Weekly Fishing Report

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 January 16, 2020

Yes, the 7th Annual Greater Niagara Fishing and Outdoor Expo – The Teaching Fishing Show – will open tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the Conference and Event Center Niagara Falls Jan. 17-19, 2020. There are over 200 seminars over the course of the 3 days. Imagine over 60 walleye seminars, over 35 salmon and trout seminars, over 30 bass seminars and a whole curriculum on getting started with fly fishing. There is a big focus on kayak fishing and kayaks in general. On Friday night, there will be abbreviated versions of the State of Lake Erie and State of Lake Ontario as we enter the new year, with New Information.  On Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., there will be a DEC open house at the Expo that will allow for one-on-one time with lake manager, hatchery managers, finger lakes biologists, stream biologists and much more. Ask your questions on the Great Lakes, the Finger Lakes, the Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers, environmental law enforcement, women in fishing programs, the salmon river and the salmon river fish hatchery and more. For the seminars, some of the top names include Mark and Jake Romanack with Fishing 411; Lance Valentine with Teachin’ Fishin’ and Walleye 101; fly fishing guru Rick Kustich and more. There are over 100 different speakers! Don’t forget some 170 vendor booths in the main exhibit hall, too. Make sure you print out a voucher for $5 parking off the website. See you there!

The water was terribly off-color following the wind and rain from last weekend. Charters were cancelled in Monday and Tuesday, but times like this is when shore fishermen can still pick up a few fish in the gorge. One case in point was Rich Pisa of Kenmore. Last Monday he hit the gorge area and went 4 for 4 on steelhead. Using his centerpin combination, he fished under a float with a homemade jig tipped with soft plastics. In the upper river, Denis Kreze of Fort Erie, Ontario found some spots that worked for lake trout and walleye on Monday and Tuesday. He was using some Venom Lures fish scent in garlic flavor to get some strikes and tip the fishing in his favor. One boat made it out Wednesday and they caught steelhead, lake trout and even a sucker, but conditions were still tough. More wind is in the forecast along with some cold temps so expect some more tough conditions into the weekend.

The bigger streams were high and muddy off Lake Ontario, but Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls found that the smaller streams offered much better conditions. Egg sacs did the trick for him to take brown trout and steelhead. However, the water should turn by this weekend to just stained. It will be getting cold again by Friday as well. Slow your drift down and using bright baits. There will be a State of Lake Ontario at the Fishing Expo starting at 6 p.m. on Friday night. 

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.