Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
The talk of the fishing world this week in Western New York is the huge musky caught by Dan King of Orchard Park while fishing with friends Capt. Hans Mann of Alden and Josh Ketry of Hamburg. Using a 9-inch “deep carver” that Mann makes called the Night Shiner, they were trolling in Buffalo Harbor near the north gap when a big fish hit at 10:15 a.m. last Saturday. It turned out to be a 55-inch musky that sported a huge girth. It looked disproportionate. They didn’t have a scale or a tape measure, but conservative estimates put it at 50 to 55 pounds. It was released to fight another day. Congratulations guys, a fish of a lifetime!
Lower Niagara River action has been consistent for salmon and trout according to Capt. Frank Campbell of Lewiston. There are some late run salmon still available on treated egg skein and steelhead are starting to show up. Out of season lake trout are also showing up occasionally, all in the Devil’s Hole area. Lisa Drabczyk with Creek Road Bait and Tackle in Lewiston reports that Salmon, steelhead, and lake trout are all showing up along Artpark, and around the Whirlpool areas. Salmon are hitting treated eggs, and spinners; trout are hitting beads, skein, egg sacs, and Kwikfish. Bass have been hitting chubs and spinners. Walleyes are still hitting worm harnesses or jigs. Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls reports that the water has cleared a lot with 7 to 8 feet of visibility. He hit some bass below the falls on Tuesday, catching double digit bronzebacks.
One of the hotspots for catching salmon, along with a few trout, has been Burt Dam on 18 Mile Creek in the Town of Newfane. Karen Evarts at the Boat Doctors in Olcott reports that the dam is rocking for fish, and as a result, for fishermen, too. Egg skein and egg sacs are working in the creek. Try fishing during non-peak times. Spoons, spinners, and eggs are working off the pier at night. Some trollers are using banana baits like Kwikfish or J13 Rapala stickbaits. Some of the smaller tributaries like Keg Creek are low. Rain is expected Wednesday night and that could help.
Oswego County
- Salmon season is quickly winding down.
- We have seen the trickle of trout into the SR turn into a steady push. We are hopeful that the big pushes of trout will continue.
- Oswego is still seeing decent numbers of fish.
- Watch the unofficial “State of the Lake” video with Cornell and The Awakening Angler
- Order a free fishing guide
Oneida Lake
Here the unofficial fall “State of the Lake” from the fisheries biology folks at the Cornell Shackleton Point Research Facility on Oneida Lake. To learn more about fishing Oneida Lake, click here.
Oswego River
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Fishing on the Oswego has really changed this week. Fishing pressure is down, but the anglers swinging flies in the flats have had the most success. Those heading back from the Dam have reported seeing less fish than in weeks past but still decent numbers. The wall anglers have really been lacking this week, with the minimal flows.
But the good thing about the low water level is that it allows anglers to access all of the river.
The biggest news this week has been the early signs of trout moving into the Oswego. Anglers have been having the most success in the fast water fishing single egg imitators such as beads and single egg pattern flies.
When casting from the wall the best baits include deep, diving thundersticks and bandits in bright colors.
Fishing skein under slip float has also produced fish. Red, pink, and orange have all been working. 12-16mm beads in various shades of red have also kept floats dropping.
Salmon River
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Fish had been entering the river at a slower pace than normal for this time of year but that all changed this week. If you are looking to capture some salmon concentrate on the upper river.
The water is starting to cool down and fish have been all over the spawning areas. As a general tactic, concentrate on the gravel.
The best baits have been egg imitations in a variety of colors, with naturals beings best. But don’t overlook an out of the box color like chartreuse. Trick’em, trout beads and soft beads are all good choices.
Popular flies include: glo bugs, comets and Eztaz. Cheese, orange, magenta and chartreuse are all poular.
Free Fishing Guide
Click Here to Order a Free Guide
The 68-page guide includes a detailed overview of fishing opportunities on eastern Lake Ontario, Oneida Lake, the Oswego and Salmon rivers and a variety of other tributaries, as well as the more than 40,000 acres of public lands available for hunting.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
Streams still don’t have any flow. In Wayne County Salmon Creek in Pultneyville has browns across the creek from the restaurant. Use egg sacs or bright beads.
The best bet is Hughes’ Marina one mile east of Pultneyville on Lake Road.
Pier fishing is a good bet for browns and some steelhead. Fish the Sodus channel. Throw out the spoons. The Cleos seem to be anglers’ choice for casting across the channel.
Be careful fishing from piers. Wear a pfd and bring a long-handled net. The lake level is really low…almost 40 inches.
Lake Ontario tributary regulations:
Three fish in combination and not to include more than one Rainbow Trout (or Steelhead) and One Brown Trout.
Bays
Sodus Bay has some perch at the north end and between the islands. Look for structure in 20 fow.
Port Bay has been slow; however, the perch are still there. Use your favorite rubber, however, keep it small. Bright yellow has worked with four spikes on the hook. Keep your sinker on the bottom with the hook about 12 inches above.
Use the north end DEC ramp for Port Bay. The road is bumpy so take it slow.
On Sodus Bay, Bay Bridge Sport Shop located at the south end, has a good launch.
Erie Canal
Some bass boats were fishing Widewaters early Sunday morning. Anglers were also fishing from the shore under the Port Gibson Bridge for pan fish…mostly crappies.
More Info: canals.ny.gov/boating/hours.html
• Keep informed from the NYS Canal web for changes and restrictions with canal waters.
• Keep informed about 2022 canal hours.
• There are no tolls or fees for recreational use of the Canal system this year.
Notable Freshwater Fishing Regulation Changes
The following list offers a summary of the most notable fishing regulation changes resulting from the adopted rulemakings described above.
- New statewide regulation for rainbow trout, brown trout, and splake in lakes and ponds. The season will now be open year-round, with a five-fish daily limit, any size, with a “no more than two longer than 12 inches” harvest rule.
- Statewide Atlantic salmon regulations will now allow for a year-round open season.
- Ice fishing is permitted on all waters in New York unless specifically prohibited with the exception of Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Warren, and Washington counties where previous rules remain.
- New specific dates replaced floating dates for statewide season openers to include:
- May 1 – Walleye, Northern Pike, Pickerel, and Tiger Muskellunge.
- June 1 – Muskellunge. (Note that in 2022, DEC will allow for the fishing of muskellunge beginning the last Saturday in May to accommodate previously planned fishing trips);and
- June 15 – Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass.
- A five-fish daily walleye limit in Oneida Lake.
- A new regulation to limit the growth of the walleye population in Skaneateles Lake. No daily possession limit; 12-inch minimum size limit, open year-round.
- The statewide sunfish daily harvest limit has been reduced from 50 to 25 fish: and
- The statewide minimum size limit for crappie has been increased from nine inches to ten inches.
Orleans County
Ron Bierstine from Oak Orchard Tackle & Lodge brings us this Stream Fishing report:
Good action reported, consistent from most anglers on the Oak thru the past end of weekend and yesterday. Similar to that push of fish we saw something like a couple weeks ago it sounds like another good push of salmon moving toward the dam with some browns in tow were evidenced later Sunday and Monday. This is after mostly tougher action reported for the begin part of the past weekend. Not hearing of much lower river and rivermouth action as probably the bulk of Kings are more upstream now. Look for some late fish to come thru but likely not in any great concentrations. Expect mod to med, but just less then med – mostly clear flows in the Oak. Leaf fall is underway so expect daily water level fluctuations thanks to turbine rack cleaning at the dam.
Wow! The weather continues with near record warmth! It has definitely brought out some more guys so not sure we’ll see the typical fall off in the mid week angler numbers. Forecast is continued warm thru tomorrow with chance of precipitation end of day or later tomorrow. Even after that thru the upcoming weekend I still wouldn’t call it cold – just seasonably cool and continued dry.
Thankful for that continued Erie Canal water feed for select tribs as the forecasted precipitation at this time not likely to cause a big change in trib flows. Guys report good to strong numbers of Kings at the dam and overflow. At least in the turbine channel we can look for some of those fish that won’t be taking an overland route, to drop back downstream filling in the fast water gravel sections. More green or fresher fish still being encountered then zombies. Anglers seeing and having hook up success on browns is encouraging – we are likely on a trajectory to out pace last years brown trout action already. Then coupled with the mixed bag of Atlantics and steelhead and cohos, the hook up chances sound pretty good. Check out Joe’s nice coho above.