Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
Fishing continues to be good to very good when the water conditions cooperate. The bite slowed on MagLip plugs a bit on Monday after a good bite on the Niagara Bar Sunday but a switch over to minnows fired up the brown trout once again – especially in the lower drifts of the river. A few steelhead and lake trout were still in the mix with the browns. The best action occurred in the drifts with the least boat activity.
Capt. Dave Scipione of Lewiston reports that at the Niagara bar, the fish were spread out due to the high amount of angling pressure. Yakima MagLips in Grinch (appropriate for the season) and Double Trouble colors, golden shiners, and Thundermist 1-ounce jigging spoons all produced a nice mix of brown and lake trout for him. It went from hot to cold and back to hot again often. Getting away from the packs of boats seemed to help turn the bite on. At the Coast Guard drift, Scipione managed several nice brown trout in short order on golden shiners fished off three-way rigs. Most of his bites were typical, coming toward the end of the drift. At Artpark, brown trout, lake trout, and steelhead were all coming to the net on Monday. Fishing was terrific using chartreuse beads, MagLips, and some old-school X5 flatfish in gold, silver, and chartreuse.
Alan Raymond with the Wicked Worm in Youngstown reports that they were starting to see the water clear up nicely, but that could be short-lived with more wind in the forecast for this week. Anglers are catching good numbers of browns off live golden shiners or a jig head with a bright soft plastic behind it. Spinners and spoons are also working. Raymond noted that a good lure catching lake trout at Artpark was a 5/8-ounce blade bait in any vibrant color. White and chartreuse colors worked for soft plastics.
Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls reported water visibility at around 3 feet on Monday, but that could change quickly with the high winds in the forecast. It should dirty the water up again. Once again, his No. 4 chartreuse and white mixed spinners and white bucktail jigs were working best for him from shore in the gorge.
Steve Brzuszkiewicz of Marilla reports that walleyes continue to cooperate with anglers at the foot of Ferry Street off Unity Island. The same hot pink and white jig color was still working for him. He saw about a dozen ‘eyes caught this week on his last trip out. Boats were fishing on the Canadian size of the river where water conditions were a bit clearer. That could change with more wind in the forecast, too.
Lake Ontario tributaries were marginal. Bruce Kowalski with TAAR Outdoors offered a good report from Burt Dam for steelhead on white jigs. Supplemental water flows from the Erie Canal have now ended for the year.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario and Streams
The weekend wind from the south gave an opportunity for casting off the Sodus pier for some browns and steelhead. Some steelhead were caught throwing out bright red heavy spoons…Kastmaster, Eppinger, and Cleos are a great for casting.
Frigid temperatures will arrive later this week so the pier will be icy and too dangerous for fishing.
The streams are flowing nicely and there have been some browns caught on the north side of Maxwell Creek, casting out bright beads under bobbers.
The south side has the pools which will hold steelhead. So far, the catch has been difficult.
Bays
Currently it is 46 degrees with temperatures dropping to the teens over the weekend. If we can have some consistent low temperatures with no gusty winds, we can make ice.
The perch are in Sodus and Port Bay, however slushy shoreline ice makes it difficult to launch boats. You can put in at Bay Bridge Sport Shop at the south end of Sodus Bay or try the north end of Port Bay near the channel.
Maybe…just maybe we can give an ice report next week.
Erie Canal
Try fishing from the north trail at Widewaters. Cast out for bluegills using bright small yellow jigs tipped with spikes. Sections are ice free.
There are also pull off places along Route 31 where you can find some open water to fish from the shore.
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:
A day or so warm-up for the beginning part of the week after a cold weekend. Doesn’t look like the up and down weather has hurt the steelhead chances on the Oak though – check out the recent nice steelhead pics from the Oak below! A warm day today and tonight after a rain shower for end of weekend and chance of slight precipitation again Monday night. After that, dropping temps again for the rest of the week and chance of snow showers.
Flows in all the area tribs have dropped and cleared some and the most recent precipitation is just barely maintaining flows. With the colder future forecast the existing moderate flows could be going to low and clear. There has been some icing in the lower reaches of the smaller waterways and if low flows and cold temps prevail again, that icing could increase.
The better steelhead chances have been on the Oak lately with the relatively higher water flows compared to the smaller waterways. And by early winter or December standards, the action has been good. Some anglers keen enough to target that last of the Canal water feed and additional precipitation have gotten into that Oak action on the float with beads and on the fly even with streamer action. Still hanging on to that 2/3 steelhead and 1/3 brown trout hookup ratio. The occasional Atlantic and Coho are still in the mix too. Steelhead and brown trout action ahead for the early and mid winter period should go more or less as the weather and water flows go. Think warm and wet for good flows or cold and snowy for future flows!
Oswego County
Oswego county has water. The Salmon and Oswego Rivers are running high. With the temperatures forecasted this weekend fishing is going to be rough.
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:
Salmon River, Pulaski NY
• Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
• Click Here for the Current CFS at Pineville
After the prolonged low water, the Salmon River is running at 1500 CFS. The first few days of the increase made for very tough fishing, with debris and big changes for the fish. More recently, the fish have settled in and the bite has picked up. Overall, we recommend concentrating on the slower edges.
Egg sacs in white, blue, pink, and chartreuse are good options, with beads in 10&12 mm sizes also working well.
Oswego River, City of Oswego
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
The water is high and dirty. But if you put time in there are still fish to be caught. The kiddie pool especially has been producing. And the stretch from the dam to the powerhouse has been great!
10-12mm beads in bright colors have been best. As well as white jigs with pink, chartreuse or red heads.
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.