Greater Niagara Region
by Bill Hilts, Jr.
Lake Ontario and Tributaries – Work to remove the ice boom was underway earlier this week and it will be up to Mother Nature how much ice that will mean for the Niagara River and Lake Ontario. We had heard less than 180 square miles of ice remained, but that was before the strong easterly winds pushed ice away from the boom and out into Lake Erie. There was some ice in the East River on Wednesday. Keep those fingers crossed! With the Lake Ontario Counties Derby starting on Friday, May 2 and the Salmon Slam and $1,000 a day events set to kick off on May 3, it will be an interesting week for competition fishing. This all leads up the Wilson Harbor Invitational event on May 10, with $25,000 up for grabs for a grand prize. Don’t forget that May 11 is the last day for online registrations for the 30th Annual Lake Ontario Pro-Am Salmon Team Tournament, with the largest cash payout in the history of Lake Ontario salmon and trout fishing contests! Based on a 50 boat field, there will be over $130,000 in cash being doled out to winning teams between event one May 24-25 and event two on May 31-June 1. Check out www.lakeontarioproam.net for details. Fishing has been good on the lake for browns, coho salmon and lake trout. Just ask angling experts Buzz Ramsey and Mark Romanek of the television show Fishing 411 who have been in town fishing the last week, drifting the Niagara River and trolling in Lake Ontario. One hot bite was a new Mag Lip lure that lake trout really seemed to enjoy, silver with a chartreuse lip. They also did well on browns and cohos trolling the shoreline with just a three-way set up with the Mag Lip. Silver with a chartreuse head was the best color combination. Bob Fronczak of Ransomville enjoyed similar success out of Wilson, staying in 8-11 feet of water working the mud line back and forth with small stickbaits. Firetiger was the hot color pattern. In addition to browns and cohos, they also caught lake trout up to 18 pounds. Fronczak, fishing with his dad Robert of Lewiston, also caught 25 fish on a second outing using the same shallow-diving stickbaits off planer boards. Down towards Olcott, Greg Stanley at All in the Same Boat of Newfane reports that off Olcott, the Challenger stickbaits are working – charteuse-silver and purple haze, as well as orange. Fishing has been good all the way to Point Breeze. Target the creek mouths were warmer water is attracting baitfish. Fish the mud lines. Wes Walker at The Slippery Sinker in Olcott reports some fresh steelhead in 18 Mile Creek but with the excessive rain this week. Most streams will be high and muddy for a while. Northern pike season opens on Saturday, as does pickerel and walleye. In the Jean’s Bullhead Contest last weekend, Joel Feagin of Wilson did it again. This time his two fish weight was 3.86 pounds, using shrimp in 12 mile Creek – nearly a quarter-pound heavier than the two fish total he collected in the Wilson Conservation Club contest two weeks earlier.
Lower Niagara River – The first signs of smelt dipping took place earlier this week, but whether or not that will continue remains to be seen with the release of the ice boom. The Lewiston Smelt Festival, highlighted by the Niagara River Anglers Smelt Dip and Fry on Friday night at 6 pm, is underway May 2. There will be plenty of smelt – they bought some beforehand to make sure everyone gets a sample of the tasty baitfish. Ice was slowly starting to come down the river and we’ll just have to wait and see what impact this will have on the fishery. While some trout were available for boat and shoreline anglers, it’s been a bit tough with the 33 degree waters still flowing through the system. Steelhead in the Devil’s Hole area has been your best bet, but you do have to work for them. Kwikfish lures are the top artificial bait from boat; spoons and spinners from shore. Eggs or minnows will also work.
Upper Niagara River – Perch action at Beaver Island State Park were snapping nicely for Josh Dunkelburger of Lockport but after a few days of catch fish up to 16 inches long, action shut down on their last trip to the “Island.” They could see fish but couldn’t get them to bite. Dipping for minnows was good around the Holiday Inn Marina. The ice coming down the river should slow things up a little, but when the ice is gone and the waters start to warm, look for fishing to take off for panfish. Remember that the early trophy bass season only applies to Lake Erie proper and that the upper river is catch and release only. In addition, you must use artificial baits when targeting bass. Pike season opens on Saturday and one of the better areas is up the Erie Canal toward Tonawanda Creek. Target some of the creek mouths with spoons, spinners or large minnows. Some of the areas around Grand Island are also good for pike. Trout are still available near the head of the river around the Bird Island Pier and Broderick Park.
Chautauqua County
by Craig Robbins
Lake Erie, Lake Erie Harbors and Tribs – With ice still formed on sections of Lake Erie that border Chautauqua County, safe open water angling is still some time off but the Lake Erie tributaries are in good shape, with moderate flows and slight color. The smaller streams are getting low and clear. Cattaraugus Creek is running a little high and murky at 630 cubic feet per second, but is fishable. Anglers have been catching mostly darker steelhead with a few fresh fish mixed in. Brown trout have also shown in the Chautauqua County tributaries and suckers are moving into all creeks. Spring run steelhead hit a variety of baits including egg sacs, egg pattern flies, trout beads, jigs with grubs (fished under a float), minnows, nightcrawlers, streamer patterns and bugger patterns
Anglers are catching steelhead and brown trout from the piers at Dunkirk and Barcelona Harbors. Minnows or jigs with grubs fished under a float and casting spoons and spinners are good offerings for harbor trout.
Chautauqua Lake – Chautauqua Lake crappie anglers have been catching good numbers in the canals and from some shore sites around the south basin. Traditionally, crappie can be found along the weed edges at 6-10 feet of water in sheltered bays and around structure. Recent crappie catches have come from Ashville Bay, Burtis Bay, Lakewood Bar, around Rock and Grass Islands and off Mayville. Jig heads (1/32 and 1/64 ounce) with one inch tubes, with or without a minnow, have worked well. A small minnow on a bare hook is another simple, but effective method for crappie. Bullhead are hitting well in the canals and along shoreline areas. Worms, leeches or chicken livers fished on the bottom at night, works well for bullhead. Walleye season opens next Saturday, May 3rd
Wayne County Fishing Report
by Christopher Kenyon
Lake Ontario – The best spring fishing on record continues. Browns and cohos are hitting everything. I’m surprised they’re not smacking worms.
Fish close to shore anywhere. There have been some temperature breaks of 48 to 49 degrees in pockets off of Port Bay, however you can troll anywhere.
Some Atlantics are being caught but most catches are the browns if you are in Wayne County waters.
The net pens are now full of king fingerlings. The hatchery trucks arrive at Arney’s Marina last week and brought 50,000 salmon. They will be raised in the pens until water temps rise. Then they will be towed to the lake and released.
Streams – A few trout are still being caught in the streams. Some are rainbows and some are browns.
Bays – Bullhead fishing has been hot near the south end of Sodus Bay. Most anglers are fishing from the bridge; however you can launch a boat and catch bullheads and crappies.
Check out the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops. www.waynecountytourism.com.
We have a brand new Wayne County Fishing Brochure. This publication features where to go, what to use, and what to catch. Call our office for a free fishing packet, including the new brochure. 1-800-527-6510. We also have a new publication on Great Lakes fishing.
Erie Canal – Anglers were fishing the canal Sunday before the junky weather came. The Erie is loaded with perch, crappies and bluegills.
You can launch at the Widewaters Park west of Newark on Route 31. Sections of the canal have been flooded and the waterway will be open for boats on May 3, 2014.
Fair Haven/Cayuga County
by Captain Werner Stenger
Wow! what a great week it’s been in Fair Haven. Brown trout are plentiful close to shore weather casting from the pier heads or by boat. Kings, cohos, lakers, and steelhead have been a regular part of the mixed bag catches as well. Spoons and stick baits in natural colors have been best in the stained water.
Bullheads have also been abundant near the creek mouths. Crappie have been around the docks but not in great numbers as of yet.
Oswego County Fishing Report
This report courtesy of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
Oswego River/Lake Ontario – According to Larry Muroski of Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop, with the rain we have had this week the water level is up again to 18,700cfs. Most of the river is not fishable at this level but anglers continue to find some action behind the hotels. Brown trout and steelhead are taking egg sacs, spoons, minnows and deep-diving stickbaits. The bridge to Leto Island is closed, and there are Mandatory Personal Flotation Device (PFD) zones on the Oswego River below the Varick Dam. For more information, view the Oswego County Tourism web site at www.visitoswegocounty.com and look for the fishing report under fishing and hunting.
According to Kevin Davis of Catch the Drift, the fishing has been good this week. One client netted a pure silver steelhead fresh out of the lake. The end of April and we still had fresh steelhead coming and the river was loaded. Anglers this week had many attachments on the Oswego. This is the end of my river season as my lake trips will begin soon.
Lake Ontario – According to Larry Muroski of Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop, the wind has again been an issue some this week. When conditions allow, anglers are finding a good brown trout bite on spoons and stickbaits. Shore anglers are doing well with cleos. Three-Mile Creek is producing northern pike on spoons, spinners and stickbaits. Nightcrawlers and stickbaits are producing trout.
Salmon River/ Pulaski Area – According to Garrett Brancy of the Douglaston Salmon Run, yesterday was another wet and windy day down on the Run, but the inclement weather didn’t stop a few hearty anglers from casting a line. They were rewarded with a few dropbacks, but given the weather conditions, action was fairly slow. Late in the day anglers reported that water clarity was on the decline, likening it to chocolate milk. The good news is both the rain and wind will let up a bit for tomorrow and we may even see a few peeks of sun. Flows will remain at 1800cfs through midnight Thursday.
According to Harry Powers of Salmon Heaven Lodge, when the weather has cooperated this week, the fishing on the river has been good. The 1,800cfs flow has not slowed the fishing down as anglers and guides have been landing double figure numbers. There are spawned out, spawning and some fresh fish from top to bottom.
According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, the weather hasn’t been the lake angler’s friend this week. When conditions did allow, anglers were finding some brown trout action in shallow water along the shore trolling at 1.5-1.7 mph. The baits remain the same with straight stickbaits, Thundersticks, Rebels and light spoons working well.
Oneida Lake – Activity on the lake has been a bit quiet this week with high water and not the best weather conditions. A reminder that the walleye season opens this Saturday, May 3. Some anglers have been finding perch and panfish in the bay areas along the lake.
Sandy Pond – According to Dave Wood of Woody’s Tackle, the activity on the pond has been good with an excellent crappie bite. Live minnows under a float and small light jigs under a casting bobber are working well. The walleye season opens on Saturday, May 3.