Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
The final free fishing day of the year in New York will be on Nov. 11 to help celebrate Veteran’s Day. The special day offers free angling opportunities for anyone 16 years of age and older. Anyone under 16 years of age does not need a license to fish in the Empire State. Because the day falls on a Saturday, it will be a perfect opportunity to take a veteran out fishing, as well as anyone else, friend or family, to enjoy a cast or two. While no fishing license is required, you must still abide by the rules and regulations for the body of water you intend to fish. For more information on fishing regulations in the Empire State, visit www.dec.ny.gov.
Capt. Frank Campbell of Lewiston reports that fishing is good to very good from Devil’s Hole all the way to the Niagara Bar. In Devil’s Hole, steelhead are on and off with eggs, beads, minnows, and Mag Lips. At Artpark, lake trout, some steelhead and a few browns are being caught on eggs, beads, and Mag Lips. At Fort Niagara, some browns are cooperating. Use eggs or beads. Smallmouth bass action has been decent on live bait and swimbaits. If you can get on the Niagara Bar, there are trout, walleye, and bass hitting Mag Lips and minnows. Boat and angling etiquette is important when fishing.
Capt. Connor Cinelli of Grand Island split his time between the upper and lower rivers. In the upper river, he’s managed a few muskie bites this week. Sucker baits with quick strike rigs is his go-to approach. There are lots of big smallmouth bass around Strawberry Island and in the East River. Big golden shiners and small suckers have been the ticket for the bass, fished off 3-way rigs. Down below Niagara Falls in the lower river, he’s been getting a few steelhead mixed in with lake trout. There has been a good brown trout bite at Fort Niagara on chartreuse or yellow beads fished off 3-way rigs.
Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls has been out quite a bit this past week catching the end of the salmon run, the beginning of the steelhead run, and inadvertently hooking up with lake trout that are out of season until Dec. 1. Water clarity was 6 feet easy, but it’s probably going to change with the big south-southwest winds. Ziehm has been using his No. 4 white and chartreuse mixed spinners. Orange will also work. His favorite ¼-ounce bucktail jigs are pearl white.
Tommy Holycross of Wheatfield landed two and lost four steelhead in what he says will be his last trip to the NYPA platform due to the Southern Zone deer season going on. He expects to lose fish when using 8-pound test line, giving him a better chance to even hook up. Steelhead are plentiful, with the occasional zombie salmon still around as well. Beads are the ticket to success at this point.
Jim Evarts of the Boat Doctors Tackle Barn reports that brown trout fishing continues to be good in Eighteenmile Creek and Burt Dam/Fisherman’s Park with egg sacs, beads, and flies. Hot colors continue to be orange and chartreuse. Wax worms and spikes are helping to attract hits. There are still a few salmon hanging around and more steelheads are starting to show up. Wilson Harbor perch has been decent the past week and some are showing up in Olcott, too.
The Niagara Musky Association held its Tim Wittek/John Henning Memorial Catch and Release musky tournament last Sunday and the winner of the event was Andy Lacko of Tonawanda with a 50-1/2-inch fish he jigged up from the upper river using a Bondy Bait. Second place went to Cullen Veiders of Lockport with a 48-1/2-inch musky he jigged up using a Red October ninja tube. John Miller of Lackawanna placed third with a 44-inch fish he caught casting with a Hans the Carver blade. There were 38 anglers who participated and nine fish were caught.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
Salmon Creek in Pultneyville has steelhead, brown trout and some kings being netted from the south side of the creek. There is limited access on the east side of the bridge across from the post office on Lake Road.
The browns have been entering the Sodus Channel. Cast out bright spoons. Kastmaster and Little Cleos are heavy spoons for casting across the channel from the pier.
You can also cast into the Port Bay channel. If the lake is calm, try throwing out spoons from the shoreline next to the outlet.
Bays
Sodus Bay has perch action near the Leroy Island bridge. Fish the south side of the bridge using shad rubber bait or put some spikes on a small rubber tailed jig.
The perch are starting to school in size; however, you still need to move around. Some are in shallow water and others are off the points in 20 feet. Look for structure or just concentrate on the old weed beds.
Port Bay also has seen some larger perch. If you don’t have a boat, fish on the northern shoreline of the bay.
DEC has launch sites at the northern barrier bar and the south end at West Port Bay Road. Use the south end. It has a newly constructed long ramp.
Erie Canal
Sunday afternoon some kayak anglers were casting for panfish at Widewaters. The bays were on the windy side, however Widewaters was calm.
Bass season closes November 30th; however, you can catch and release from December 1st until June 14th.
Anyone underway in a boat less than 21 feet in length anytime between November 1 and May 1 must wear a securely fastened life jacket.
Bait for fishing is available on the south end of Sodus at Davenports and Bay Bridge Sport Shop.
On Port Bay Jarvis Bait Farm is open on Brown Road. The signs are on East Port Bay Road at the junction of Brown Road.
Toadz Bait is near the end of West Port Bay Road.
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
Orleans County Sportfishing Coordinator Ron Bierstine:
Now getting into the “second season” action on the Oak and other area smaller tribs. The second season is when anglers focus on brown trout primarily and some steelhead with the Kings waning. Fishing pressure usually is not as intense as earlier in the season as well. This year it seems an exciting opportunity to get into some Atlantic salmon action too with reasonable water conditions thanks to the Erie Canal water feed. Guys on the Oak have consistently hooked up on Atlantics this year and in Sandy too. Also ahead we can look for winter drainage events from the Canal that will push spates of water thru the waterways that could bring on more migrations.
Decent weather is hanging in and with any luck that will continue giving us a good fishing window into December. Look for that drop off in angling pressure ahead with holidays and big game seasons coming on. Chance of rain or showers tonight and thru some part of tomorrow with only 0.25 inch expected. Chance of a breezy day tomorrow and the weekend forecast looks clear with moderate temps.
For this mid week period on the Oak anyway it looks like the fishing pressure has eased some. Other waterways like at Burt or the popular pull offs like on Sandy might still be crowded. Brown trout action is good and anyone that moves around to different spots is remarking they are seeing more fish then they have seen in years. There is good opportunity for multiple hook-ups by fly or spin or float for anglers making a good drift. Holding tight to one spot can work for hook-ups too but you’ll be at the mercy of the fish turning on and off in that spot or new fish moving in. Trying different drift spots will inevitably lead to showing different fish and different presentations which is usually what is going to get them to bite! There have been some big male browns caught and now guys are remarking more egg laden females are in the mix and in some spots browns are actively spawning.
Free Fishing Day on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2023
New York will honor veterans on the year’s sixth and final Free Fishing Day of 2023 on Saturday, Nov. 11. On Free Fishing Days, the state waives the requirement for a freshwater fishing license, offering the perfect opportunity for beginners to try out the sport for the first time or for skilled anglers to bring along friends and family to experience New York’s world class waterways. Read more at the DEC website.
Oswego County
Salmon River, Pulaski NY
• Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
• Click Here for the Current CFS at Pineville
Fishing has been great this week when you can avoid all the fallen leaves.
Beads in 10-12mm sizes have still been working best. But many anglers are finding success with eggs sacs. Beads in brighter colors will stand out amongst the leaves. Egg sacs in chart, pink, peach and the new lime are all great choices.
Oswego River, Oswego NY
• Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
• Click Here for the Current CFS
Fishing has been best from the dam to the lock.
Most anglers have been finding success with single egg imitations. Trout have been gobbling up the last of the spawning salmon eggs. 8 and 10 mm beads have been best.
Tight Lines!
Note: Click here to see a map of the areas that are closed due to construction.
Free Oswego Fishing Guide
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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.