Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
It’s Media Week number one in Niagara Falls USA and the weather is trying to cooperate for these fishing fanatics. According to organizer Capt. Frank Campbell of Lewiston, steelhead, brown trout, and lake trout are all still available in the lower Niagara River but are spread throughout the entire river from the Devil’s Hole to the Niagara Bar with water temperatures holding in the mid 40’s. The exact areas have differed each day with Artpark and Stella drifts being a good starting point. The top baits have been minnows and MagLips but often the trout will respond to just about any offering. It’s more about being in the right area versus the right bait. Smallmouth bass continue to spread out but feeding from 10 to 30 feet of water. Top baits have been Spro Jerkbaits and swimbaits like the scented Jerkshad by Z-Man. Dropshots will also work at times, as it did for Garmin’s Mark McQuown with a 6.6-pound Lower Niagara River trophy smallie.
Alan Raymond with the Wicked Worm in Youngstown reports fishing is rocking right now. With the low water this weekend, guys were hitting rainbows in the shallows. Live bait like minnows and shiners have been doing well for them. Guys out on the Niagara Bar drop off are trolling flies and meat rigs for salmon. The 70-foot mark was a good spot to be. Lake trout are also being caught as a bi-catch. Brown trout are also being caught but slowing. The smallmouth bass numbers are increasing. All along the river, bass are aggressive.
Capt. Joe Srouji of Angler Edge Outdoors says that some steelhead and lake trout are available in Devil’s Hole. Minnows and beads on 3-ways are one approach. And when the lake cooperates, the lake trout and brown trout bite have been good around the green can on minnows and plugs.
Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls reports that he has had good action on No. 4 spinners and pearl tube jigs on a recent trip into the gorge from shore. He had 4 to 5 feet of visibility. If you are wondering about the NYPA fishing platform elevator, the word is out that it is finally repaired and functioning properly.
The Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby is heading into the final week of action and the weather looks decent. Everyone is tight-lipped on where to go. Will Diane Nieves of Milton, Ohio and her 24-pound, 7-ounce Olcott king salmon hold up for the remainder of the derby to win the $15,000 Grand Prize? Last year it was a 25-pound fish that won. First place in the salmon division is Matt Dunn of Newfane with a 23-pound, 7-ounce Olcott salmon. Top lake trout is a 22-pound, 12-ounce hawg reeled in by James English of Mexico. The brown trout leader is a 12-pound, 1-ounce Oswego fish reeled in by Ed Dobrowolski of Milford, New Jersey. Check out www.loc.org for details, including an updated leaderboard. The Salmon Slam and $1K a Day Derby starts Saturday, a lead-in to the Wilson Harbor Invitational Salmon Tournament set for May 17-18.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
The browns are starting to move offshore; however, you should start your early morning trip close to shore because some are still being caught in 8 to 10 fow. After doing the shore, head deeper for browns and early spring kings.
Last night the ever-present wind decided on a northeast blow. That might produce some stained water. Today we are seeing more south wind. There are still some Atlantic salmon mixed in with browns. Use Michigan Stingers for close to shore. Wonderbread and Crocs have worked.
Currently, Lake Ontario water temps are 44 degrees out of Rochester.
The Spring LOC Derby runs from May 2nd to May 11th. Make sure you enter to win your share of the $147,150 in cash we will be awarding in 2025! You have six days left to catch a winning fish.
Bays
The perch are still in Port and Sodus Bays. This time of year, they head for the lake so catch them now. They have been hitting both white and dark rubber. Keep your grubs two inches. If you have anything with a chartreuse tail put that on your hook with 5 spikes added.
At Sodus, fish around the islands and near the channel. The Port Bay perch have been caught off the points and near the channel.
The pike season opened Thursday May 1st. The limit is 5 fish with an 18-inch minimum.
Use some heavy bright spoons and cast or troll near LeRoy Island or between the other islands. The good ole Eppinger Dardevle still works. Remember that spoon??
n 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
The panfish at Widewaters have been everywhere. Bluegills, sunnies, and crappies have been caught from a boat and from the shore. There are plenty of locations along Route 31 in Wayne County where you can fish from the shore.
The canal officially opens May 16th for every boater.
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:
Open Lake action in the Orleans County waters has been up and down, somewhat as the weather has likewise gone up and down. Most trollers are in a bit of a search mode – trying to come up with something consistent, especially for Kings. After the end of last week and the past weekend’s east and northeast winds and recent precipitation, it looks like we may be headed for more consistent weather patterns through this week and into the weekend. Right now, all the tribs are once again moving out some high and stained flows. And there is still a chance of more rain or storms through later today and tonight.
Before the tribs outflow stain came on just recently, the inside waters were mostly clear and full of bait, especially going toward the west. Not sure that we have seen onshore bait movement like this in quite a few years. So, spoons and plugs competing for bites in all that bait and clear water was a tough ask. Most guys went on a search mode deeper for Kings or hung with the Laker marks for their hookups.
One veteran civilian angler couple got their 9th place spring LOC salmon by going west in 90 fow around the Bluffs. Check out that big King in the pic below! Mike and Charlotte fished anywhere from 50 feet down to the bottom. The derby fish hit a DW gold spoon on a 300 copper line running about 60 ft down. Mike and Charlotte are persistent with previous LOC prizewinners, so I wouldn’t count them out for coming up with a bigger leaderboard salmon!
On the Charter side of things, some of the Oak “regulars” are still out west looking for that Niagara plume early season King action. A guess is that the previous east winds making things tough here were making for challenging conditions there too. But Cpt. Dave S. from Tracker Charters hangs in here at the Oak and said “weekend fishing was great, the weather was the issue. We saw the bait and clear water inside, so we moved north to 90 – 130 fow. We got silvers on slide divers and high riggers on black and gold. There were good marks and bait deeper 40 to 60 ft down, but the only deep bite was lake trout for good action all day.”
Finishing up the spring stocking (after release of the pen salmon and steelhead) – some direct stock fingerlings have been released. The recent plants included Atlantic (50,000) and brown trout (38,500), and more steelhead (20,000). Many thanks to NYSDEC hatchery personnel and managers for late in their day efforts and USDA cormorant control for trying to help get all the fingerlings dispersed and out into the open Lake.
Oswego County
Brown Trout fishing out of Oswego has really picked up. While Mexico Bay has been more of a lake trout bite.
Lake Ontario – Mexico
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Mexico Bay has been unusually clear and challenging, with brown trout scattered and wary. The recent strong west winds on Wednesday, combined with high flows from the Oswego River, should help push stained water into the bay—something anglers have been hoping for.
If you’re targeting brown trout, focus your efforts from Pleasant Point to the High Rocks, as that area is likely to see the off-colored water first. If conditions remain too clear or slow inshore, consider heading offshore to target lake trout.
Lake Ontario – Oswego County
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Brown trout action has been strong this week out of Oswego. Anglers have been finding success both east and west—up to Nine Mile Point in either direction—which helps keep boat traffic well distributed.
The most productive depths have been 8 to 15 feet, though fish are also being taken in 15 to 30 feet of water. Stickbaits and spoons continue to be the top producers, fished on flatlines or short lead cores.
With water clarity remaining high, natural-colored baits have been outperforming brighter patterns. However, with the Oswego River flowing at over 20,000 CFS, that clear water likely won’t last much longer.
A few salmon had already started to show up before the water levels rose, and this high flow should help draw in even more.