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 June 16, 2021
Lots of outdoor stuff going on this Father’s Day weekend! Saturday is opening day for the regular bass season in New York which means live bait will be legal once again in all waters. Great Lakes musky action will resume on Saturday, too. Remember that the minimum size if you ever wanted to keep one is 54 inches long but catch and release is the way to go anyway for fish that big. The 36th Annual Wilson Conservation Club’s Kids Fishing Derby is all set for June 19 from 8 a.m. to noon. You can fish in any waters located within Niagara County. Kids ages 3 to 14 years of age may participate. The measuring station will be at the Wilson Conservation Club, 2934 Wilson Cambria Road, Wilson, and the awards ceremony will be at 1 p.m. Get your fish to the club by noon. For more information contact Gary Alt at 345-9769. Meanwhile, the Lockport Moose Lodge is holding a kids derby at Widewaters Marina in Lockport on Sunday starting at 8 a.m. Call the Moose at 433-9092 for more information. Word is out that you will be able to register at the marina starting at 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning if you did not register in advance.
In the Upper Niagara River, Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls reports that he fished 2 times with pike master Matt D'Agostino using plugs and jigs this week. Both baits were working well. They caught a few largemouth and smallmouth bass, too. Rzucidlo spotted a few bowfins on the spawning beds, but he could not get them to hit. Bass action continues to be good, and it should be a good opener when live bait becomes legal on Saturday. In the lower stretch of river, bass are still being caught at the NYPA fishing platform according to Lisa Drabczyk with Creek Road Bait and Tackle in Lewiston. Moss is becoming more of a problem but there are some days where it is manageable. Bass action downriver from boats has been best around Fort Niagara and around the marina. Ned rigs and swimbaits work best, but live bait will be a popular alternative come Saturday.
Capt. Joe Oakes of Newfane reports that good water continues to move daily, and the fish are moving with it. This is all leading to some days being good in 100-foot depths and others in 400-foot depths. Spoons trolled in the top 50 feet seems to be the one constant for a mix of steelhead, cohos and kings according to Oakes. The east wind last Thursday and Friday really changed things around. In the Orleans County Open last weekend, it was the Screamer team led by Dave Antenori of Clarks Summit, Pa. leading both days to win $8,500. Their strategy was to move with the fish and head west. Focusing their efforts from Olcott to 30 Mile Point, they were the only team to reel in a tournament limit of 5 salmon and 5 trout each day. The first day was in 300 feet of water off Olcott, but things changed again the second day and they moved a bit shallower from the Somerset plant to 30 Mile Point and had some great fishing. Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors in Olcott reports that the harbor has been producing a mixed bag of warm water fish including catfish, pike, bowfin, perch and largemouth. And if those fish are hitting in Olcott, they will also be hitting in Wilson.
Next weekend is a free fishing weekend June 26-27 for anyone looking to try fishing out. We just found out that the Town of Newfane will be holding a youth fishing derby on June 26 from 8 a.m. to noon for kids ages 4 to 15 years of age. No fishing from a boat and you can fish along the Lake Ontario shoreline, in the Town of Newfane Marina and along 18 Mile Creek. The official measuring station is at the Town of Newfane Marina. Good luck and good fishing.
Sign up for a fishing tournament or derby in Niagara Falls USA. See the full schedule of events here.