Greater Niagara Region
Bill Hilts, Jr.
After the heavy rains yesterday, much of the Niagara River shoreline snow and ice was melted away. However, more cold weather is on the horizon and we saw about an inch of snow this morning to make the going a little slippery along the Niagara River rocks. Be careful out there. Spinners in orange and chartreuse are still working to take a mix of trout that include steelhead and lake trout. Jigs will also produce some fish according to Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls who caught lake trout on orange and steelhead on white in the Niagara Gorge area. From boats, add in brown trout and walleye to the mix depending on where in the river you are fishing. Pink egg sacs, kwikfish, MagLips and minnows will all produce fish for you. If you run plugs, make sure the lures are working properly. Fishing was very good yesterday in the rain for Ely Moskal and Matt Yonkin of Albany. They caught all 3 trout species on Pautzke brined eggs and MagLips while fishing with Capt. Frank Campbell of Niagara Falls. It should continue into the weekend.
The Niagara River Anglers Association will be hosting the Roger Tobey Memorial Steelhead Contest on Saturday, Feb. 2 from sunrise to 2 p.m. Sign up at the Lewiston Landing launch ramp the morning of the event or register at Creek Road Bait and Tackle or The Slippery Sinker in Olcott. You must be a NRAA member to participate. Eligible waters include the lower Niagara and Niagara County tributaries off Lake Ontario.
In the upper Niagara River, we have to mention the huge lake trout caught by Denis Kreze of Fort Erie when he reeled in a 30-plus pound fish this week. We are trying to find out more details. What a trophy!
For the Lake Ontario tributaries, the heavy rains yesterday opened up some water in the creeks, but we’ve not had any reports on turbidity or fish cooperation. The precipitation event should have pulled some more fish into the streams. Egg sacs, jigs tipped with wax worms, egg imitations like Lick-em Lures should all work to catch you a trout or two. Streamers and woolly buggers can also be very effective. We’re not sure what the rain did with the ice in the harbors. With more cold weather on the way, you might want to wait until things are safe again. Use a spud to check ice thickness.
Ely Moskal of Albany with some nice Niagara River trout:
Don’t forget the Birds on the Niagara Festival – A winter Celebration is going on Friday and Saturday of this week. The opening ceremony will be at 5 p.m. at Tifft Nature Preserve in Buffalo. Saturday, Jan. 26, there will be seminars, vendors and demonstrations at Niagara University from noon to 5 p.m. Check out buffaloaudubon.org for details.
Oswego County
Mary Ellen Barbeau of the Oswego County Department of Community Development, Tourism and Planning.
Oswego River Report
The river flow dropped significantly over the weekend and has been running between 7,000 and 11,000 cfs since then. It is flowing at 10,100 cfs as of this morning. Look behind the hotels and along the westside river walk for browns, steelhead, rainbows and walleye.
According to Oz Angling:
As a float fisherman, one of the key aspects of your rig that you can adjust is the length between your float and offering. After having no takes while suspending my jig about 6 inches off the bottom, I slid my float 6 inches up my line so my jig was barely ticking along bottom throughout the drift. Within two drifts I had a nice male brown slurp the jig. One minor adjustment of your rig can make a world of difference in the realm of tributary trout fishing.
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:
Frigid temperatures resulting in lots of slush ice once again prevented anglers from venturing down to the water on Tuesday. A break in temperatures enticed a couple of anglers to take a trip down onto the run yesterday. Through their brief ventures, all reported having had issues with anchor ice beginning to dissolve, creating what proved to be too much of an obstacle for the fish and the anglers. After a week of untouched water, it’s anyone’s game once the conditions permit. The release from the dam dropped to 285 CFS last night.
According to Whitaker’s Sport Shop & Motel:
In the lower end of the river slush ice along with shelf ice was a factor for most of yesterday. The few anglers we spoke with fished the upper end of the river between Altmar and Pineville. They reported having a good day while float fishing with blue egg sacs, pink worms and beads. With the recent drop in water level anglers said the fish were holding in and around the deeper holes and larger runs.
Oneida Lake Report:
With the wind that we had with the snowstorm over the weekend, the snow depth is varying on the lake. Some areas have very little with many drifts a foot to 1 ½ feet deep across the lake. Anglers were reporting 7-8 inches of ice off of Constantia, Messenger Sholes and Lewis Point. Use caution around drilled holes and watch for pressure cracks. With the rain yesterday and overnight, slush may be an issue until it freezes with the dropping temperatures. There were mixed reports on the action with a few anglers getting into some perch and a walleye or two and others finding the bite slow.
Sandy Pond Report:
According to Greene Point Marina:
We have had a day or so of warmer temperatures and rain but the thermometer is dropping with the rain changing over to snow showers this morning. Much of the snow we had last weekend was blown off the pond so significant snow depth has not been an issue in most areas. Anglers have been fishing out off of the Greene Point Marina as well as the Elm’s. Temperatures will be in the teens and twenties for the next few days with lake effect snow predicted for Friday into Saturday morning. As always use caution as you venture out.
Wayne County Fishing Update
Chris Kenyon
Streams
The streams are covered with ice, however warmer temps and rain predicted for tomorrow might open them up. There are sections of Maxwell ice-free, however it is a small stream so it’s probably difficult to cast out egg sacs.
Bays
Last Saturday there were record numbers of ice anglers on the bays. Counting shanties just out from Third Creek on Sodus Bay, the numbers were in the hundreds. It was the same scenario at the loop at Sodus Point and near the old trestle area near the old malt house.
The ice was 6 to 8 inches before the storm Saturday night, however the frigid temperatures yesterday would be making another 4 to 6 inches.
The jumbo perch are between 10 and 12 inches. They are hitting everything, however the reports from anglers seem to be that the perch are preferring smaller jigs.
If you have a camera, you’ll see the jumbos on the bottom. If you are into the smaller schools, try moving around.
Port Bay has the same good news with fish coming from the north end of the bay. They are also catching them off the points, especially on the east side of the bay.
We are heading for another record year of fantastic hard water fishing. It will continue if we can keep the bays frozen.
Be safe when ice fishing. Don’t take chances and remember early ice on Wayne County bays is never uniform in thickness, especially where bubblers are used to keep ice from the docks.
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 in the Widewaters. The canal doesn’t get the crowds like the bays…but it has plenty of tasty panfish. So, if you don’t like the crowds try ice fishing on the canal.
Orleans County
Orleans County Tourism and Bierstine of Oak Orchard Tackle and Lodge
Winter has finally settled in, as we’re on the backside of the weekend winter storm. Area wide, there’s a foot of snow with more in spots from wind driven snow. Unseasonably cold temperatures are forecast through the beginning part of the week followed by a warm up mid week with a chance of rain.
Conditions are kind of challenging for now with dropping and cold flows in the Oak. Look for moderate and clear flows that are still open in the fast water areas and at the dam. There will be some bank ice and the downstream slow water spots will likely be closing in. The other area smaller tributaries have low and clear and are frozen in flows.
Ron will be representing Orleans County and the Lake Ontario Sportfishing Council this weekend at the 2019 Fly Fishing Show in Edison, NJ from Jan. 25-27. Stop by booth 1004/1006 to learn more about Orleans County fishing and pick up our brochures.