Another storm at the end of this week will have an impact on fishing conditions in area streams and the Niagara River. Hold on to your hat. Capt. Bob’s Outdoors in Clarence will start its winter derby on Jan. 2. Ice fishing has started in a few spots.
Lake Erie and tributaries
With wind forecasts for Lake Erie being more than 60 mph, look for waves up to 14 feet high. No one will be on the lake after Thursday. The storm also will cause high water conditions from shore in the river. Cold late fall weather brings out the best of Lake Erie trophy smallmouth bass, according to Capt. Jeff Hippert with Lake Erie Trophy Bass. The water temperature was still at 40 degrees during his last trip out, and fish were active and biting. Fish numbers were in the 40-per-day range, with sizes from 3 to 6 pounds. Target 28 to 45 feet of water on rockpiles that transition into gravel sand. Best baits for this time of year include jigging spoons, blade baits, swim baits and drop shots.
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Cattaraugus Creek was starting to calm down, and fresh trout were being caught on pink egg sacs at the Routes 5 and 20 bridge and upstream towards the cabbage patch, reported Shub Stevens with Catt. Creek Bait and Tackle in Irving. Clear Creek is producing a number of steelhead caught on beads. Reports from 18 Mile Creek and Canadaway Creek are very good, with lots of trout being caught on chartreuse and pink egg sacs, although the fishing has been tougher with pressure from crowds of anglers. You may have to walk a bit to find less pressured areas, but it will be worth it. That will change with the arrival of rain on Thursday night into Friday. It also will bring very cold temperatures and strong winds for the holiday weekend. Danny Jankowiak of Buffalo had a good weekend in the streams and egg patterns have been hot.
It was a good end to the musky season last week, and Capt. Hans Mann of Buffalo Harbor Outfitters caught some good ones, including a 46-inch fish by Justin Jackson of Binghamton on the final day in Buffalo Harbor. To see videos of the amazing fish he caught this fall, check out Mann’s YouTube channel. Mann is a believer in the Solunar tables, and nearly every fish he caught this fall was caught during major or minor phases that promote fish activity. The most recent musky was caught near the bottom on one of his deep Carver lures that he hand carves. Capt. Josh Kane with Kobras Sportfishing caught a 50-inch musky in Buffalo Harbor last week, hitting a Legend Plow in sucker color.
Lower Niagara River action was good last weekend, but things changed quickly because of the weather. Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls reports that the river was already dirt Sunday from the sustained west winds over Lake Erie on Saturday night. The visibility was horrible upstream. It started at 2 feet visibility in the early morning, and he watched it slowly reduce to 1-foot to 6 inches by 3 p.m. Ziehm said there were a ton of bait fish around. He hooked five trout and landed two steelhead, all on vibrant color mixes of No. 4 spinners in orange and chartreuse, pink and chartreuse, and red and chartreuse. High water levels in the river will be a byproduct of the strong winds. Capt. Ryan Shea with the Brookdog Fishing Company did well when he fished the lower river, catching steelhead, brown trout, lake trout, bass and walleye. Minnows worked for everything. If you can’t get out Thursday, you may have to wait until next week. The walleye limit in the lower Niagara River will drop from 3 to 1 on Jan. 1 to help protect the big females in the winter. Denis Kreze of Fort Erie, Ontario, was fishing the lower Niagara River this past week near the Niagara Bar and hooked into a personal best brown trout that tipped the scales at 28 pounds. It was released to fight another day. Lisa Drabczyk of Creek Road Bait and Tackle reports that just prior to the muddy water, steelhead and lake trout could be found in the Artpark drift. Try a marabou jig under a float or use beads or spinners from shore. The water was clearing Wednesday.
Lake Ontario and tributaries
Not much to report on the tributaries off Lake Ontario. We will probably see a significant amount of rain Thursday into Friday before the cold winds arrive, so when things settle down, look for some fresh fish entering the systems. Karen Evarts at the Boat Doctors in Olcott said there are some steelhead in the creeks, with very few brown trout. Wax worms and jigs are working best. Fish numbers were low this fall, but better than years prior, according to Scott Feltrinelli with Ontario Fly Outfitters. He is continuing to see a decline in steelhead catches on Sandy Creek and other streams. The only positive on the fishing front is that there are a few scattered brown trout around the tributaries. No rain, no snow melt and colder temperatures with low water are keeping the few fish we have out of the creeks. However, as we continue to build on things post Covid-19, we should see a more robust fishery through the winter months. The Atlantic salmon stocking expansion program (Sandy Creek and Oak Orchard River) has been a saving grace.
Water levels are low but launchable at Taughannock, Myers and Long points on Cayuga Lake, reported Capt. John Gaulke of the Finger Lakes Angling Zone. Surface temperatures were around 44 degrees. Fair numbers of 22-inch to 26-inch lake trout are roaming the shallows. Bladebaits, stickbaits and jigs will work for these hungry marauding fish. Expect most lake trout (including the larger ones) to be in water deeper than 120 feet. A few young, barely legal brown trout are being caught. That’s a good sign for future fishing on Cayuga Lake. No sign of any landlocked salmon, thus far, this season.
Landlocked salmon fishing remains fair to good on Seneca Lake, with fish up to 20 inches long. The southern third of this lake is usually the best. A few brown trout are being caught, according to Gaulke. Pike fishing is generally good. Expect decent pike action on Owasco Lake. Lake trout fishing should be slow to fair there, as well. Expect decent perch fishing throughout the region. The state boat launch at Skaneateles Lake is closed for the season.
Bobby Joe Frost of Alden headed to Black Lake and found some marginal ice at Rollaway Bay. While it was only about three inches thick (we recommend at least four), he took every precaution, including wearing a float suit, ice picks and a rope. Fishing in 7 feet of water, he caught a mix of panfish. He also caught a nice pike using his new Frost custom leader outfitted with a shiner. The bay was still making ice in the cold, and it will continue to be thicker with each passing day.
Chris Kenyon of Wolcott reports skim ice is starting to form at Sodus Bay, but nothing is safe.
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