Weekly Fishing Report

No matter what time of year, the fish are always biting – creating a year-round fishing haven for outdoor people in Niagara Falls USA.

Each week, catch up on a full report on where to fish, popular baits and lures, weather conditions and upcoming fishing tournaments and derbies. So whether you packed your tackle box, or hire a charter captain in Niagara Falls USA, a fishing adventure awaits – along with that catch of a lifetime!

Niagara Falls USA Weekly Fishing Report for December 13, 2018

Brown trout and steelhead are dominating the fishing report this week, with walleye not far behind. Buffy Frank of Lockport caught a monster brown trout yesterday while fishing a favorite Niagara County Lake Ontario tributary. Using a black marabou jig tipped with wax worms, she hauled in a 34-inch brownie that tipped the scales at better than 15 pounds. She didn’t get an actual weight because she wanted to get it back into the water and release it as quickly as possible. She did get a quick photo though. Nice fish! Tributaries seem to be offering moderate to medium flows. Egg sacs, single eggs, egg imitations and a variety of flies are all working to take fish. Surprisingly, there hasn’t been a lot of fishing pressure the past week. We could see a little bit of rain and temperatures into the 40’s over the weekend.

In the lower Niagara River, fishing was good from both boat and shore. Brown trout, steelhead and walleye have all been caught with consistency. Boaters are using three-way rigs to entice fish to hit with MagLips, Kwikfish, beads, egg sacs and minnows. A minnow is what worked for Matt Gerhart of Spring Mills, Pa. when he was fishing with Capt. Chris Cinelli of Grand Island. He reeled in an 11-pound walleye fishing the lower river. Some nice browns and steelies into the double-digits have also been caught by drifters. Shoreline casters in the gorge are using spinners, jigs and egg sacs to take trout and the occasional walleye, too. Even a few late salmon are hanging around. Musky season ends on Saturday, Dec. 15.

Above Niagara Falls in the upper river, Rich Pisa of Kenmore grabbed his boat and hit some favorite spots with his dad, Richard of Tonawanda. Using jigs, they managed to catch 3 lake trout up to 16 pounds, 10 walleye and some silver bass. Water conditions were near-perfect.

We’re only a month away from the Greater Niagara Fishing and Outdoor Expo, set for Jan. 18-20, 2019 at the Conference and Event Center Niagara Falls.

Every week The Buffalo News gives outdoor sportsmen (and women) a full page of pertinent material as it relates to Western New York and beyond. Read more here.