FishingRomantis

By Bill Hilts Jr.
Greater Niagara Newspapers

— 1. Lake Ontario and tributaries
Salmon is the hot ticket off the Olcott piers right now. Casting Little Cleo spoons or Rat-L-Traps with glow tape off the piers at night is one approach.

You can also cast stickbaits.
The NYPA/Greater Niagara Fish Odyssey runs through Sunday, so it’s not too late to enter. The leading two salmon have come off the Olcott piers, with Mike Pinkham leading the way with a 24.72-pound king. Tom Danaher is leading the Rainbow/Brown trout category with a 13.60-pound steelhead caught off Olcott.

Top lake trout is a Niagara Bar fish reeled in by Richard Barber, tipping the scales at 17.24 pounds. The leading carp comes from Point Breeze, a 27.79 pound fish caught by Jason Long.
Boat trollers have the option of working the ends of the piers with J-plugs, cut bait or magnum spoons first thing in the morning. Or you can head out a bit deeper for a mixed class of salmon and steelhead.
The Fish Odyssey awards ceremony will take place at the NYPA Wildlife Festival on Sunday starting around 4 p.m.
2. Lower Niagara River
Members of the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers and the New York State Outdoor Writers Assn. had a few hours to sample the lower river on Thursday and they weren’t disappointed. Bass fishermen working the area around the Green Buoy at the mouth of the river did well on smallmouth.

One of the hottest baits going right now are the Berkley Gulp! Baits, especially the leeches and drop shot gobies. Some of the local guys using them insist that they’ve actually been working better than live bait. Writers that ran south to Devil’s Hole managed to hook into some nice fish. Fish up to 24 pounds were boated and some boats had up to four fish — not bad for a few hours of action. The key is being on the water when the bite is on.

On Wednesday, Capt. Frank Campbell reported a limit catch for three anglers by noon. At 9 a.m. they didn’t even have a fish in the box, to give you an idea how fast they came once the snap was on. Treated egg skein off three way rigs was the way to go. Shore fishermen have been doing well, too.

Ron Hutcheson at A-1 Bait Supply says that shore fishermen are doing best at the Whirlpool and off the NYPA fishing platform on Little Cleos, Super Vibrax spinners, jigs or eggs. Quite a few sturgeon have been caught by salmon fishermen. This is a protected species so take care getting the hook out of the fish and put it safely back into the water as quickly as possible. Walleye fishing has been OK. The leading Fish Odyssey catch is a 10.01-pound fish hauled in by John Hagerman of Niagara Falls.
3. Upper Niagara River
Bass fishing continues to be good throughout the river. Shore fishermen are doing it at the foot of Ontario and Ferry streets. Boaters are hitting the head of the river, around Strawberry Island and around Navy Island. Crayfish are good baits to use.
4. Lake Erie and tributaries
Bass fishing is still going great guns and like we mentioned earlier, the Berkley Gulp! Baits are doing it for them.

There have been smallmouth bass all over the place, from 20 to 45 feet down. Live bait and tube jigs will also work for you. Meyers Reef, Seneca Shoal, Waverly Shoal — all are holding fish in decent numbers. Walleye fishing has slowed a bit, but good numbers of fish are still available off Cattaraugus Creek in 70 to 100 feet of water, 40-60 feet down with worm harnesses. The first sign of a steelhead run in the Cattaraugus has shown up, but we could use a good rain or two to bring some fish in.
5. Chautauqua Lake
Walleye have started hitting again off the Bell Tower at Chautauqua Institution. Target 24-32 feet of water, using black hair jigs just off the bottom tipped with a worm or minnow. The musky bite has slowed a bit, but they are picking up some fish in Burtis Bay according to Craig Robbins.