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.

Niagara Falls USA Weekly Fishing Report for January 19, 2022

The first signs of hard water have finally shown up in some of the Lake Ontario bays and traditionally it’s the back bay in Wilson that sees the action. Matt Vogt of Newfane reports that he had 4 to 5 inches of safe ice last weekend and the result was a 40-inch northern pike that he reeled in, snapped a quick photo, and released it safely back into the water. That was before the entire area really got dumped on by Mother Nature, with some areas picking up nearly 2 feet of snow earlier in the week. Keep that in mind if you are coming in from outside the area. We’re still digging out! Perch are also being caught in Wilson and you also have a good chance at catching some trout – steelhead or a brown.

The Niagara River continues to be tough fishing because of all the winds the region has been experiencing. Last Sunday, Capt. Ryan Shea of Tonawanda did manage to get out in the lower river with some customers from Pittsburgh and they managed to catch both steelhead and lake trout using 10 mm orange beads fished off a three-way rig. They had about 2 feet of visibility at the time. The next time the water is clear enough to fish, you should do well. Shea said that there were plenty of fish around, it’s just getting the right conditions to take advantage of them. Remember that the walleye regulation in the winter only allows for one fish per person and it must be at least 18 inches long. It’s been tough fishing the gorge area for trout with the extreme cold and other weather-related issues. Today will see temperatures soar to 40 degrees with rain, but then we are right back down below freezing heading into the weekend and into next week. It would be nice to see Lake Erie get some ice cover to let things settle down a bit and the last reading we saw it was at 34 degrees. There was some ice fishing taking place near the head of the Niagara River in Buffalo Harbor with 4-5 inches of ice. Be sure to check the ice and spud your way in and out no matter where you are ice fishing, especially if it has heavy snow cover.

The Western New York Chapter of Trout Unlimited will be having their next monthly meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 25 and once again it will be a virtual Zoom gathering starting at 7:30 p.m. Guest speaker will be Scott Cornett, fisheries biologist for DEC’s Region 9 right here in Western New York. Each year around this time, he gives his “State of the Streams” presentation to area anglers and the fishing club graciously opens things up to allow for the public to attend. If you would like to sit in on the informational presentation (from home no less), send a note to the local club via email for the link.

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