Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
The 6th Annual Greater Niagara Fishing Expo is almost here, set for Jan. 18-20 at the Conference and Event Center Niagara Falls. The website is www.niagarafishingexpo.com. There is a winter storm advisory but it appears to be more of a southern track right now with 6-7 inches expected Saturday night. Don’t let that scare you off! The show will go on!! Here are a few small tidbits worthy of consideration in making your way to the Cataract City with over 200 seminars, 96 speakers and over 170 vendor booths:
- Antique Fishing Tackle – Mark Schmitkons of Wilson will be showing off some of his antique fishing tackle. More importantly, he will be happy to appraise your own old/antique fishing equipment to see if it’s of any value. He will even store your old gear, so you don’t have to walk around the show with it.
- Capt. Lance Valentine of Walleye 101 is a Pro Staff representative for Lowrance Electronics and Sonar/GPS whiz. If you have a Lowrance unit on your boat that is Gen 2 or newer, his booth will be offering free updates and set up on Lowrance Sonar/GPS units.
- DEC Bureau of Fisheries Chief Steve Hurst will be mingling with anglers at the show. He will be sitting in on Capt. Bob Songin’s Lake Ontario Niagara Bar salmon seminar at 5 p.m. and answer some questions then. He will also have his own Q and A on Saturday at noon, fielding questions from the audience. Lake Erie Unit biologists Dr. Jason Robinson and James Markham will be around on Friday to give talks on walleye movement and steelhead study updates.
- Make sure you check the website out at www.niagarafishingexpo.com and print out the $5 parking voucher. Pay just $5 for the day. Park in the city ramp. The Expo will go on no matter what the weather or conditions.
- Four different Bass pros will be hanging out in the Rapid Fishing Solutions booth, at the Hawg Trough and in the seminar rooms. They are Billy McDonald, John Murray, Brad Knight and Mark Menendez. There are also many other local bass experts sharing their insights on fishing local waters.
- Need a fishing license? Stop in at The Boat Doctors booth at the show and pick one up.
And on to the local fishing. They are still catching some nice trout and walleye in the lower Niagara River, but conditions have been brutal. Capt. Chris Cinelli of Grand Island took his son Connor out to catch some steelhead on pink egg sacs. The following day it was steelhead and walleye, including a 12 pounder reeled in by Gary Laidman of Eden. What a fish! Ricardo Davila of Wheatfield reports that the bite was slower than expected from shore recently while casting the gorge area of the lower Niagara River. Water had good visibility, but he couldn’t get the reaction strikes he wanted with spoons and spinners so he switched over to a gulp minnow on a jig head. With the move, he managed 3 steelies by bouncing the jig off the bottom very slowly. Learning how to read the water and fish your baits accordingly is part of Davila’s seminars this weekend at the Fishing Expo in Niagara Falls. Be sure to check them out at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday to learn how to fish from shore there. With some snow, cold and wind scheduled for the weekend, it’s a perfect time to attend the fishing Expo! Don’t forget that the Niagara River Anglers has their steelhead contest Feb. 2. Mark your calendars! Call 731-8710 for more information. Sign up at Creek Road Bait and Tackle or The Slippery Sinker.
For the Lake Ontario tributaries, most creeks are frozen partially or fully according to Scott Feltrinelli of Ontario Fly Outfitters. Finding open spaces to place your bait or fly is going to be a challenge right now. Fish the faster water at the top of big pools where things don’t freeze as much. Feltrinelli managed to find some open water in some Lake Ontario tributaries, and he needed to fish it low-and-slow to take brown trout and steelhead due to the cold water temperatures. Check his seminar out at the Expo. Ice fishing in Wilson and Olcott harbors are a more likely scenario, but we’ve not had any reports.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
Oswego River Report
The river flow has continued to be fairly constant running very close to 15,000cfs for several days. The temperature is near 30 degrees today with a strong northwest wind to 30 mph making for tough conditions. The temperature will be cold tomorrow and Friday but the winds will be less of a factor. With this water level, behind the hotels is suggested with anglers finding browns, steelhead, rainbows and walleye.
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 the Douglaston Salmon Run:
A couple of brave souls ventured out in the winter wonderland yesterday after eyeing up some of the untouched water over the past few days. Persistence and patience paid off for them, as they reported getting into a mixed bag; a bunch of fresh chrome, a few domestic rainbows as well as a brown. Temperatures were bearable today hovering around 30 F throughout the day, minimal wind, some slush but not enough to deter a few anglers. A considerable amount of shelf ice has begun to form down on the run, however it did not hinder the abilities of the anglers. The dam release was adjusted from a 500 CFS release to a 350 CFS release.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
Over the last couple of days anglers have been getting into fish in the upper end of the river between Altmar and Pineville. With the recent drop in water level the fish have been holding in and around the deeper and larger runs. The Lower Fly Zone, below the Altmar bridge, Schoolhouse Pool, Wire Hole, Ellis Cove, Bovines, Trestle Pool and Pineville is where most anglers have been fishing over the last couple of days. Anglers who are fly fishing have had the most success indicator fishing with single egg patterns or dead drifting with nymphs. The most productive patterns have been wiggle stones, rusher nymphs, steelhead hammer, black stoneflies, steelhead buggers, estaz eggs, steak-n-eggs and glo-bugs. Anglers who are float fishing or bottom bouncing had the most success with blue egg sacs, beads and pink worms.
Oneida Lake Report:
Reports from the weekend indicated that the Sylvan Beach area had up to 4 inches of ice. The ice was jagged with some small gas holes and spudding was a definite. Anglers were reporting another inch or two of ice by Tuesday. With the cold temperatures over the next few days and nighttime highs in the single digits to the mid teens, conditions should improve. A few walleye and a number of perch were taken. We will have to see how the impending weekend snow storm affects the area.
Sandy Pond Report:
According to Greene Point Marina:
With the cold temperatures we have had over the last few days ice is forming on many areas of the pond. Caution is advised as we had open water not that long ago and we did have some wind this week. In some areas snow has hindered solid ice formation. Also be cautious of gas holes in the ice. Anglers have been going out off the Greene Point Marina area as well as the Elm’s.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
Egg sacs and bright colored beads are catching steelhead from Maxwell Creek. The water flow is perfect, and the fish are coming from both sides of Lake Road.
The little Salmon Creek in Pultneyville also has a nice run of winter steelies. All of the smaller streams in the county have an excellent flow of water.
Bays
All the bays are locked-in with an ice cover, which means the wind can’t stop ice making. Of course, first ice is very unpredictable…just like last ice.
Where ever you choose to fish, start walking with a spud in your hand. Spud for ice safety. It’s the best tool when it’s first ice.
Sodus Bay usually has safe ice between LeRoy Island and along the north east side of the bay. As of yesterday, there was 4 inches near Skipper’s Landing. (East side.) Another location for first ice is Spiegel Drive near the Bay Bridge Sport Shop. (South end of Sodus).
Port Bay is solid; however, the north end can be tricky because of the current near the channel.
Another great place to fish first ice id Blind Sodus Bay located adjacent to Fair Haven Bay. (Little Sodus Bay.)
If you are new to the area, follow the crowds. It’s a good starting point and the ice should be thick enough. You’ll be walking. No machines yet!
The good news…as of today… is the temps are below freezing. The bad news is a predicted heavy snowfall this weekend. Snow is a great insulator which will slow down the ice making.
Be safe when ice fishing. Don’t take chances and remember early ice on Wayne County bays is never uniform in thickness.
Check out the rest of the Wayne County Tourism web page for the locations and hours of local bait and tackle shops.
Erie Canal
There is safe ice straight out from the Widewaters park.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Bierstine of Oak Orchard Tackle and Lodge
Today is still real nice by January standards – medium flows with visibility of about 2 feet or more in the Oak. Not sure why or how the good flows are hanging in given the latest cold weather. More then likely, they were lower mid-week and have rebounded some at the end of week. My guess would be a retreat toward moderate flows through the weekend. There is still no significant icing even on downstream frog water spots.
There is generally light fishing pressure with just a few cars at each parking spot. The other area smaller tributaries have low to moderate and clear flows under mostly frozen conditions. Not a bad day today weather-wise, 30-ish° F with light snow showers of maybe an inch or two so far. Later Saturday through Sunday should bring a winter storm and forecast of a foot or so of snow with cold and wind and enhanced Lake Effect Snow on the backside thru Monday. Points south and east are forecast to have greater impacts from the storm. If its going to be cold it may as well snow since that means good flows will occur at some point later in the winter or spring for fresh steelhead migrations when it melts.