Pictured above: Mark Romanack with Fishing 411 TV Show hit the lower river this week and put a show together on brown trout with his son Jake and Capt. Frank Campbell.
Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
After some muddy water slowed things up earlier in the week, anglers are catching fish again in the lower Niagara River. You never know what you are up against after a storm in Western New York. Winds, rain and snow can have an effect on water conditions, especially in the Niagara River. There is a difference, though, and fishermen and fisherwomen need to be cognizant of that difference between stained and dirty conditions. Mark and Jake Romanack of the Fishing 411 TV Show that appears on the World Fishing Network showed up in town on Monday to try and put a show together on the lower Niagara. The water was stained, but definitely fishable. Capt. Frank Campbell of Niagara Falls met up with them and they fished the afternoon using 3.0 MagLips in Double Trouble and Green Machine colors. In 2 hours of actual fishing time they boated 9 browns on 9 hits, enough for a show. The next day the water was dirty. After 4 hours, not a single hit, but the crew was able to take some drone footage and film some tech tips before the headed back to Michigan. As of today, the shore guys were already catching fish again according to Lisa Drabczyk of Creek Road Bait and Tackle in Lewiston. Along Artpark, pink and chartreuse spinners are working for steelies, orange for the browns. Chartreuse egg sacs and beads are also producing for the shore guys, as well as the boat drifters. Shore casters are out-fishing the boat guys right now, but that will change a bit as the waters start to clear a bit more. In the Niagara Musky Association John Henning Memorial Musky Contest last Sunday, Andrew Lacko of Kenmore took top honors with a 41-inch fish caught on a Bondy bait. It was the only fish caught for the event held in the lower Niagara River. Musky season continues in the lower river and Lake Ontario until Dec. 15. Lake trout season is now open on the Canadian side of the lower river, but closed until Jan. 1 on the New York side of the river.
For the Lake Ontario tributaries, weather conditions have not been the best with a mix of rain, snow, wind, warm and cold temperatures. Still, trout are being caught. Not too many anglers have been hitting the streams according to Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors in Olcott but for those that are making the effort to wet a line, they have been rewarded with some nice brown trout, a few steelhead and even some late salmon. Spikes and wax worms are the baits being talked about most, usually tipped on a small jig and fished under a float. Fishing your bait slow with the slightly cooler conditions could help increase your chances for a hook-up. Scott Feltrinelli of Ontario Fly Outfitters caught some impressive fish yesterday in a favorite Lake O. stream. You might have to do a little searching. When you find them, though, the rewards are great.
Christmas Yule: The Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Association has its Christmas meeting on Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. at Cornell Cooperative Extension Niagara, 4487 Lake Avenue, Lockport. It’s a joint meeting with the county’s Fisheries Development Board. The Niagara River Anglers will hold its Christmas meeting on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. at the Sanborn Historical Society. Call Paul Jackson at 731-4780 for details. The Niagara County Federation of Conservation Clubs will hold its Christmas meeting on Dec. 12 at the Hartland Conservationists Club, Orangeport Road, Gasport. Doors open at 5 p.m. Bring a dish to pass.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
Oswego River Report
The river flow has dropped just a little to 19,700cfs which is still very high. Most areas along the river are unfishable but behind the hotels is a suggested spot to try. Anglers are finding steelhead, browns and a few walleye. Many Lake Ontario tributaries are also producing some nice trout.
Notice: The bridge to Leto Island is closed, and there are mandatory personal flotation device (PFD) zones on the river. For more information, visit our website at visitoswegocounty.com and click on the Fishing Report along the top bar on the home page. The Oswego Fire Department offers loaner life jackets at no charge through its “Loaner for Life” program. For more information contact the fire station, 35 E. Cayuga St., at 315-343-2161.
Salmon River Report:
According to Capt. Troy Creasy of High Adventure Sportfishing:
I had a handful of tough days with rising water, tons of leaves and snow melt. We struggled to get a fish or two each day. Now it appears the cold temperatures have locked up the excess runoff and the bite is back on.
I’ve been covering a lot of water and I believe there are plenty of fish spread throughout the river, but we are into our winter pattern and a hole that is hot today will be dead tomorrow.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
The few anglers we spoke with this week reported that the water clarity had improved on Wednesday and was much better than the previous day. Most of the anglers that are here right now are fishing with drift boat guides, but a few bank anglers are fishing as well and mostly in the mid to upper end of the river. The drift boats are covering lots of water, while the bank anglers are mostly fishing between Altmar and Pineville. Anglers who were fly fishing had some success dead drifting with woolly buggers and nymphs or indicator fishing with egg patterns. For those anglers who are float fishing or bottom bouncing, blue egg sacs produced the best results.
According to the Douglaston Salmon Run:
Yesterday a quiet morning turned into about a dozen anglers fishing the run over the course of the day. Most anglers reported a fair amount of action despite the flows with ones and twos brought to hand. The dam release has not been updated as of this moment. The posted dam release remains at 1500 cfs until 11:59 PM tonight Thursday). The reported flow at the Pineville gauge is 2020 cfs, inching its way down.
Oneida Lake Report:
There is not a lot to report from the lake. The shore night bite is still producing a few walleye with stickbaits.
Sandy Pond Report:
There has been no activity reported from the pond. Although we have had some colder temperatures, we still need a period of steady cold temperatures for safe ice formation.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
The streams have a strong water flow which has made fishing difficult. There has been some steelhead caught in Maxwell Creek on the south side of Lake Road, and some browns on the slower moving north side.
Anglers are throwing out egg sacs and bright beads. Currently there is no snow buildup, however that can change quickly when you border Lake Ontario.
Steelhead fishing is usually the best in January if the streams in Wayne County don’t freeze over.
Bays
Starting November 1s you need to be wearing a PFD while in your boat. You need to wear it…not just have it on your boat.
There is still open water for fishing Sodus and Port Bays. The ramps are slippery, and the docks are out, so be careful. You can now launch at the Coast Guard Station at Sodus Point.
The perch are still scattered with some catches coming near the docks on the north west side of Sodus. They are also catching perch straight out form Arneys’ Marina. The launch at Margaretta Road was ice free on Tuesday, but that can change quickly.
The perch are scattered in Port Bay with some schools on the northeast side of the bay. Use jigs tipped with spikes or perch eyes.
You need to move around to find fish or follow the crowds if there are any boats in the water.
Check out the rest of the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops.
Erie Canal
The canal water is very high because of all the precipitation. No one is taking any chances fishing by boat or shore.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Bierstine of Oak Orchard Tackle and Lodge
This week’s STREAM fishing report is from Ron Bierstine from Oak Orchard Tackle and Lodge, December 4, 2018.
Thanks to the past weekend rain all the tributary flows did come up and go off color. True to this season’s MO so far, flows stopped just short of blowing out or going completely unfishable. Flows in the Oak are back to slightly high and slightly stained with about 2 ft of visibility. Flows consist of a good head of turbine water. There is still almost daily water level fluctuations thanks to hydro-power operations. With leaf fall mostly complete those water level fluctuations should become less frequent. The other area smaller tributaries probably crested through yesterday and with a good cold night last night, they should be on the retreat and clearing at something like medium flows and stained water color through this mid week period.
It should be a good window to get back on those smaller waterways now and before any serious icing conditions may set back in. Look for a mix of mostly post spawn browns and a few steelhead. On the Oak, the pressure perked back up through the past weekend and the beginning part of this week probably because some guys were chased off the other waterways. Hook ups now require a little more time and careful swings or drifts then say a month ago but most guys are still having fair to good action on browns and steelhead. With the good, nice flows prevailing there’s always the chance for fresh fish – late arriving browns or staging steelhead. Forecast for the mid week period is highs in the 30’s°F and no serious lake effect snow (LES) is expected here on the WNY big Lake O Plain. Better chance of LES south of here and then later this week.