Weekly Fishing Report

Finding a place to go fishing has not been easy so far in 2026. With the cold weather, there is some ice fishing taking place, such as in Wilson Harbor or Buffalo’s Small Boat Harbor, but caution is advised with ice thickness. With the warmup that we will experience this week, combined with rain, should help to open some of the tributaries off Lake Ontario, but it could negatively impact any safe ice that has been set up.

In the Niagara River, high winds on Lake Erie last week created very muddy conditions in the river. Combine that with the fact that the ice boom could not be fully put in place, creating a ton of ice in the river as a result, making things even more difficult. Hopefully, that boom will be secured by the end of this week, but only if Mother Nature allows for it. Lake Erie water temperature was at 32 degrees this week, and the ice boom should help the lake start to freeze.

Getting back to what’s happening in the river, Capt. Matt Yablonsky of Wet Net Charters finally launched his boat in Lewiston and found about 18 inches of visibility, good enough to catch some trout. Pink egg sacs fished on three-way rigs produced two steelhead north of the launch ramp, but only when the sun came out. As the water slowly starts to clear even more, fishing should be good – if it doesn’t get too muddy with the rain in the forecast. Time will tell.

Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls confirmed that the ice above the power plant was making fishing tough from shore. Shore casters usually start catching fish first. Once the boom is in place and Lake Erie starts to freeze, water clarity won’t be as much of an issue … until it becomes too clear. We will keep you posted.

Matt Vogt of Newfane reports decent ice thickness at Wilson-Tuscarora’s back bay, anywhere from 5-6 inches in most spots. Fishing was relatively slow due to 12 Mile Creek blowing out from the rain. Water clarity was only about 5-7 inches of visibility. He set up a variety of tip-ups for pike, but never had any flags go off. He did manage to catch a decent number of bluegills after moving around some, as well as two mature perch. As for bait, wax worms, spikes, and red worms all work well for Wilson.

Over at Burt Dam and 18 Mile Creek, water levels were low, and the chance for catching a brown trout is still available, according to Karen Evarts at the Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn in Olcott. The water will be coming up, though, with plenty of rain in the forecast. The brown trout fishing in the creek has been great this fall and early winter so far. Small jigs with wax worms or spikes will catch fish. What color would depend on how clear the water is.

If you can’t get on the water to do any fishing, the next best thing is dreaming about fishing through fishing shows. Mark and Jake Romanack of Fishing 411 are airing a Niagara Bar brown trout show this week, and you can catch all the action on their YouTube channel here. What an episode!

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