Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
Mild weather and near record temperatures allowed fishermen and women to hit the area waters the past week. Rain and colder temperatures are in the forecast for Wednesday night into Thursday. In the lower Niagara River, Matt Wilson of Lewiston did very well on smallmouth bass this past week. He reported that the fall bite was on for smallmouth, even with the full moon to contend with. He found that the bass were feeding more at night or under low light conditions. He headed out before sun-up with homemade jigs tipped with plastics like flatworms and Ned’s. He caught 11 bass over 5 pounds. The key was locating temperature differences of warmer water. He found one large school of bass in 11 feet of water, but the water was very clear. He would drop some waypoints on his GPS and then use his spot lock on his trolling motor to remain stationary to cast to the bass from a distance. It worked. The action stopped by 10:30 a.m. He switched to Rat-L-Traps for response bites and that worked for him, too. There were also some big brown trout hanging around the lower stretch of river.
Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls did well over the weekend on salmon, casting his homemade No. 4 chartreuse spinners from shore in the super clear water conditions near the Whirlpool area. He needed to fish his lures a bit deeper. The good thing was that water temperatures were finally dropping, resulting in more bites for him. He also started to see some lake trout showing up on the end of his line. Remember that lake trout season is currently closed until Dec. 1 in the lower river and in Lake Ontario.
In the upper Niagara River, Wilson found a big school of bass near Mississippi Mudd’s. He would drag swim baits along the drift, targeting back eddies or points to do well on smallmouth bass. Again, water temperatures made a difference as to where the fish wanted to be, even just 2 or 3 degrees. The fish were hungry and on the feed.
Anglers in 18 Mile Creek and Burt Dam are reporting good action for salmon and brown trout according to Karen Evarts with the Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn in Olcott. However, there have been many fishermen at Fisherman’s Park, and it is recommended to stay away from the weekends. Browns are hitting egg sacs and nightcrawlers. There are also a few Coho salmon, Atlantic salmon, and steelhead being reported. Kayakers are also doing well working the lower stretch of the creek. The piers were decent at night, too. Evarts noted that she had a Williamsville school fishing club visit last Sunday, but they only caught gobies and panfish.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario and Streams
Some browns were caught in 20 to 30fow out in the lake. Troll the shoreline from Sodus Bay west to Bear Creek. The browns will be hiding in rocky shallow water which Wayne County has the perfect habitat. Use caution fishing Ontario with a smaller boat.
If we can get some substantial rainfall, they will enter the streams. There have been some fish in the Sodus Bay channel. Throw out heavy spoons like Kastmasters and Little Cleos.
Bays
Some perch are being caught in Sodus and Port Bays. The barrier road to the Port Bay channel has been graded and is a little smoother for boat launching.
The Port Bay perch have been located off the points and near the channel, however it has been “slim pickings.”
You need to move around and throw out small 2-inch white rubber grubs. Keep your hook 12 inches above the sinker. Yesterday the Port Bay channel was open.
It’s the same pattern for Sodus Bay. The largemouth bass are everywhere; however, the perch are scattered. Fish the north breach and the near the islands in Sodus.
Erie Canal
Some catfish are being caught near Lyon’s Abbey Park. Use cut shrimp or worms. The largemouths are still hitting at Widewaters. Some crappies were also pulled out of Widewaters. Usually, they are a springtime catch.
All the locks on the canal are now closed for recreational boats.
Launch sites for Sodus: Bay Bridge Sport Shop. Launch at the Margaretta. 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. The north barrier bar road is very bumpy. Take it slow.
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
Last days of a few days of unseasonable warm temps. Dry weather again too, so it hasn’t been ideal weather to encourage fish migrations. Some hot neoprene weather days! The forecast ahead is calling for chance of showers tonight and a nice cool down starting tomorrow and through the weekend. Look for breezy conditions today and off and on ahead with another chance of showers Friday. Droughty as its been, keep in mind that all the trib flows would be in worse shape without the Erie Canal fall water feed. Sure Johnson and Sandy are low but the flows are enough to allow for fair to medium numbers of salmon and browns to migrate or at least stage up in lower river areas for future migrations, and anglers can make some productive low water drifts.
According to Canal hydro managers, look for a further uptick in Sandy flows starting around tomorrow, which coupled with the cool down, could be a real nice trigger for more upstream migrations. The good old Oak continues to flow along at almost medium flows and the most consistent action for mostly Kings – but everyday a few more browns and steelhead and cohos and Atlantics are reported in the mix.
We are into leaf fall time so there are the often daily water level fluctuations at the dam from turbine rack cleaning. The windy days ahead will definitely bring on more leaves in the water and temporary water flow changes.
Most anglers hanging in for a better part of a days angling effort could come away with something like 6 – 8 hook ups on Kings if making good presentations. Look for Kings in the bigger holes and some are starting to make redds now too. Spawning Kings means browns shadowing the egg drop.
Check out the big King taken from the downstream fast water reaches of the Oak. And if you want to mix it up with other fishing pressure there are plenty of good opportunities for hookups at the dam.
We have a little more clarification on the access for the NYSDEC parking area at the dam. According to signage posted there, access is allowed 2 hours before sunrise to 2 hours after sunset (non-gated). So that could put you in position 1.5 hours before and after legal fishing times. By default the only direct access to the Brookfield property is from the NYSDEC parking area unless you made the hike from downstream access trekking your way upstream.
Oswego County
There are still salmon around but the big runs have definitely died off. That only means one thing: it’s time for trout!
Salmon River, Pulaski NY
• Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
• Click Here for the Current CFS at Pineville
The number of Salmon entering the river has slowed. But there are fish spread throughout the entire system. At this point, most of the kings are found on or near gravel areas.
Now that the salmon run has started to slow that only means one thing: trout aren’t far behind! This week the DSR has reported higher numbers of steelhead and brown trout entering the river. But they’ve been found as far as the “Ballpark” area.
Oswego River, City of Oswego
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
There still seems to be plenty of kings at the dam in Oswego as anglers have been bringing limits back daily.
For those who are targeting trout, they are seeing browns and steelhead, just not in good numbers yet. The latest warm-up seems to have slowed the progression of trout into the river.
Beads are the favorite bait this time of year; natural colors always seem to do best. “Ontari-roe,” “Tangerine,” and “All In” are all great choices
Please Consider the Following Year-Round Notice: There are mandatory personal flotation device (PFD) zones on the river. The Oswego Fire Department offers loaner life jackets at no charge through its “Loaner for Life” program. For more information contact the fire station at 35 E. Cayuga St. by calling (315) 343.2161.
• Check the current water flow
And be sure to read the recent news release about fishing access on the West Riverwalk.
Free Oswego Fishing Guide
The updated Oswego County Fishing and Hunting Guide is now available online and in print. The guide features a new cover and an expanded listing of fishing guides and charters.
The 67-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.