Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
In the 15th Annual Niagara County Bullhead contest held last weekend, the duo of Brian Moreland of Olcott and his girlfriend Eloise Farns of Olcott placed one-two in the adult division with 4.47 pounds and 3.98 pounds respectively. They were fishing in Olcott Harbor. Third and fourth place were brothers Trevor and Aiden Wilson of Lewiston with 3.93 pounds and 3.73 pounds of bullheads from 12 Mile Creek in Wilson. The top youth was Axel Hallatt with two fish weighing 3.77 pounds. There were 119 entries this year.
Fishing has been on the tough side in the lower Niagara River with a combination of ice and stained water creating problems for anglers depending on the day. Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls hit the lower river gorge shoreline for trout with his white and pink No. 4 spinners and managed to get his steelhead hits out in deeper water with the clear conditions. The NYPA platform is open, but the elevator is closed due to some work being performed. It should be available next week. Check 286-6662 for updates.
Devil’s Hole is still giving up some lake trout and steelhead when the ice floes allow for good presentations. Minnows are working best with egg sacs and MagLips also taking some fish, fished off three-way rigs. From Lewiston down to the Niagara Bar, brown trout are the most active species while steelhead will make an appearance every so often. Minnows and MagLips are both producing fish. It seems the bite is on and off with short windows of action throughout the day.
Out on the lake, Matt Vogt did a bit of trolling out of Olcott on Friday. Winds and heavy rain stirred up the water quite a bit. Lots of color in the water outside of the mudline. You must be careful of debris in the water though, a small log may try to steal your setup. Fishing was okay, but you needed to do some searching and adjust accordingly. He had a few bites and landed all 5 browns and released them safely. Spoons were the ticket when we found them. Water temperatures are still quite cold, but things should start to warm up soon with this weather breaking soon.
Josh Farnsworth of North Tonawanda reports he enjoyed a banner day with a couple of his buddies over the weekend at Burt Dam. Small pink egg sacs fished under a float did the trick for a double-digit mix of steelhead and brown trout. Conditions were not that bad as the area didn’t see as much rain as the forecast predicted.
For the bullhead fishing, Matt Wilson of Lewiston reported that it was a family affair for the Wilson’s as he helped his brother Tom and his three boys. The daytime bite was best, and chicken was the secret bait. He emphasized letting your baits sit, even when the fish don’t seem to be biting. If you get a bite and miss it, that’s the only time you should move the rod and re-cast. He uses a simple 2-hook set-up like a perch rig.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
When the wind doesn’t blow, the charter boats go. There was a window of a calm Lake Ontario on Saturday and Monday and the browns were there.
You want stained water which is east and west of Sodus Bay. Spring browns are close to shore in less than 20 fow. Use planer boards and if you are trolling spoons, go with bright UV Michigan Stingers. “Froggy Glow “and “Can’t Afford It” are working.
Smithwick stickbaits have also caught brown trout. Atlantic salmon, cohos, and steelhead have also been in the mix. No kings yet, however the season just started.
Two important dates:
- The pen rearing fish (90,000) are scheduled to arrive at Krenzer Marine on April 10th at 10:30. The truck will be across the street from the showroom. Stop down to Sodus Point and see the pens get their important fingerlings.
- The Sodus Pro-Am will take place July 19th and 20th. There will be action all week.
Bays
The perch have spawned and when the boats can get out in the bays, they need to search to locate fish. Because of the recent rain, Port Bay has cloudy water, which is not good for perch, crappies and blue gills.
In New York, the open season (harvest) for largemouth and smallmouth bass, collectively known as black bass, runs from June 15 to November 30, with a catch-and-release season from December 1 to June 14.
Sodus Bay will be the place to be when the bass season opens.
Erie Canal
Saturday and Monday were the only quiet wind days to fish the canal. When it’s calm, Widewaters is the hot spot for crappies and bluegills…both very tasty fish.
Keep in mind the pike season closed March 15, 2025, and will open on May 1st.
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:
The weather so far this spring has been a bit of a challenge. It’s made for some tough conditions to get out there, both in the tributaries and the open Lake. Lately, the open Lake chances have been tough as trollers are dealing with strong winds and cold temperatures. Not sure those boating chances will be changing for the better just yet this week, according to the forecast. So use good caution and heed marine forecasts for any big Lake forays this spring. When trollers have had reasonable conditions to get out there, the near-shore action for browns, Lakers and cohos has been good.
Pic courtesy of Jason
For now, because the latest weather is prolonging the trib action, we’ll stay focused on that. Determined anglers are having success, especially in the Oak. Check out the big old warrior steelhead pic below, is that enough motivation to get out there!? And how about the nice big male steelhead in the pic below from one of the area’s smaller tributaries? Those big fish chances from small waterways are out there in the springtime, especially this cold water spring!
So even though we’ve been dealing with cold, wind and precipitation at times, those same conditions are keeping water temps from spiking. Steelhead, in particular, are hanging around like in the Oak, and even ahead in the near-term forecast, there’s no great warm-up afoot. Guys and gals should be able to have good steelhead chances right through April.
Today and through mid-week, it’s cold! Look for high temps in the 30s F and dropping back into the 20s F at night. Gusty winds today and snow showers off and on. There’s been no accumulation. Temps should moderate for end of week and begin part of the weekend with more rain or mixed precipitation chances. Then, for the end of the weekend, temps may be seasonal with highs around 50 F. Through the past weekend, we definitely did not get all the precipitation that was forecast, so all the trib flows are dropping and clearing from previous higher and dirtier flows. These cold temps right now will for sure hasten the dropping and clearing all around.
Flows in the Oak are slightly high and dirty, with about 1 ft of visibility. Flows consist of a good head of turbine water and diminished overflow. Flows in the other area, smaller waterways, are about medium and stained with 1 – 2 ft of stained visibility. Look for spawning steelhead in the middle to lower reaches gravel sections of the Oak and adjacent holes. There are more steelhead again that shot up the overflow channel from the latest rise in flows. While water temps are cool and the fish are fairly hardy would be a good time for anglers to release any fish caught there back into the turbine channel.
Fishing pressure is real light, and the latest intel from the smaller area waterways is sparse. Look for some drop back steelhead flushing out on the last rise in flows and the chance for some fresh run browns. No reason to think that fresh steelhead couldn’t still be pushing up the Oak thanks to the high, dirty and cold flows.
For the non-trout and salmon crowd, it’s also bullhead time. There have been good catches for those made to be deep-fried catfish. All the latest high and dirty tributary flows are probably something like a bullhead late to the party notice. Live baits and nighttime action usually prove best. On the heels of the bullhead action and any clearing water color, it should be perch time. Rivermouth and estuary areas usually prove best with small minnows or jigs. Patience helps here as schools of perch move in and out of the Lake.
The Point Breeze East Side County launch docks and transient docks are open for the season, and the Lake Alice boat launch docks have been installed. Anglers now have good early-season access to both the open lake and inland waters. The pen-reared salmon and steelhead delivered by the NYSDEC about a week ago are doing well in the pens at Ernst’s Lake Breeze Marina. In two to three weeks, after more growth and hopeful imprinting, the fingerlings will be released. Many thanks to all involved in projects that improve the Orleans County trout and salmon fishery and beyond!
Oswego County
Fishing has really heated up over the last week. Both Lake Ontario and Salmon River have been on fire!
Salmon River, Pulaski NY
• Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
• Click Here for the Current CFS at Pineville
Flows have finally dropped to a more manageable and fishable level as of this morning, and are expected to continue trending lower into the weekend.
The recent drop in water levels has triggered a noticeable increase in steelhead activity. Beads have been the go-to bait lately, with 8mm, 10mm, and 12mm sizes all producing solid results. Natural tones—particularly in yellow hues—have been the most effective.
For fly anglers, natural-pattern flies have also been performing well. And don’t overlook the dropback favorite—the pink worm! It continues to be a top producer during this phase of the season.
Lake Ontario – Oswego County
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Brown trout action has been hot from the harbor all the way east to Nine Mile Point, with fish holding in 8 to 20 feet of water.
Earlier this week, stickbaits were the top producers, while spoons played more of a secondary role. The best stickbait patterns have been black/silver, clown, jailbreak, and hot steel.
Lake Ontario – Mexico
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Following the strong midweek winds, stained water conditions can now be found just about everywhere. The most productive zones recently have been from the Salmon River to Little Salmon, as well as Catfish Creek up to the High Rocks.
Depths of 7 to 30 feet have been producing the best action. Top-performing stickbaits include black/silver, firetiger, log perch, and black/gold patterns.
For spoons, “Can’t Afford It,” “Diehard,” “Chicken Wing,” and “General Glow Alewife” have all been getting solid results.
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:
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.