Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
Happy Thanksgiving! The lower Niagara River action went from okay to great to who knows what in the span of a week. River water was starting to change for the worse with the November winds blowing hard on Tuesday, combined with recent rains. How bad it will get is anyone’s guess, but when it does start to clear it will be game-on for trout – especially in the lower river.
Tuesday afternoon Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls was braving the elements to give the gorge a go from shore. It wasn’t muddy yet, but it did have a good stain that he took advantage of. He caught some decent trout – steelhead, brown, and lake – using his white and chartreuse jigs, as well as his chartreuse No. 4 spinners. With strong southwest winds and bitter cold arriving, it should pull in some more fish from Lake Ontario according to Ziehm.
Tommy Holycross of Wheatfield was able to score a limit of walleyes at the NYPA fishing platform recently. Jigging spoons were the hot bait. He did see a couple of steelheads caught there as well. The NYPA fishing facilities will be closing on Sunday, Dec. 1 at dusk unless weather (ice and/or snow) forces an earlier closing. Call 286-6662 for updates.
Capt. Frank Campbell of Lewiston reports that the Niagara Bar action picked up this past week with more favorable wind directions. That will probably change after recent weather changes, with a potential storm in the forecast. A decent number of browns were present with jigs, MagLips, and live bait being the most productive offerings. Lake trout and walleyes are also in the mix around the green can for anglers working these same baits. An influx of steelhead has added to catch opportunities on the upper drifts for both shore and boat anglers using egg or egg imitators in chartreuse or green. Remember that lake trout season will start on December 1. There are still good numbers of spawning browns throughout the system, but they seem to be more affected by boat pressure. Seek out drifts with fewer boats. The regular black bass season closes Nov. 30. Starting Dec. 1, it will be catch-and-release with artificial lures only.
Capt. Dave Scipione of Lewiston reported the river had offered a great stretch of fall fishing last week with water temperatures finally getting down near the 50-degree mark. He fished the U.S. side of the Niagara Bar Monday before the East winds blew him off. He started out pulling Mag Lips and Kwikfish in grinch, chartreuse, and green scale colors on three-way rigs with great success on brown trout. They also caught lake trout up to 20 pounds as incidental catches. As the bite slowed, he switched over to golden shiners and immediately started hooking up on a mix of smallmouth bass, brown trout, and lakers. One smallmouth bass reeled in by Jaxon Coulman of Derby tipped the scales at 6.5 pounds. It was only 19 inches long, but it sported a healthy 18-inch girth. This IS football season. The Coast Guard drift was once again producing good numbers of brown trout on yellow “micro” brown trout eggs that he used with a sac/bead combination. At Artpark, efforts were concentrated to avoid the lake trout bite by using pink beads and brown trout egg sacs with pink mesh. They were successful in enticing a few steelheads to the boat.
Capt. Joe Srouji of Angler Edge Outdoors reported that he is starting to see more steelhead every day in the river as the water cools. Brown trout fishing continues to be good in the lower sections of the river, near the lake. Eggs, beads, and plugs are taking the fish, all off three-way rigs. The river was running very clear earlier this week. Once there was some much-needed color and cooler temperatures, the bite was absolutely on fire. That will change, but how much remains to be seen.
In the upper Niagara River, Steve Brzuszkiewicz of Marilla was casting the shoreline near the foot of Ferry Street and managed to catch three walleyes in a relatively short amount of time using a 3/8-ounce jig tipped with an emerald shiner. Upstream from where he fished, others were catching steelheads. Musky action should continue to improve with dropping temperatures and stained water. The Great Lakes musky season closes Dec. 15.
Lake Ontario tributaries received a little shot in the arm with recent rains, pulling in a few more fish. According to Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn, water flows were decent at 18 Mile Creek near Burt Dam and brown trout are still dominating the catches. Fishing pressure was moderate.
Mark your calendar for Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. It will be the final meeting of the year for the Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Association at the North Amherst Fire Hall on Tonawanda Creek Road in Amherst. Lake Ontario fisheries experts will be on hand from DEC to give an overview of 2024 and discuss stocking numbers for 2025.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario and Streams
The much-needed rain brought 3 inches to Wayne County which opened Maxwell Creek to the lake.
The flow over the weekend was heavy, however it has slowed to a very fishable stream. A few steelhead were caught at some of the upper pools. Use egg sacs or bright red beads.
We haven’t heard of many browns caught in Maxwell, however, try at Salmon Creek in Pultneyville.
Bays
Perch fishing in Sodus and Port Bays is starting to “Fire-Up” with some larger fish being caught. They still are in 10 to 15 fow, however you still need to move around.
Use the small 1 ½ inch grubs with a bright active paddle tail. Make sure you put a few fresh spikes on the hook.
Don’t forget the pike near the north end of Sodus.
The ramp at the south end of Port Bay is not where you want to launch. The shallow water of the bay has left nothing but mud. Go to the north barrier bar road,
Be careful launching. You do not want your trailer to drop off the end of the ramp, where it could break an axle.
Erie Canal
Some crappies were caught from the shore at the Port Gibson bridge. Usually, they are a springtime catch. Use very small bright jigs and suspend your bait under a torpedo bobber.
Widewaters Park is the best place to launch your boat. There are plenty of parking places for your trailer.
You can also fish from some pull-off on Route 31. There are locations where the canal hasn’t been drained.
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
Orleans County Sportfishing Coordinator Ron Bierstine:
Another shot of rain on the order of 0.25 inch thru last night. Windy day today and then the forecast is for colder temps thru turkey time and the weekend. Chance of some lake effect snows south and west of here with chance of only rain or showers here on the WNY Lake Ontario south shore. The latest precipitation and any future rain should be good for maintenance of the trib flows, especially the smaller waterways which were just on the retreat from last weekend’s precipitation. Look for medium to slightly high flows in the Oak and about moderate in the other area smaller waterways with just a little stain that will be clearing quickly.
Smaller area waterways have moved out some of the warmer weather weeds and debris and there is still likely to be some water level fluctuations in the Oak thanks to hydropower operations. Angling pressure is pretty manageable and guys seem to be spread out on the Oak from the dam to the frogwater. Each water type seeming to hold that technique best suited for the spot – like floats in the frogwater, fly anglers around the Archers & upstream and the usual contingent of bottom bouncers and center pinners at the dam/overflow.
Fish are turning on and off as they do and over-the-all thru the past weekend most anglers reported tougher action but still managed hook ups each day. Its a mixed pick of browns, more steelhead lately and still the bonus Atlantics and cohos. That slightly high water flow on the Oak can provide plenty of water cover for fish and make the drifting chances a bit harder to get the presentation to the fish.
On the other area smaller waterways, guys are picking up fish in most spots but it might take covering some different water for multiple hook ups. Options are better now for more then an egg pattern or bead bite, post spawn browns and also fresh steelhead can respond pretty well to a streamer or plug presentation. Open Lake water temps remain way above average so as that big pool of hospitable water cools down it might send more browns and steelhead into the tribs for late fall and winter migrations. We’ll see if any anglers hang in to get a drift to ’em?!
Oswego County
Happy Thanksgiving! Fishing continues to be great in Oswego County. Steelhead have been very active the last week.
Request a Free Fishing Map for Salmon River!
Designed to slip into your pocket, this map covers popular public and private fishing locations, as well as boat launches. The best news: it’s completely free!
Contact the Oswego County Tourism Department:
Tight lines!
Salmon River, Pulaski NY
• Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
• Click Here for the Current CFS at Pineville
Water levels have bumped up a little with the rain this past week. Along with high waters the river has also become a little murkier. Anglers have been catching more steelhead as they are less spooky in the lower flows and with the colored up water.
The best baits lately have been beads in 8 and 10mm from bright colors to the most natural shades.
Egg sacs have also been working well; we recommend blue, peach, white and yellow.
Tight lines!
Oswego River, City of Oswego
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Last week’s rain had a bigger effect on the Oswego than other systems. We have some big water now so be careful wading.
Anglers have been had great success on the high wall and the low wall this past week. Lots of browns being taken with a good number of steelhead in the mix.
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.