Weekly Fishing Report

The 2nd Annual Steelhead Slam was held by The Wicked Worm in Youngstown last weekend, and 42 anglers competed for the top prizes. The largest steelhead was a 9.8-pound fish reeled in by Jeff McCulloch of Cheektowaga on a pink egg sac, fishing with Capt. Matt Gantress of Unreel Fishing Adventures. Gantress also placed second in the contest with an 8.62-pound steelie. Third place was Frank Pavacich of Wheatfield with an 8.06-pound fish. The brown trout winner was Kristopher Hulbert of Buffalo with an 8.6-pound fish from the lower Niagara River. Frank Nati of Buffalo repeated as the top shore fisherman for steelhead with a 7.06-pound fish.

Capt. Dave Scipione of Lewiston was out with customers on Saturday, and they opted not to get in the contest. They ended up having a great day by focusing on drifts that kept them out of the wind. He picked through a handful of brown trout using Pautzke’s chartreuse dye on the emerald shiners. He then headed upriver, doing well on brown trout in all the available drifts. He ended the day in Devil’s Hole, where they hooked up with several steelhead and monster lake trout. They ran minnows off three-way rigs all day. Steelhead were caught on bubble gum/pink 8mm trout beads.

Water was clear above the power plant, and there was 4-foot visibility below the power plant, reports Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls. However, with all the heavy rain moving through Tuesday, look for the water to be heavily stained – especially below all power plants. Ziehm caught several steelhead on chartreuse/orange No. 4 spinners on a Sunday morning trip.

With the warm rain, look for the ice bridge to start breaking up. There could be an announcement this week as to when the ice boom will be removed.

Brown trout fishing out of Wilson and Olcott has been going gangbusters, at least for the people who have been out so far. Capt. Joe Oakes of Salmonboy Sportfishing targeted browns out of Wilson in 10 to 15 feet of water with stick baits. He ran out a bit deeper into 50 to 80 feet of water with spoons and flasher-fly combos to hit some lake trout.

John Van Hoff of North Tonawanda opted to fish Olcott, and they ended up catching and releasing over 20 brown trout. His focus was on 6 to 10 feet of water with stick baits like Rapalas, Bay Rats and Rebels.

Burt Dam and 18 Mile Creek have been muddy lately, but some brown trout and suckers were caught, according to Karen Evarts with The Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn in Olcott. Pink and black colors are working with jigs, egg sacs, and nightcrawlers.

Matt Vogt of Newfane hit both Burt Dam and Keg Creek and found fish, but difficult conditions. Keg was too clear. Look for these streams to be high and muddy after the most recent rain.

Trout stocking at Hyde Park Lake and Oppenheim Park Pond usually takes place the first week of April.

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