Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
Finding a place to go fishing has not been easy so far in 2026. With the cold weather, there is some ice fishing taking place such as in Wilson Harbor or Buffalo’s Small Boat Harbor, but caution is advised with ice thickness. With the warmup that we will experience this week, combined with rain, should help to open some of the tributaries off Lake Ontario, but it could negatively impact any safe ice that has been set up. In the Niagara River, high winds on Lake Erie last week created very muddy conditions in the river. Combine that with the fact that the ice boom could not be fully put in place, creating a ton of ice in the river as a result, making things even more difficult. Hopefully that boom will be secured by the end of this week, but only if Mother Nature allows for it. Lake Erie water temperature was at 32 degrees this week and the ice boom should help the lake start to freeze.
Getting back to what’s happening in the river, Capt. Matt Yablonsky of Wet Net Charters finally launched his boat in Lewiston and found about 18 inches of visibility, good enough to catch some trout. Pink egg sacs fished on three-way rigs produced two steelhead north of the launch ramp, but only when the sun came out. As the water slowly starts to clear even more, fishing should be good – if it doesn’t get too muddy with the rain in the forecast. Time will tell.
Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls confirmed that the ice above the power plant was making fishing tough from shore. Shore casters usually start catching fish first. Once the boom is in place and Lake Erie starts to freeze, water clarity won’t be as much of an issue … until it becomes too clear. We will keep you posted.
Matt Vogt of Newfane reports decent ice thickness at Wilson-Tuscarora’s back bay, anywhere from 5-6 inches in most spots. Fishing was relatively slow due to 12-mile Creek blowing out from the rain. Water clarity was only about 5-7 inches of visibility. He set up a variety of tip-ups for pike but never had any flags go off. He did manage to catch a decent number of bluegills after moving around some, as well as two mature perch. As for bait, wax worms, spikes, and red worms all work well for Wilson.
Over at Burt Dam and 18 Mile Creek, water levels were low and the chance for catching a brown trout is still available according to Karen Evarts at the Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn in Olcott. The water will be coming up, though, with plenty of rain in the forecast. The brown trout fishing in the creek has been great this fall and early winter so far. Small jigs with wax worms or spikes will catch fish. What color would depend on how clear the water is.
If you can’t get on the water to do any fishing, the next best thing is dreaming about fishing through fishing shows. Mark and Jake Romanack of Fishing 411 are airing a Niagara Bar brown trout show this week and you can catch all the action on their YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkMuHn3BiTg. What an episode!
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
Salmon Creek in Pultneyville is open and sections of Maxwell are also open. Rain is here, which will open some sections of Maxwell on the south side of Lake Road. If there are small pools, try egg sacs for steelhead.
Bays
Currently we have 6 to 8 inches of ice on Sodus Bay… from the east side all the way to Skippers Landing near the north. There is safe ice from Oak Park Marina west across the bay next to Shaker Heights. Just don’t try the middle of the bay. LeRoy Island has open water, probably because of the breach at the north side of Sodus,
Our recent warmer temps and rain should not really melt too much ice. “Hopefully”
Port Bay has open water by the channel, however most of the bay is frozen. Just spud your way around and do not take any heavy equipment on the ice. There are bubblers on the northeast side of the bay which create large sections of open water.
Use caution when setting up shanties next to tributaries and anywhere near dock bubblers.
You can now park at Davenport’s Marina on the south end of Sodus. See Don at the bait shop for information.
There were 90 ice anglers fishing on the east side of Sodus on Sunday morning. They were in 5 to 8 feet of water and catching some perch, however the catch was slow because of the large group of shanties in the shallow water scaring the fish.
Erie Canal
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.
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 is somewhat up and down so far for this beginning part of the new year. There’s been some colder days with snow and then following there’s been some warmer days. Long-range forecasts through this month of January are so far pointing to more of the same up-and-down weather.
In the near term, there is a warmup forecast with above-freezing temperatures for the rest of this week that may last into the start of the upcoming weekend. Chance of rain or showers for a couple of days this week, with the possibility of 0.25 – 0.50 inches of rain through tonight and tomorrow.
Flows in the Oak are somewhere between mod and med and just slightly stained or going on the clear. Look for flows to likely not drop much more in the near term, thanks to the forecast. There is a better chance that flows could be on the rise at some point this week, thanks to rain or warm temps or snowmelt.
The steelhead action by winter time standards has been good, although the earlier fresher run fish are now prob a little more educated and nosed further upstream nearer the dam. The lowering and clearing flows can make for spookier fish, but generally, the flows have still been high enough for productive drifts in most of the traditional river spots. Jigs and flies and bait like worms, wax worms, and egg sacks have been producing.
The other area, smaller tribs east and west, have low to mod flows that are mostly iced in or running slushy. After this week’s forecasted warmup, we’ll have to wait and see if any of those waterway flows will come up enough to open up better fishable conditions. The nice little bit of recent early Jan steelhead action sure is encouraging for later winter, spring action in the more typical Feb, Mar, Apr timeframe!
Oswego County
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Overall: Fishing has been pretty good lately, but conditions are about to change. With snow already on the ground and forecasted rain combined with rising temperatures, anglers should be prepared for increased flows. Water levels are already on the high side, so use caution.
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Salmon River, Pulaski NY
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Steelhead are scattered throughout the river, from top to bottom, with the most consistent action coming from larger, deeper winter holes. Egg sacs in blue, pink, and purple have been the most productive offerings.
Beads in 10mm and 12mm sizes have also been effective with the recent water bump, with brighter colors producing best. Anglers are additionally finding success with jigs, particularly in white, white/pink, and black.
Fly anglers are doing well with egg imitations in various colors, along with egg-sucking leeches.
Oswego River
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Water levels on the Oswego River began rising midweek and are expected to increase further by the weekend. This is likely to create challenging fishing conditions. The best opportunity will be in the harbor behind the hotels.
Jigs, swimbaits, and deep-diving plugs are all producing, especially when fished in natural colors.
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.
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