Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
The 70th Anniversary Conference of the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers went off in spectacular fashion and media folks, corporate sponsors and leading association representatives from around the country convened in Lewiston for an outstanding gathering of outdoor media mavens last week. Colorful fall foliage was a perfect backdrop to fantastic fishing as attendees enjoyed everything from salmon and trout fishing to smallmouth bass, walleye and perch action.
The 2026 lower Niagara River salmon run has been one to remember according to Capt. Dave Scipione with Scipione’s Fishing Charters. And there are still some salmon available. For king salmon, Devil’s Hole was the place to be. Drifting egg skein on 3-way rigs using a No. 1 or 2 size octopus hooks, tied with an egg loop knot and 1.5-ounce to 2.5-ounce sinker is still the most effective way to land these giants. We may see a few more fresh fish push through, but most efforts should be shifted toward smallmouth bass, or trout fishing insists Scipione. Some trout have entered the system, and are available, but not nearly in the numbers that are expected to arrive in the next couple of weeks. Drifting Kwikfish, MagLips, golden shiners or beads on 3-way rigs will all take fish and should be fished accordingly depending on wind direction. South or southwest winds are best for pulling plugs. Action for smallmouth bass was available in just about every drift downriver from Devil’s Hole to the lake. The most effective techniques for catching bass would be dragging 2.5-inch tube jigs, or a size No. 1 or 1/0 drop shot/split shot hook with a golden shiner on a 3-way rig.
Smallmouth bass are still being caught on live bait and bait imitations according to Alan Raymond with the Wicked Worm in Youngstown. Salmon are still available and they being caught salmon skein, and beads (bigger 14mm beads). He is seeing some trout action but it’s just getting started. Some pike have been caught around his shop lately.
Trout are starting to show up in the gorge according to Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls. He caught one brown and hooked two steelhead over the weekend on No. 4 spinners and skein. Most of the fish he caught were salmon, hitting double-digits over the weekend. Lake trout are sitting on the bottom waiting for cooler water to start their annual fall spawn. Remember the season doesn’t open until Dec. 1 for lakers. His No. 4 spinners were chartreuse with a hot pink bead. It won’t be long before the trout take over.
Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn reports that there have been mixed reports coming in from Burt Dam and 18 Mile Creek, as well as off the piers. The focus this week at the dam has been on brown trout. King salmon and steelhead are also in the mix. Use white or black jigs, beads, wax worms, and skein. Off the piers, J13 Rapalas, Little Cleo spoons and No. 5 Vibrax spinners were all taking fish. In the harbor, big perch have been hitting wax worms. Wilson piers have seen a bit of action, too – salmon and northern pike.
Captains Chris and Connor Cinelli, the father and son duo from Grand Island, helped to show off the waters above Niagara Falls around Grand Island to outdoor media folks last week. Golden shiners fished off three-way rigs did well, producing not only plenty of smallmouth bass, but also a few walleyes. Water temperatures are starting to drop, which will help trigger increased musky action moving forward.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Lake Ontario
There were some smaller crafts fishing near Maxwell Creek, however that was Sunday. Today the ‘Good Ole” wind from the north stopped all that action. Actually, it’s not a good wind. How about relentless blowing wind?
Streams
Maxwell did have an opening to Lake Ontario on Sunday, but the stream needs more rain to make it possible for the browns and steelhead to enter.
There are a few locations to fish Salmon Creek in Pultneyville. Make sure you don’t trespass.
There were a few calm days for Pier Fishing. Hughes’s Marina had an opening to the lake, and the Sodus Bay channel had some steelhead, and brown trout catches from the pier.
Cast out heavy spoons…Little Cleos, Kastmasters, and Moonshine spoons all work. Silver and chrome colors work the best.
Bays
Port Bay had some quiet water over the weekend, and some perch were caught between the channel and Graves Point. Anglers were fishing the deeper waters of the bay, which were about 25 fow. The larger perch seem to be deeper in Port and Sodus Bays.
Live bait has been working the best because of all the shad in both bays. You can always try Charlie Brewer sliders. Go with 2- inch grubs with yellow or white tails.
In Sodus fish around the islands at the north of the bay. You can also catch perch out from Shaker Heights, which is where Third Creek enters the bay.
Erie Canal
Widewaters was calm on Sunday, and a couple of Kayak anglers were casting near the north side for panfish.
October is still a great season for catching largemouth bass at Widewaters. With your boat you can catch the bass from Widewaters fishing west under Port Gibson Bridge. Bass season closes November 30 for keepers and is open for catch and release from December 1st until June 14th.
There are locations along the Widewaters’ north shore trail where you can cast out into the canal. Panfish include bluegills, sunfish, and a few crappies.
The Erie Canal is now open and will close on October 14th.
There is an excellent DEC site that lists all the boating launch areas in Wayne County: dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/boating/launch-sites/wayne-county
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. On 1298 Route 104 is Ontario Country Max and 625 E Main St. is Palmyra Country Max.
Orleans County
Orleans County Sportfishing Coordinator Ron Bierstine:
Wow, approaching the end of Oct already when the brown trout action usually gets good – typically lasting thru Nov and into Dec. Thing is tho, this year good brown trout action started early in Oct and so far it only seems to be picking up. In the Oak especially, anglers have been getting as many or more brown trout hook ups as salmon at times. Salmon action is still good, and brown trout chances looking real good now and upcoming thru Nov. A few steelhead are mixed in and Atlantic salmon hookups seem to spike on certain days too. Good fall angling mixed bag chances under fair weather is for sure underway!
The weather forecast ahead for something like a week looks fair and warm and clear with no major precip. Nights are dropping back so water temps should remain on the cool side. Salmon in the Oak and even the scattered numbers in the other area smaller tribs, are still in good shape with more green then older fish. Many salmon are still more interested in moving upstream or bumping into the end of migrations like at Waterport, then are interested in spawning. Slowly tho, that will change and more and more fish will be around fast water gravel spots and spawning. For now most of the browns are on the heels of salmon and so that leads to all those fish like reported at the dam. Flows in the Oak are something like just less then slightly high with a good head of turbine water. After the forecasted fair and dry weather ahead flows in the Oak could retreat toward med. Flows in the other area smaller tribs might likewise drop back from around medium now to moderate and clearer. The Canal water feed program should keep most all waterways from anything resembling real low and clear – and that’s a good thing for sure.
Fishing pressure is up and down, with a lot of focus at the dam on the Oak. Looks like a some anglers bracketed the past weekend leading to a fair amount of guys around thru yesterday, Monday. Look for a few less anglers out and about thru this mid week period. And as more consistent action may come on in the other area smaller waterways, guys may spread out more too. Some anglers are perfectly happy to trade off less angling pressure for a few less or more scattered fish like in the smaller waterways then the concentrated angling and fish numbers at the Oak. But then again, the general consistency and mixed bag chances is the lure of drifts and swings and casts on the Oak!
All manner of eggs and egg imitations like skein, sacks, beads, yarn flies and some jigs have been producing for float, spin and fly anglers. The bite can turn on and off at times and later at the end of day as pressure eases usually means cooperative fish. At the dam and in the near downstream reaches has been productive. Some fish may be holding like around the Archers, yet a good amount may still be interested in steaming thru there ASAP and not holding much.
Oswego County
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Fishing remains great! The salmon have filled the rivers, and plenty of trout are here as well!
Salmon River, Pulaski NY
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For those looking to catch one last salmon or two, your best bet right now is to head upriver from 2A to Altmar. There are still plenty of kings around, so look for them on spawning gravel. Large groups of spawning salmon can be found in gravel areas throughout the river.
For those looking to target trout, there are plenty of steelhead in the river as well. Your best chance of finding trout is to concentrate on fast water just downstream of known salmon spawning areas.
The best baits are anything that looks like a salmon egg. Steelhead wait for eggs kicked up from the beds and pick them off as they drift downstream.
Oswego River Report
Click Here of the 10 day Forecast
After last week’s heavy rains, the kings in the Oswego River have headed toward the dam, where you can practically walk across them!
With water levels dropping since then, anglers targeting kings have had great success.
There are also plenty of trout in the system. Unfortunately, many anglers have been exceeding their limits lately, so remember that the limit is one brown trout and one steelhead at 25 inches.
Just like on the Salmon River, the best presentation for finding a trout or two is to use salmon egg imitations and fish downstream of the mass of kings.
REMINDER! The brown trout limit on the river is 1. The limit is 3 fish in combination, but only one brown trout and one steelhead/rainbow may be included in that total of 3.
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.
Cormorant Reporting
Courtesy of NYS Sea Grant
New York Sea Grant announces new survey tool to track birds’ populations and impact
In August, New York Sea Grant, a collaborative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York.
Read more about the project here
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