Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
The salmon season had mixed reviews this year, but it is mostly behind us now. The next big focus is trout and good numbers of browns are in the lower Niagara River system. However, those fish have not responded to bait or lures on a consistent basis. There are also some steelhead showing up with numbers on the increase while bi-catch lake trout are making their annual spawning run up the river. Release all lake trout quickly as they are not in season until Dec. 1. The best baits to target steelhead and brown trout are eggs and egg imitations such as beads and yarn while drifting from a boat. Try presenting those offerings on a three-way rig. Some shore anglers are drifting beads under a float while adjusting the amount of line between the float and bottom. The best colors have been chartreuse and yellow which mimic the color of an egg.
The Joel Nelson family from Minnesota sampled the Niagara Bar over the weekend and it was a very productive trip putting walleye up to 11 pounds into the boat. They also caught smallmouth bass up to 6 pounds. The bait of choice was a minnow fished off a three-way rig. In addition to the fish of a lifetime, another 10-pound plus walleye was caught and several bass over 5 pounds were also taken. Jordan Albertson and Kazu Nakamura from Spro Corporation visited the Niagara River last week to test new baits, and they were rewarded with several species that were fooled by their Rockcrawler and McStick stick baits. The species list included walleye, smallmouth, musky, brown trout, and salmon. It was the new Coike Thunder Elastomer bait that produced most of the smallmouth action with a dozen fish over 4 pounds being taken.
Capt. Tyler Siegmann of CGF Guide Service was on the water recently and had a few steelhead hook-ups along Artpark. There were lots of fish jumping. He also fished the Fort Niagara drifts and saw a few boats hooking and landing brown trout. He managed to hook up with an 8-pound walleye on a bead while targeting browns.
Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls switched over to No. 5 spinners in the murky waters and caught a 24-pound king, 2 rainbows and many bass in the gorge from shore. Visibility was 6 to 7 feet on Sunday. Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls said that the water is clear again after all the wind and rain recently. It brought a huge improvement to the river, and it got the fish moving. With more wind and rain in the forecast, look for a great start to November. There are plenty of brown trout and steelhead in the system. He’s been catching everything on No. 4 chartreuse or red spinners.
Mike Marisa with Niagara River Adventures reports he had an awesome day on the lower river water recently. The bite was steady throughout the morning and early afternoon, with plenty of hookups. The most productive window was between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Most of his bites came on Pro-Cure Red Hot Double Stuff cured skein. Water visibility held around 5 feet.
Karen Evarts with The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn in Olcott reports there was a decent run of salmon that came into 18 Mile Creek after the rain last week. However, brown trout action has taken over, and large numbers of fish are being reported at Burt Dam. Salmon and trout are in the harbor. Kayak and boat fishing have been good. Skein and sacs produce fish under floats. Wilson pier fishing is good for steelhead and brown trout.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
Water flow in streams remains a trickle. Salmon Creek in Pultneyville has water because of the yacht club channel to the lake. Maxwell Creek is dry so far.
Yesterday’s south wind pushed water out in the lake from the open channel at Port Bay. You can cast that water for any steelhead.
Use your bright red spoons. Kastmasters and Little Cleos are great for pier fishing.
Bays
The Sodus Bay perch are scattered all over the bay. Try off the points and fish the deeper water.
Port Bay has the same conditions. You’ll catch smaller perch and rock bass. Make sure you use fresh spikes…not ones that have been in your refrigerator for weeks. Or the ones you left in your tackle box.
The Sodus Bay largemouths are still being caught. After yesterday’s south wind, Sodus has calmed down.
The bass will be caught around the weedbeds which are at the south end of the bay. Use a Senko rig.
Some pike were caught on the north side of LeRoy Island. Regs for northerns are 22-inches and a five fish limit. The pike season closes on March 15th.
Sodus Bay boats can be launched at the Margaretta launch on the west side of the bay or Bay Bridge Sport Shop at the south end.
Port Bay has the south and north DEC launch sites from West Port Bay Road. Both are in great shape for boats with enough parking for the trailers.
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
Sunday was another enjoyable day for fishing the canal. No wind was great for kayaks. There are plenty of open spots on the north trail from Widewaters to Port Gibson. Park in the lot and fish the entire trail to Port Gibson You can cast from shore for bass, bluegills, sunfish, and some crappies.
The canal is open until November 3, 2025, for boat traffic.
Conditions permitting, all portions of the New York State Canal system are now open. This is the 201st consecutive year of travel along New York’s Canals and the 200th anniversary of the original Erie Canal’s completion on October 26, 1825.
There are no tolls or fees for recreational use of the Canal system this year.
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:
It’s feeling a little more like fall fishing weather lately with cooler temps, some colder nights and rain to go along. Rain is again in the forecast for the end of this week so we will have to wait and see what, if any, changes to trib flows there may be. The forecasted rainfall amount and locations are so far variable, with a chance of +/- 1 inch for select areas. So far, all the previous rains have not had that great an effect on trib flows except for maintenance and it’s suspected that a whole bunch more rainfall would be needed to make all the waterways go out of shape.
There was a fair amount of angling pressure on the waterways through the past weekend. So far this mid-week period it seems somewhat less pressured with still a fair amount of guys at the parking spots and Archers Club on the Oak. It’s about a 50/50 mix now of salmon anglers and trout anglers. The salmon “run” has a while to play out so anglers should have the chance for big fish hook-ups easily through Nov. Brown trout and steelhead and cohos for Oak Orchard mixed bag chances have begun for the season. And NYSDEC in some routine sampling for ongoing Atlantic salmon restoration efforts just recently turned up some nice mature fish in the Oak. Lucky drifters and swingers will be getting into those fish no doubt in the upcoming days. There’s been some outright fresh salmon landed on the Oak that have barely begun to darken up.
Flows in the Oak have been fluctuating both from routine hydropower operations and changes in run of the river. Rain, wind and heavier flows can bring on more water level fluctuations. Flows had recently come down from about med to mod, yet when I looked at flows today there was a good head of mostly clear water at about med. It’s unclear how long that flow will last. A significant amount of upcoming precipitation might cause flows to go higher. Some anglers remarked of more Kings moving through the Oak today, and there’s been reports of brown trout action picking up lately. More and more fly anglers are out this time of the year, with most success on dead-drifted egg pattern flies. Spin rodders and pin anglers are also in on the action with eggs, skein, beads and now lately more jig drifts.
The other area smaller waterways like Johnson has bumped up modestly from “peak” Canal water feed. Anglers are spread out on that waterway and report mixed bag hook-ups for salmon and trout. Runs of salmonids there recently are likely responding to the last rise in flows. In Sandy, flows are low to mod but are enough that the waterway is driftable for lighter line techniques. Anglers in the streamcourse mid sections are finding some browns now spread out with greater concentrations lower down in the rivercourse. With an upcoming “peak” Canal water feed, there looks for more action coming on. Anglers use caution in creeling browns or Atlantics – keeping in mind the daily creel limit is one each and at 15-inch min. for browns and 25-inch min. for an Atlantic. Be sure that brown trout is not an undersized Atlantic! Catch and release can solve any discrepancy there!
The St. Mary’s Archers Club 2025 public access fall season parking will be from Oct. 10 through Nov. 11. Parking is $10, with gates opening at 4-5 a.m. and closing at 4 p.m. A lunch will also be served this year. For updates, visit the Sportsman’s Archery Club of St Mary’s Inc Facebook page.
Oswego County
Steelhead fishing in Oswego County has been outstanding this past week! However, big changes are on the horizon. With a major rain event expected this week, we should see a significant rise in water levels.
Salmon River, Pulaski NY
• Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
The increased flow will help spread the steelhead from the lower river all the way up to Altmar. The added depth will make fish more comfortable, leading to an improved bite.
The higher water will also help dislodge salmon eggs, making beads and single-egg patterns the best choices for anglers targeting steelhead.
Oswego River
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
Despite this week’s rain, water levels on the Oswego River have remained low. Trout fishing has been excellent throughout the week, though the low water has concentrated fish into limited holding areas. With more rain in the forecast, anglers should soon be able to spread out and enjoy the strong numbers of steelhead and brown trout.
The most effective techniques for targeting trout on the Oswego include float fishing with beads, egg sacs, and jigs.
Note that there is significant construction on West 1st Street; plan accordingly.
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. Click here for the current water flow.
Additional Oswego County Locations
North Sandy Pond:
A few cars were spotted at fishing access paths, but there wasn’t much activity earlier in the week. The water level was low with little flow. As of today (Wednesday, 10/22), there’s been more activity, with anglers spotted under the Woodville bridge. There’s also an increased flow of water that seems closer to normal levels, but little angler success.
South Sandy Pond:
A few vehicles were parked at fishing access walk path locations, but no anglers were visible earlier in the week. Little to no flow. As of today (Wednesday, 10/22), many anglers were spotted upstream under the bridges at Ellisburg, Joslyn Rd, and Monitor Mills Rd. Water has also risen a little to a more normal level with decent flow. There have been a couple of kings caught.
Little Sandy Creek:
Water seems to be on the lower side. Some flow.
Grindstone:
There is some flow, but there have been no anglers spotted.
Little Salmon:
Water is on the lower side; some flow. There has been decent angler success at the Jellystone campground, all catching kings. Otherwise, it’s been slow.
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.