Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
Action in the lower Niagara River continues to range from good to very good, depending on where you are fishing and what you are fishing for, reports Capt. Frank Campbell of Lewiston. However, water color was starting to change on Tuesday due to high wind action and you may have to wait and see how things end up. Some steelhead were being caught in Devil’s Hole for boaters, but water levels have been low, impacting fishing conditions. At Artpark, steelhead numbers are increasing with the best tactics being three-way rigs loaded with beads, bags, or MagLips. Lake trout season opens on December 1, and they can currently be found in decent numbers mixed in with the other trout. The mid-river drifts are producing a good number of brown trout with beads being the preferred bait, but eggs and MagLips are also taking their fair share of fish. Pine Drift was producing well this past week. The Niagara Bar was the place to be this past weekend as the mix of heavily feeding fish continues. Kings, browns, and lake trout have been very cooperative taking MagLips, minnows, and jigs near the green buoy area. If you want to target kings, bump your speed up slightly, especially if you are catching trout. Fishing pressure was an issue but moving off the heavy concentration of boats seemed to be the ticket when the action slowed down.
John Jarosz of Lake View and his sons Dave and Matt from Elma, hit the lower river and caught six species of fish with Capt. Ryan Shea of Brookdog Fishing Company. They started at the Niagara Bar, catching some salmon and other species. Dave hooked into a 13.5-inch walleye, too. They trio also caught bass, steelhead, brown trout, and lake trout. They alternated between beads and live bait. A minnow enticed the big walleye.
In the Niagara Gorge area, Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls is continuing his consistency at catching fish from shore. Even if the water stains, shore casters will still do okay. This week, Ziehm was dealing with clear conditions and his best lure was a white and silver bucktail jig. He needed to use a fluorocarbon leader to deal with the clear water. He caught walleye, steelhead, brown trout, lake trout and steelhead. He says there are decent numbers of steelhead around, but more will come in if the water becomes stained or the water temperatures drop to the low 40s. The NYPA fishing facilities will officially close on Dec. 3 for the season, but it could close earlier if there is any snow and ice. Check out 286-6662 for updates.
The regular bass season will close on Nov. 30th, but the catch and release season is taking over after that in most of the state. Only artificial lures can be used when targeting bass starting Dec. 1. Musky season in the Great Lakes will continue through Dec. 15th. As of Dec. 1st, lake trout season will open in the lower Niagara River and Lake Ontario. In the lower Niagara, this is part of your three fish daily limit of salmon and trout, but no more than two can be lake trout per person. There is no minimum size but only one can be between 25 and 30 inches long.
In Lake Ontario tributaries, brown trout action has been slowing down at the Burt Dam area, but there are still fish available according to Karen Evarts at the Boat Doctors Tackle Barn in Olcott. Most of the fish have been smaller males. The best baits have been wax worms, spikes, beads, and egg sacs. Fishing pressure has been down quite a bit with the combination of big game hunting season and the weather issues.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
The recent rainfall over the last couple of weeks has produced action in the streams. The browns and steelhead are in Maxwell Creek. The steelhead have made it to some pools on the south side of Lake Road, while the browns have been caught in the slower current in Maxwell Bay.
Lake Ontario is low however browns and steelhead can now enter the streams. Try Furnace Creek in Wolcott, Maxwell, Salmon Creek in Pultneyville and Mink Creek in Williamson.
Remember the regulations for Lake Ontario tributary fish. Three in combination, not to include more than two Rainbow Trout (or Steelhead) in the lake, and not to include more than one Rainbow Trout (or Steelhead) and one Brown Trout in the tributaries.
Use egg sacs under a torpedo bobber or if you have room, cast out bright red spoons.
If the wind decreases you can try the piers, casting out heavy spoons. Use caution when fishing the Sodus Channel. The pier will be ice coated if the temps are freezing.
Bays
Perch fishing has been productive, however with our current full gale winds the boats have been sitting on trailers. When it becomes calm, fish the points and around the islands in Sodus Bay.
The water is very low in Port Bay so when you can launch use the north end ramp next to the channel. The perch are still hitting white 2-inch rubber tipped with perch eyes. Fish the points and drop-offs.
Pike season will continue until March 15th and when we get safe ice you should concentrate near LeRoy Island.
Erie Canal
Crappies have been the main catch at Widewaters. Use very small bright jigs and fish about 20 inches off the bottom.
Bass season closes November 30th; however, you can catch and release from December 1st until June 14th.
Anyone underway in a boat less than 21 feet in length anytime between November 1 and May 1 must wear a securely fastened life jacket.
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:
We have a touch of some wintery weather now and for the mid week period with below freezing temps. No serious lake effect snow expected here on the WNY big Lake Ontario south shore — greatest accumulations are SW of here off Lake Erie. Chance of only a dusting thru Wednesday as winds and lake bands shift and then warming back up for the end of week and weekend. No icing conditions expected in the Oak, but chance of some icing conditions in the smaller waterways like Sandy with daytime and night time temps below freezing or with any snow.
Fishing pressure is only moderate at the Oak and overall, with most guys reporting good action on mostly browns. Steelhead are more numerous though on select days and there have been a few cohos reported. Some days are better then others for steelhead hook-ups and its hard to say for sure what drives that.
Browns are spread thru the Oak, guys at the dam had good action yesterday. Drifts are more slow and low and dead drift style now thanks to colder water, so float presentations, like at the dam, are usually effective. Jigs and tipped jigs coming on but eggs and egg patterns still productive with the right dead drift presentation. Streamers and buggers also can be good especially as a second presentation or in downstream slower water for post spawn browns or the fresher steelhead you might intercept.
Flows are slightly high and mostly clear in the Oak with lower moderate flows in the other area smaller waterways. For the anglers still out there drifting/swinging like at the Oak and by late in the Fall standards the fish numbers and action are still pretty good. Lower and clearer and temp shocked smaller tribs will be a little tougher.
Oswego County
Steelhead fishing remains steady on both the Salmon and Oswego Rivers. Temperatures drop rapidly especially after our first snow event. Thus, steelhead are starting to move to their winter holding areas.
Salmon River, Pulaski NY
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• Click Here for the Current CFS at Pineville
Steelhead have been plentiful from Altmar to the Ballpark. But fish are being caught throughout the river.
As the water temps drop, fish tend to hold in the slower deeper parts of a run. Concentrate your efforts on the deepest, lowest parts of the pools. Classic winter holding areas are the School House Pool, Wire Pool, Trestle, Place and Sportsman Pools.
In slower water, beads become less effective and eggs sack and jigs are the better choice. Blue, white, or purple are good colors. As well as white, black, and brown jigs. Don’t be afraid to throw pink worm too, which can intrigue the steelhead’s “inquisitive side.”
Oswego River, Oswego NY
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• Click Here for the Current CFS
elevated. With low target levels on the Finger lakes and Oneida, we should see more draining. This leads to less wading options. But don’t be afraid to fish the edges, when the water is up, because that’s where most fish concentrate. Also don’t walk over the fish – all too often we see anglers standing where they should be fishing.
The same baits apply to Oswego as do to the Salmon River. But some of our color recommendations tend to be a brighter, such as pink, chartreuse, and peach egg sacs. The jig bite is usually terrific this time of year. Use a white jig as the base, with different colors added.
Note: Click here to see a map of the areas that are closed due to construction.
Free Oswego Fishing Guide
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The 68-page guide includes a detailed overview of fishing opportunities on eastern Lake Ontario, Oneida Lake, the Oswego and Salmon rivers and a variety of other tributaries, as well as the more than 40,000 acres of public lands available for hunting.