Weekly Fishing Report

It’s a homecoming of sorts in the lower Niagara River as the pen-reared and stocked Chinook salmon are making their way up the river, with numbers of fish increasing daily. The best action was off the NYPA fishing platform with jigs, jigging spoons, and eggs. In Devil’s Hole, fish are moving around, but the boats haven’t really started targeting them yet. Some cold nights or a good rain should draw in more kings, and it will be game on as large numbers of fish have been staging at the red can.

Walleye and bass action has been good to very good all over the river and on the Niagara Bar. Walleye anglers are producing limits with worm harnesses, and the best presentation for smallmouth has been live bait such as crawfish and shiners.

Salmon are trickling in, reports Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls. He finally made it out to kick off his fall/winter season journey and landed one and lost two the first day on chartreuse No. 4 spinners. He returned a few days later and again hooked up with another king salmon. The warm river water seems to have made these early kings reluctant to eat. You must work for them. We need cooler temperatures and a good east wind to get the salmon and trout heading up the river. The outlook is good for this fall with very good numbers of staging fish out front and to the east.

Alan Raymond of The Wicked Worm in Youngstown says they are still seeing some bass being caught along the shoreline, but they are starting to slow down. Walleyes are being caught near Stella Niagara and on the Niagara Bar.

Out in the lake, the recent storm activity and the heavy northwest winds have fish a little scattered right now, but the salmon are still mostly in deep water (60 to 150 feet of water and still feeding), reports Capt. Vince Pierleoni of Thrillseeker Sportfishing. Because of the warm water, there are only occasional reports of fish being taken off the piers. Most of the fish caught by the trollers right now are being taken on meat rigs, flasher-fly combos, or spoons.

On the Niagara Bar, things have set up with staging kings on the drop in 60 to 70 feet of water, reports Capt. Joe Cinelli of Grand Island. Good water temperatures stretch all the way to 4 Mile Creek with white and green flashers and flies working best above the thermocline. Brown trout are available if you switch over to spoons in glow patterns.

Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn in Olcott reports that some brown trout and a few salmon have made it up to Burt Dam. A few salmon and trout were also caught off the pier in Olcott, but it was very early in the morning between 3 and 5 a.m.

The New York Power Authority’s 41st Annual Wildlife Festival, the county’s National Hunting and Fishing Day celebration, is September 26 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. It will be held at the Niagara Power Vista located at 5777 Lewiston Road, Lewiston. The event is co-sponsored by the Niagara County Federation of Conservation Clubs.

Sign up for a fishing tournament or derby in Niagara Falls USA. See the full schedule of events here.