Weekly Fishing Report

Mild weather and near record temperatures allowed fishermen and women to hit the area waters the past week. Rain and colder temperatures are in the forecast for Wednesday night into Thursday.

In the lower Niagara River, Matt Wilson of Lewiston did very well on smallmouth bass this past week. He reported that the fall bite was on for smallmouth, even with the full moon to contend with. He found that the bass were feeding more at night or under low light conditions. He headed out before sun-up with homemade jigs tipped with plastics like flatworms and Ned’s. He caught 11 bass over 5 pounds. The key was locating temperature differences of warmer water. He found one large school of bass in 11 feet of water, but the water was very clear. He would drop some waypoints on his GPS and then use his spot lock on his trolling motor to remain stationary to cast to the bass from a distance. It worked. The action stopped by 10:30 a.m. He switched to Rat-L-Traps for response bites and that worked for him, too. There were also some big brown trout hanging around the lower stretch of river.

Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls did well over the weekend on salmon, casting his homemade No. 4 chartreuse spinners from shore in the super clear water conditions near the Whirlpool area. He needed to fish his lures a bit deeper. The good thing was that water temperatures were finally dropping, resulting in more bites for him. He also started to see some lake trout showing up on the end of his line.

Remember that lake trout season is currently closed until Dec. 1 in the lower river and in Lake Ontario.

In the upper Niagara River, Wilson found a big school of bass near Mississippi Mudd’s. He would drag swim baits along the drift, targeting back eddies or points to do well on smallmouth bass. Again, water temperatures made a difference as to where the fish wanted to be, even just 2 or 3 degrees. The fish were hungry and on the feed.

Anglers in 18 Mile Creek and Burt Dam are reporting good action for salmon and brown trout according to Karen Evarts with the Boat Doctors and Tackle Barn in Olcott. However, there have been many fishermen at Fisherman’s Park, and it is recommended to stay away from the weekends. Browns are hitting egg sacs and nightcrawlers. There are also a few Coho salmon, Atlantic salmon, and steelhead being reported. Kayakers are also doing well working the lower stretch of the creek. The piers were decent at night, too. Evarts noted that she had a Williamsville school fishing club visit last Sunday, but they only caught gobies and panfish.

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