Greater Niagara Region
Frank Campbell
Lower Niagara River fishing was good to very good this week with all the drifts producing fish on a variety of baits. Minnows were the top choice for anglers targeting brown trout and the most productive areas have been from Lewiston down to Fort Niagara. Live bait has also been producing steelhead, lake trout, and walleye in those same areas. To target steelhead specifically, offer egg sacs or egg imitations. Another option for multi-species action is running MagLips off a three-way rig. Capt. Chris Cinelli of Grand Island continues to do very well, and reports conditions are great right now for boat fishing. He was using egg sacs, minnows, and MagLips, all off three-way rigs. This fishing should hold for a bit of time and we will probably be getting some runoff this week with snowmelt and rain, adding some stain to the water. This will help shore fishermen. Capt. Peter Goretti with One More Drift Fishing Adventures reports fishing was good this week in the lower river. He caught a mixed bag of steelhead and lake trout with a surprise walleye using plastic minnows and egg sacs.
Alan Raymond with The Wicked Worm in Youngstown reports more folks are out catching fish. One person casting by Fort Niagara from shore caught a decent brown trout. Upriver, steelhead are being caught on hot pink egg sacs. With upper 50-degree weather in the forecast, we are hoping to see a big push of fish and anglers. Raymond also mentioned that DEC has a cooler at the Lewiston fish cleaning station to collect walleye heads, collecting information for research on determining stocked versus wild fish. Remember that walleye season closes after March 15 and the lower river limit is one fish per person per day until the closure. Minimum size is 18 inches long.
Upper river action has also been good at the Foot of Ferry Street in Broderick Park according to Bruce Kowalski with TAAR Outdoors. Casters have been picking up a decent number of walleye using paddle tail swim baits on ¾ to 1-ounce jig heads rigged with 3-1/2 to 4-inch plastics. Some others are using live bait. Fish range from 18 to 22 inches long.
The bite seemed to have slowed down a bit on the panfish through the ice in Wilson Harbor, reports Matt Vogt of Newfane. Strong winds as well as some more snow melt/runoff stained the water up in the bay, but there was still plenty of clarity. There was about 12 inches of ice, 50/50 white ice and black ice. Fortunately, Vogt continued to pull some largemouth, bluegill, and rock bass in the hut. It was a tough bite all day regardless. Fishing with Michael Monroe from East Aurora, Monroe hit a nice steelhead through the ice – his first ever. Ice fishing may be over by the end of the week. Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn in Olcott reports that ice action ended in Olcott. Most action was in 18 Mile Creek open water at Burt Dam. Brown trout and steelhead have been cooperating at the dam for anglers using white and olive-colored jigs, beads in peach and blue, and wax worms…