Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
The WNY Sport and Travel Expo starts up on Thursday and will continue thru Sunday at the Erie County Fairgrounds in Hamburg. While the size is diminished from previous years due to the pandemic, Mark Concilla with Erie Promotions promises a quality show in one big room which includes fishing and hunting seminars, a kids trout fishing pond, and unique displays and vendors to relieve that severe case of cabin fever if you have it. There is also a long list of hunting outfitters and fishing charters to take that trip of a lifetime in some cases. Check their website at eriepromotions.com for more info.
In the lower Niagara River, Capt. John DeLorenzo of Niagara Falls continues to hit a mix of trout, but it is a little more difficult after the high winds over the weekend. On Saturday, he had Jay Dzialowski from Pittsburgh, a customer who has been fishing with him since 1986. They landed 14 steelhead and one nice 10-pound brown. Most of the trout were in the 8 to 12-pound range. They were using last year’s frozen steelhead eggs, tied up in pink or yellow sacs. The water is a little more stained right now.
Devil’s Hole and Artpark have been good places for steelhead according to Lisa Drabczyk with Creek Road Bait and Tackle in Lewiston. A few lake trout are also being taken there. Live bait like minnows and shiners work well. Kwikfish and beads will also catch fish. Downriver it has been lake trout and brown trout according to Capt. Frank Campbell of Lewiston. Minnows have worked best. Things should start to clear soon. There are still a few walleyes hanging around. Remember the season closes for walleye on March 15.
In the upper Niagara River, the foot of Ferry Street is on fire according to Tommy Ortolano of Lake Effect Bait and Tackle in Tonawanda. The top targeted species are lake trout and walleye. Best lures according to his reports are Chuck Booker spinners and Storm 360 search baits. Those same lures will work in the lower Niagara River, too.
Speaking of the lower river, Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls reports that the water above the power plant has a light stain with about 4 feet of visibility as of Tuesday. The power plant is still pumping out some dirty water, but there is a couple of feet of visibility there. Ziehm caught 7 lake trout on Monday along Artpark, but it has been tough fishing. A big part of the problem is all the bait present in the river system. He has also been catching a few walleyes on a white jig in Devil’s Hole including fish up to 9 pounds. Jigs and spinners in whites, oranges, and chartreuse colors are all working for him consistently.
Burt Dam and 18 Mile Creek has been producing some steelhead and brown trout according to Roy Letcher of Burt. Best enticements have been jigs and sacs. According to Scott Feltrinelli with Ontario Fly Outfitters, it looks like the mid-sized and larger streams are running a bit high and dirty right now. Some of the very small tributaries are worth looking at over the next few days as snow melts and flows increase. This time of year, creeks levels will bounce up and down with the changing weather conditions. Know your creek and your weather! March is usually a great month for tributary fishing.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
There was some stream action at Maxwell and Salmon Creek in Pultneyville. Browns were hitting egg sacs.
Water flow is still strong, and you need to find some pools. Most shoreline ice has melted.
Lake Ontario tributary regulations
Three fish in combination and not to include more than one Rainbow Trout (or Steelhead) and One Brown Trout.
Bays
The ice fishing report will be brief…stay off the ice. None of the bays have enough safe ice for fishing.
The only possible places might be the smaller ponds like Sodus Center; however, they have also lost ice to the warming temperatures and rainfall.
Many decades ago, you could be on ice from December to mid-March. Those days are gone and now the norm is five weeks of ice fishing.
After ice-out, the perch fishing is historically great. Fish the south end of Port Bay and all the points at Port and Sodus Bays.
The pike season ends next Tuesday, March 15th.
The limit on perch is 50 fish with no minimum length. Remember not to leave anything on the ice when you leave.
All persons on board a recreational vessel less than 21 feet in length (including canoes, kayaks, and rowboats) must wear a USCG–approved PFD from November 1 to May 1.
Erie Canal
There is no safe ice on any section of the canal. After ice-out fish for crappies near the Port Gibson bridge.
The 2021 New York State fishing guide can be found at https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7917.html for downloading and printing at home. Production of hard copies is finished and have been delivered to License Issuing Agents. Hard copies can be requested by emailing FWFish@dec.ny.gov.
Keep informed from the NYS Canal web for changes and restrictions with canal waters. Keep informed about 2021 canal hours. (There will be no fees for the 2021 canal boating season.) May 21st is the scheduling for the canal opening. Hours are 7 am till 5pm. Stay informed with the below web page.
Safety Precautions from DEC
While enjoying the outdoors, please continue to follow the CDC/New York State Department of Health guidelines (leaves DEC’s website) for preventing the spread of colds, flu, and COVID-19:
- Try to keep at least six (6) feet of distance between you and others.
- Avoid close contact, such as shaking hands, hugging, and kissing.
- Wash hands often or use a hand sanitizer when soap and water are not available.
- Avoid surfaces that are touched often, such as doorknobs, handrails, and playground equipment.
When fishing, DEC recommends avoiding busy waters and following the guidelines on DEC’s website about fishing responsibly in New York State. If an angler arrives at a parking lot and there are several cars, they should consider going to another parking lot. If an angler is fishing upstream, they should fish downstream of the other angler or consider fishing another day. Anglers fishing from boats should be able to maintain at least six feet of distance between one another. For more information about the benefits of being outdoors safely and responsibly, go to DEC’s website.
New York State is open for fishing and DEC encourages anglers to recreate locally at a nearby waterbody. New York’s lakes and streams offer great opportunities for fishing in a wide array of settings across the state. Even during the current COVID-19 public health crisis, getting outdoors and connecting with nature while angling in New York’s waters is a great way to help maintain mental and physical health.
Orleans County
This week’s report is from Ron Bierstine from Oak Orchard Tackle & Lodge:
A couple of days of warm temps and some rain yesterday has the trib flows up and rolling again! Flows in the Oak are high, close to blown and dirty. Flows consist of lots of turbine water and overflow water that started to come back up for the end of the past weekend. Water color is one foot of visibility or less. Most of the area snowpack has now melted although some remains in protected areas. There’s still lots of upstream headwater swamp supplies in the Oak. Flows will likely retreat in the overflow channel thru the mid and end part of the week while turbine flows remain high. Water color will be on a slow mend.
You can feel the Spring change in the weather now and with ice cover going away on Lake Alice, there will be the typical warming of water temps in the Oak. Likely there are some steelhead in the Oak now and the drift conditions remain challenging to get on them. There were some hook-ups thru the past weekend right before this latest rise in flows. Even though I wouldn’t look for turbine flows to change much in the near term, once the water temps begin to rise even a little, the drift chances should improve and more fresh fish will hopefully be evidenced all around. Flows in the other area smaller waterways are high and dirty. Most ice cover looks to be moved out. Those smaller tribs will drop and clear and warm up sooner than the Oak. Look for your fishing window sooner than later whenever reasonable conditions come together.
The forecast is for slowly warming up thru this week with a chance of rain/snow showers mid-week and precipitation again for the end of the week. Any significant precipitation will quickly raise all the trib flows up again with the chance for off-color flows.