Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
The first signs of Niagara River fishing life finally showed up this week as a few shore fishermen made it into the gorge wherever some open water could be found. Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls sends were that he made it down a couple times recently and was rewarded with three brown trout on one outing, then went six for nine on steelhead on another. There are signs of life! Ziehm found five feet of visibility, but realized the bigger challenge was casting between the ice chunks. He said the best two methods for taking fish right now was float fishing or casting jigs. All six of his steelhead came on white jigs. With the super cold temperatures, he recommends spraying WD40 on the last three eyelets on your fishing rod and insists it won’t harm the rod. It will help keep them from freezing up.
Alan Raymond with The Wicked Worm in Youngstown reported on hearing that some guys found open water upriver after windy days and that some steelhead were landed. He also said that the Lower River Steelhead Contest is set for March 28, so be sure to mark your calendars. With the ice problems at the launch ramps, he has been hearing from more ice fishermen lately. One customer (Mike Harris) landed a steelhead through the ice in Olcott using shiners.
Matt Vogt and Nick LaRose of Newfane also hit Olcott Harbor over the weekend and managed to catch a few brown trout and a pike using egg sacs and a forage minnow spoon. They had about 6 inches of solid ice that had about 2 inches of white ice on top. Water clarity was very good, probably 4-5 feet of visibility. Wilson Harbor also has safe ice, but smaller panfish have been the result for hard water anglers.
Feb. 14-15 is a free fishing weekend in New York State. This is a perfect time to check out ice fishing.
Feb. 19-22 is the Niagara Fishing Expo at the Niagara Falls Convention Center. Check out niagarafishingexpo.com for details. There are over 200 fishing-related seminars for the cost of admission. Over 180 vendor booths and free parking, too.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
All the streams are frozen over.
Bays
The ice is 12 to 14 inches on Port and Sodus Bays. The snowpack is still on bays; however, the weekend wind blew off some of the cover on Sodus.
The shoreline snowpack is high, but once you get on the bays it’s not so tough. You can use all the trails made by snowmobiles to get to your favorite location.
Some of the easier sections of Sodus for getting on the ice are the trestle on the northwest side of the bay, Third Creek, and straight out from Davenports and Bay Bridge Sport Shop.
The perch are starting to scatter so it’s a “drill and move” mission. The bluegills are nine-inch size which makes a delicious meal.
The pike are being caught between the islands and the east shore and the LeRoy Island section. Pike season is open until March 15th.
Dock bubblers on Sodus and Port Bays are creating very large open holes. Don’t fish next to any bubbler.
You can now park at Davenport’s Marina on the south end of Sodus. See Don at the bait shop for information.
Erie Canal
They have been catching panfish at Widewaters. The ice is at least 12 inches, and the weekend wind blew snow off this section of the canal. And this region doesn’t get the lake effect like the northern Lake Ontario bays.
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.
Orleans County
Orleans County Sportfishing Coordinator Ron Bierstine:
We are headed for a slight warm-up for this mid-week period with temps near 30 F. Chance of above freezing temps for highs today. There’s been some snow showers in the area and chance of more snow showers for this week. Accumulations now for the area are 2 – 3 ft +/- of windblown snow. The weekend ahead long-range forecast is calling for warmer temps, possibly near 40 F.
Flows in the Oak are real low and clear. There remains a small open water channel down through about the Archers Club area, but there is a lot of bank ice. There are a few anglers each day working the water, mainly at the dam, hooking up on what’s probably the resident recycled steelhead there. There is some icing there, too, that pushes the flowing water farther from the bankside area and so landing any fish can be tougher.
Downstream flat water areas are frozen over, with ice anglers set up on the lower river areas and inland lakes and Lake Ontario embayments. The other area smaller waterways are low and clear and frozen and locked up. The chance of fresh fish migrations under these low and mostly locked-up water conditions are not good until flows may begin to go higher and start to open things up.
It may take a significant warm-up over more than a couple of days’ time with some snow melt and/or precipitation to get water flows rolling again. Lake Erie is nearly all iced over, and even Lake Ontario is around 40% iced over. Stay tuned for upcoming steelhead action spread out through all the waterways when the weather begins to break toward something warmer. It should be good! And we may be looking at action in the Oak or other smaller waterways well into Apr or May.
Oswego County
Fishing remains good throughout Oswego County.
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Salmon River, Pulaski NY
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Water levels dropped slightly this week as temperatures rose closer to freezing rather than near zero. These two factors have made more than just the upper stretches productive, unlike during the recent deep freeze that caused slush and anchor ice below Pineville.
Fish from the DSR to Pineville should be aggressive, as they have seen little pressure over the past couple of weeks. As is typical for winter, egg sacs, jigs, and pink worms are producing well.
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Oswego River
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Water levels have been dropping, creating good fishing conditions from the high wall. As flows continue to decrease, the low wall should become productive as well.
With the heavy ice pack, the harbor is currently unfishable. Below the powerhouse, jigs and beads have been the most productive presentations.
Cold Weather Reminder:
With temperatures forecast to fall below 10 degrees, fish gills and eyes can freeze quickly when exposed to the air. If photos are desired, keep fish in the water as long as possible and limit air exposure to only a few seconds.
Cold Weather Reminder:
With temperatures forecast to fall below 10 degrees, fish gills and eyes can freeze quickly when exposed to the air. If photos are desired, keep fish in the water as long as possible and limit air exposure to only a few seconds.
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.
Sandy Pond:
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Snow is packing down, to make for easier fishing. The perch, pike, and pickerel bites have all picked up. Sweedish pimples and caty jigs are our biggest recommendation this time of year, minnows are a good option too.
The main points of ice access for Sandy Pond are: “The Elms,” Wigwam, Greenpoint and the DEC launch at Stanley Drive.
Thanks to Woody’s tackle for the help with this report. Be sure to check our Facebook page, Oswego County Fishing, or else call Woody’s tackle directly for info about future derbies.
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