any remnant ice has disappeared from the bays. It never was safe anyway, so we need to wait for the Canadian freeze to come south.
Out of the county, there has been some safe ice at Big Bay on Oneida Lake and the Fair Haven pond was safe for a limited time…but not as of today.
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. www.waynecountytourism.com.
Erie Canal
The Widewater section of the canal lost its ice and you can fish from the Port Gibson area, angling from the shoreline.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Capt. John Oravec, Tight Lines Charters
Thanks to rain over the past couple of days, all the tributary flows are high, blown and dirty. Guys still got some drifts in on the Oak through yesterday and probably even some today. Flows in the Oak should be cresting with dirty water color by today/tomorrow. On the backside of the crest, look for diminishing overflow water and a continued good head of turbine flows. Flows will likely remained stained. The other area smaller tributaries should be on the retreat and clearing through the end part of this week. Any more precipitation could keep flows up and stained. Forecast is still pretty mild through this week with highs expected in the 40’s°F again for the end of the week. Rain showers today are going over to Lake Effect Snow with greater accumulations expected south of the area. There’s a chance of more rain again for the end of the week.
Happy New Year and bring on some fresh steelhead for 2020!