Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
Capt. Vince Pierleoni with Thrillseeker Sportfishing, celebrating 40 years of Lake Ontario chartering this year, enjoyed a recent fishing trip with his brother Mark Pierleoni of Greece to usher in some spring trout action near Olcott. Mark is confined to a wheelchair, but that does not hold him back from enjoying his favorite hunting and fishing pastimes.
They managed to catch numerous brown trout and lake trout, along with a few steelhead, working Dreamweaver spoons, and plugs like Rapalas, Live Targets, and Bay Rats as shallow as 10 feet of water and as deep as 80 feet of water. With lake temperatures more than 40 degrees in places, consistent spring action has begun. Capt. Dave Scipione of Scipione’s Fishing Charters launched out of Wilson for some shoreline trolling recently and trolled 8 to 15 feet of water. He picked up a dozen brown trout on fire tiger, orange and perch colored J-9 Rapala and Smithwick stick baits with Pro Cure trout scent gel rubbed on.
Matt Vogt of Newfane has hit some of the tributaries the past week, but action has slowed a bit as far as trout. With the arrival of some suckers in the creeks coming in to spawn, it won’t be long before steelheads return to the lake. The piers at Olcott and Wilson have seen some decent brown trout action casting spoons, spinners and stickbaits. Live bait under a float will also work, with perch and bass catches being a byproduct of the fishing efforts. Wilson is also seeing some bullheads being caught off the piers, a precursor to the Niagara County Bullhead Tournament set for April 12 to 14. Mark your calendars!
Lower Niagara River action has seen some mixed reviews due to recent winds creating some turbidity. Capt. Joe Srouji of Angler Edge Charters said the river was fishing well when water clarity improved earlier. Wind has been a struggle to deal with. He noted that there are plenty of browns on the Niagara Bar when winds allow boaters to get out there. Steelhead are being caught in the upper sections of the river like at Devil’s Hole, taken on sacs and minnows. Scipione also fished the Niagara Bar with golden and emerald shiners recently, boating some decent brown trout and lake trout. Capt. Paul Schirmer of Fins and Feathers Charters reported that the river water is warming. He was starting to see some dropback steelhead. His highlight this week was his first king salmon of the spring season, reeled in by Greg Aippersbach of Ohio – a good sign for trollers and drifters in the river and on the Niagara Bar.
If the weather is too uncomfortable for you, you can always head indoors for the Buffalo Niagara Boat Show at the Niagara Falls Convention Center March 21 to 24. Thursday night from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. admission is free.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
The Rochester water temperature today is 41 degrees. The big lake is warming a bit, however with the March gusty wind, trolling Ontario is horrible.
The browns are there…if the winds calm down. The “Big Boats” are gearing -up for a new season and according to official lake biologists, the trout and salmon season will be fantastic.
Bays
The spring winds have kept anglers off the bays. When you have a chance to search for perch they are scattered, however usually in deeper water. Launching at Sodus Bay head towards the islands on the north end of the bay. Use white rubber since the perch are feeding on shad. Tip your hook with spikes or perch eyes.
The Port Bay channel is currently wide open which will bring in the shad from the lake. The northern barrier road is open, however it’s a very bumpy ride. Launch at the south end at the DEC site off West Port Bay Road.
Pike season ended last week and will resume May1st.
Launch sites for Sodus: Next to the Coast Guard Station (till Memorial Day) and Bay Bridge Sport Shop. The water level in Sodus might make the Margarita dock an easier launch site. Check it out. It’s on your right on Route 14 just past Martin’s Marina.
Launch sites for Port Bay: Barrier bar road at the north end of West Port Bay Road and the south end DEC site.
Use caution at the Port Bay ramps because the docks have not arrived yet.
Erie Canal
There were some kayakers paddling around Widewaters on Sunday. The relentless March wind doesn’t affect canal waters as much as northern Wayne County waters.
Widewaters has the best crappie fishing in the county, and during bass season the bass fishing is excellent.
The bass season starts June 15th if you wish to keep your catch. Make sure the fish are 12 inches and the limit is five fish.
The official opening of the canal is May 17. 2024.
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
Oswego County
The steelhead egg take is complete, so there will be plenty of fish looking to start their migration down river.
Salmon River, Pulaski NY
• Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
• Click Here for the Current CFS at Pineville
Fishing on the Salmon River has been great! Hopefully the recent cold weather will slow things down and help prolong the current season.
The best beats this week have been blue, white, and purple. The most effective sizes are eight and 10 mm. Beads with a yellow base are working best, such as “Eggactly,” “Candy Corn,” “Tangerine” and “Bloodline.”
Fish are really spread out from top to bottom, so don’t be afraid to cover water.
Salmon River Report Courtesy of Braden Woods
March 19th signifies the first day of spring here in New England, but Mother Nature doesn’t always follow our man made calendars and this year she has already begun her transition from winters icy grip. With her early transition, we too decided to change from our winter habits of wandering frozen lakes, to pulling out our Great Lakes trout gear and running the banks of Lake Ontario’s tributaries!!
We started our journey early Sunday morning. We got up loaded the truck and were out of the driveway by 230am to make the 4 1/2 hour drive to a place that gave us one of my best fishing experiences we’ve ever had! We reach our destination, grab all the gear, and start the 3/4 mile hike to our favorite hole in the river. From the first river crossing it was clear the rainbows were loaded in the river! We take our first step in the river and immediately spook a beautiful 6-7lb fish! But no time to play with this beautiful specimen, we have our sights set elsewhere! As we get to our spot there were a few people in boats and on the bank but luckily our spot was wide open.
We get in the water and on Trevor’s second drift using the LURED incognito bead, the bobber drains and we net our first 4-5 pound fish of the day. From there it was lights out! We continued to drop floats all day, and when you couldn’t get a bite all you needed was a quick color change and you were right back in the game!! As the bead bite slowed we switched to the worm and again, second drift through the run the bobber goes down and it’s fish on, this time it’s a big one!!!
After a few drag screaming runs and a tough net job, Woods2Water Fishing Adventures landed our first ever 30” trout with this beast rainbow coming in at 31.5”!! This fish started a crazy bite of big fish! Within 2 hours of releasing this fish we caught two more 30+ inch trout (with the biggest measuring 33”) and a third fish that came in at 29”! We ended the trip going 6-13 and missing many bobber down opportunities! Between the quality and quantity of fish this was our best day on the river and we cannot wait for our next opportunity to get back!
As always Shoutout to Douglas Spinning & Casting Rods for putting the best equipment for the job in our hands! The Douglas X matrix rods are perfectly designed for the Great Lakes tributaries! They have the perfect sensitivity to handle those big rolls and head shakes with the exact backbone to be able to pull those big trout up and out of those fast currents!! If you haven’t experienced a Douglas rod you are missing out on one of the best products on the market!!
Salmon River Steelhead – Watch the Video
Anglers from across the Midwest & Eastern Seaboard flock to New York’s Salmon River with spawn sacs for a chance at catching steelhead. Find out what color is working best as we hop aboard with STS Guide Service on this episode of Pautzke Outdoors.
To learn more about guided trips with STS Guide Service on the Salmon River Visit: stsfishguide.com To Learn More About Pautzke Bait: pautzke.com.
Oswego River, Oswego NY
• Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
• Click Here for the Current CFS
We’ve seen decreasing numbers of fish in the system due to the warm weather. Most fish have spawned and are headed back to the lake. Fishing remains decent behind the hotels in the lower river for brown trout.
Remember that walleye season is now closed.
Swim baits and blade baits, worked close to the bottom, have been been taking bass and trout. White, silver and gold are all good color choices. Don’t be afraid to throw a deep diving crank as well.
Lake Ontario – Lake Ontario – Oswego, Mexico, Port Ontario NY
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
There have been plenty of two-year-old browns around. Overall. fishing this past week was tough, mostly due to the wind. But when the weather subsided, the brown trout proved to be very active.
Stick baits in natural colors work great in clear water and bright baits in dirty water. Spoons on short cores are also a great way to target shallow trout.
Free Oswego 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.
Welcome to Oswego County – Watch the Video
Discover more at visitoswegocounty.com