Stay safe out there during what will undoubtedly be a very busy holiday. Fishing on Lake Erie and Ontario are hopping right now, and other area waters are also doing well.
Get out there and enjoy yourselves.
Lake Erie and tributaries
Walleye action has been improving out of Buffalo, reports Bruce Kowalski with TAAR Outdoors in Lake View. One good area is at Seneca Shoal in 40 feet to 55 feet of water, bottom bouncing or slow trolling worm harnesses. The North and South gaps also remain productive in the early mornings before the boat traffic. Barcelona continues to be hot for anglers trolling sticks and harnesses in 45 feet to 50 feet of water. Most of the fish are in the 18-inch to 22-inch range with similar reports out of Cattaraugus Creek in 50 feet to 55 feet of water. Bob Rustowicz of Cheektowaga was tournament director for the Duel at Dunkirk last weekend and he was forced to cancel the event due to the dangerous weather in the area. He reported leading up to the weekend, active fish could be found up high in the column and deep-water temperatures could be found 60 feet to 65 feet down from the Pennsylvania line to east of Sturgeon Point. He reports easy limits are possible with lots of nice fat fish from the west arriving here ahead of schedule. Stickbaits and worm harnesses are being used on lead core line, divers and riggers. Wade Winch and his wife, Lisa, from North Tonawanda, did well fishing out of the Small Boat Harbor after work this week, fishing the Canadian line in 50 feet of water. They were working bottom bouncers with worm harnesses to harvest some decent walleyes.
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Jack Soehnlein, 9, of Grand Island caught his first-ever walleye in the upper Niagara River fishing with his grandfather Jim Niland and Capt. Chris Cinelli, both also from Grand Island.
Niagara River
In the lower Niagara River, Capt. Joe Marra of Lewiston and Capt. Jeff Draper of Grand Island reported success on walleye and bass from Devil’s Hole all the way out to the green can at the mouth of the river. The best baits have been worm harnesses for walleye while crawfish have been the best enticement for smallmouth bass. The hot areas are changing daily so be prepared to move around until you find active fish. Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls hit the gorge area from shore and managed to catch eight smallmouth bass from shore using jigs and spinners. He also noted that the gar pike run is on, seeing double-digit fish cruise by him along the shoreline. He did manage to catch one. Rope flies are the best lure to use with gar pike because they become entangled in their teeth. You don’t even need a hook. Matt Wilson of Lewiston hit the upper Niagara River on Sunday and found good numbers of smaller class bass near the South Grand Island Bridge drift. He moved to the head of Strawberry Island and started getting above-average river fish for this time of the year using the Great Lakes Snack Crack 2.5 on a Ned head and a skirted jig. He also found a nice school of walleye near Interstate 190 but didn’t have proper gear. They seemed to be on the drop-off that runs down alongside the buoy line.
Lake Ontario and tributaries
The Lake Ontario Counties Salmon and Trout Derby is underway and 10-year-old Jake Glenn of Lockport is the early leader with a 23.5-pound king salmon he caught out of Olcott on Sunday. Check out loc.org for the updated leaderboard. Nothing has really changed much since last week, reports Capt. Matt Yablonsky of Wet Net Charters out of Wilson. Even after all the wind we have had out of all the different directions, the bite is still very good between Wilson and Olcott. Yablonsky is only running a five-rod program with two divers and three riggers. His lures of choice are Magnum Silver Streak spoons on all his rods. The best fishing is from 80 feet to 300 feet of water, 45 feet to 70 feet down. He’s still fishing right in front of the harbor. Fishing has been good overall, according to Capt. Anthony Ellis of Redemption Charters out of Olcott, but some days you must do a little searching to find them, but they are there. A mix of spoons and cut bait (real or artificial) have been doing the job. All classes of fish are being caught including 1-, 2- and 3-year-old salmon. Focus your attention from 100 feet to 300 feet of water depending on wind and weather. Ellis says that the depth of where to fish is changing every day, but a good starting point is down 50 feet. Find the right temperature. He was as deep as 100 feet down. When Ellis runs meat, a chartreuse color dye with his own alewives he caught for his meat is best for him right now. You don’t need to use a big boat to catch these fish. Capt. Frank Campbell of Lewiston took his 20-foot Lund on the Niagara Bar with the Gary Hall clan from Lewiston and in three short hours they managed to land six kings and one nice steelhead. All the fish were taken on divers on a No. 2 setting, back 100 and 110 clicks with Dreamweaver magnum spoons in Glow Hulk pattern. The fish were holding between 45 feet and 200 feet of water with the best size kings in shallow water (45-foot to 55-foot) where the heaviest concentration of bait was located. The largest king was in the 23-pound range.
Finger Lakes
Some decent reports have come in from a variety of sources.
Cayuga Lake: Capt. John Gaulke with the Finger Lakes Angling Zone reports seeing the start of a large algae bloom midlake just south of Union Springs. Fishing in general is good for lake trout lakewide. Depth varies by water temps – try 50 feet to 90 feet of water and you should be in a good area. Nick Petrou with Doc’s Tackle in Honeoye reports bass fishing has been improving by the day. Some fish are still shallow around the docks but moving deeper to the weeds as waters warm. Senkos and weedless jigs in 8 feet to 12 feet of water have been productive.
Seneca Lake: Fishing was tough during the past week for Gaulke. There is plenty of bait around, as well as fish, in the midlake area. Focus your efforts in 65 feet to 100 feet of water.
Honeoye Lake: Nick Petrou with Doc’s Tackle says the bluegill action has been very good, but mainly during low-light conditions. Try a crawler or a waxworm on a dropshot rig. Bass fishing is on the upswing. Early morning, Petrou says to toss a top water. When the sun becomes higher in the sky, use Texas-rigged soft baits and weedless jigs in the weeds.
Conesus Lake: Bass and pike fishing has been good, according to Petrou. Low light conditions are prime, and live bait has been working best. Pike can be found in 10 feet to 15 feet of water outside the weed edges with large shiners.
Canandaigua Lake: Trout fishing has been decent, reports Petrou. Troll spoons in 60 feet to 80 feet of water or jig if you can find a school of alewife with swimbaits on a heavy jig head.