Veterans Day on Nov. 11 is a free fishing day for New York State. It is a great time to take a kid, spouse, relative, friend or veteran fishing. Take advantage of the mild weather and go fishing this weekend. Water releases from the Erie Canal into five Lake Ontario tributaries starting Friday should trigger additional trout and salmon runs.
Lake Erie and tributaries
The fall winds have not been kind to Lake Erie boaters. Last weekend, some boats headed out from Cattaraugus Creek to try and catch perch and walleye. Allen Bialy of Lancaster was catching perch in 58 feet of water off Cattaraugus Creek when he was surprised with a 9½-pound walleye. He caught it on an emerald shiner fished off a perch rig. Steve Brzuszkiewicz of Marilla had a banner Saturday. After netting emerald shiners from the upper Niagara River, he started his methodical process of finding fish. He did not find any big perch schools but still caught nine during his scouting expedition from the Catt to Evangola. He paid attention to boats that were in 50 to 58 feet of water, not seeing many bent rods. When the wind started to die down at noon, he made a run to a favorite spot off Sturgeon Point in 55 feet of water. He immediately was greeted with a hard perch hit, which stirred up the fish on the bottom into a frenzy. From that point on, it was nonstop action, including a dozen double headers (2 fish on the same rod). He had his limit in no time. There was no one else in his vicinity. He came across another boater who was fishing off the Catt who did well, but he was alone in 62 feet of water. Most of the boats were staying in 53 feet of water with little success. Pay attention to your electronics and fish where the fish are. After recent winds, it may take a little exploring to find fish. Another cool fishery that has had little recognition is the fall lake trout action in shallower waters. Capt. Pete Alex of Erie, Pa., sends word that his early efforts are starting to show promise off his home state. He ran a test trip Saturday, and they hooked into 20 lake trout and one smallmouth bass. The biggest trout was 17 pounds. The fish are getting ready to spawn and Alex witnessed about a dozen fish porpoising while he trolled for them. Females were still two to four weeks from dropping eggs in his estimation. He guesses that by the end of next week, it could be game on for lakers. The same scenario should occur between Dunkirk and Barcelona. In the Lake Erie Fall Bass Bash hosted by WNY Bassmasters, the team of Brendan Walsh and Mike McGrath of Niagara Falls led the charge with a five-fish bag weighing 28.19 pounds.
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Danny Colville of Colville Outfitters in Hamburg reports that the weather patterns are causing creeks to rise and drop. There have not been many fish besides the initial push we saw in October, according to Colville. The fish have spread out. DEC stocked a bunch of fingerling rainbows, so it is hard to fish natural bait through them. With the lack of snowpack and low water this fall, the conditions are not staying good for long. Try to hit it just after a rain. His best bait has been natural lightly cured king eggs from Colville Outfitters. Having your eggs cured correctly is the difference between a couple of bites and catching a bunch of fish.
Niagara River
The water is stained from the wind, hampering boat drifters from consistent action. It should be back to better fishing conditions by the weekend. Last weekend, fishermen did well on trout, according to Lisa Drabczyk with Creek Road Bait and Tackle in Lewiston. Steelhead and brown trout are moving in with bigger numbers, but the catch continues to be dominated by lake trout for boat and shore anglers. Steelhead and brown trout action will improve as water temperatures drop. Remember that lake trout season is closed until Dec. 1. On Saturday, conditions were decent, and Capt. Frank Campbell of Lewiston had his best day on steelhead this fall using MagLips in silver and chartreuse, as well as Grinch patterns off three-way rigs, hitting double digits. He had to weed through the lake trout to get to the steelhead and he fished less than four hours. Small jigs did the trick off the NYPA fishing platform recently for Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls. No. 3 and 4 spinners are working from shore, too. Do not rule out beads or other egg imitations from other shoreline vantage points. When the water is stained, shore fishermen can do very well as waters close to the shoreline clear first. However, Rzucidlo reports that visibility was only a foot on Tuesday, and he needed spinners to catch salmon off the platform, but it was too muddy for trout. Smallmouth bass action has been best on the Niagara Bar and the Coast Guard drift, especially bigger fish. Rzucidlo managed to catch some nice bass in the NYPA reservoir on jigs and spinners.
Lake Ontario and tributaries
The big news for several key western basin tributaries is that the Erie Canal will release additional water starting Nov. 6 into Eighteen Mile Creek in Niagara County, the Oak Orchard River and Johnson Creek in Orleans County, and Sandy and Salmon creeks in Monroe County to help attract more salmon and trout. Some big brown trout have been reported from the Burt Dam and Waterport Dam areas as fish congregate in larger numbers, however make sure you abide by social distancing requirements. Make sure you wear a mask if less than 6 feet from other anglers. Pink and chartreuse were hot colors this week, according to Karen Evarts at the Boat Doctors. Anglers are using egg sacs, beads and plastics. In addition to salmon and trout, big northern pike and catfish are being hauled in by fishermen, especially in Olcott and Wilson harbors. If you are fishing in those harbors in a water craft less than 21 feet long, you must wear a personal flotation device, not just have it in the boat. According to Ron Bierstine with Oak Orchard Tackle, the Oak and Johnson Creek should benefit nicely from increased flows with a mixed bag of steelhead, brown trout, Atlantic salmon and Pacific salmon occupying the same waters. Eggs or egg imitations like beads, scrambled eggs and Lick-em lures are working.
Chautauqua Lake
It was good musky fishing before the crazy weather on Sunday and Monday, according to Capt. Mike Sperry of Chautauqua Reel Outdoors. He boated some nice fish casting near and over weeds. Best baits were 8-inch and 9-inch Leo Jerkbaits along with straight medium-depth crankbaits. Find healthy green weeds, and the fish are there. The walleye bite has cooled. That bite should pick up as we get further from the full moon. Some good perch numbers are being reported in the north basin with decent keeper-sized fish in the mix. Minnows have been the go-to bait for perch.