The Local Fisherman

Anglers can look forward to first class fishing in the Great Lakes and its tributaries. This blue ribbon fishing continues from fall into winter and early spring.

In late fall, the lake fishery for chinook and coho salmon develops off river mouths where fish collect before they migrate up the rivers to spawn. In Lake Ontario, chinook and coho salmon will be abundant off the mouths of the Niagara River, Eighteenmile Creek, Genesee River, Oak Orchard Creek, Oswego River, Salmon River, Henderson Harbor, Stony Island, Black River, North and South Sandy Creek.

“These concentrations of big fish provide trophy fishing opportunities for boat anglers,” one New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Fisheries Chief said. “Good populations of brown trout, steelhead and coho salmon will be available for recreational fishing in Lakes Erie and Ontario.”

With normal water flows and temperatures, Chinooks, cohos and brown trout enter the streams in late September. The salmon runs peak in mid-October and the browns in November. Stream steelhead fishing begins in November and continues through winter and into the spring spawning season.

Anglers who fish for chinook and coho salmon in New York’s Great Lakes tributaries are reminded that snagging is no longer permitted to take these fish. All foul-hooked fish must be immediately returned to the water. Consult the New York Fishing Regulations Guide for special regulations on Great Lakes tributaries that are intended to “enhance traditional angling.”

The Steelhead Run

In the late fall, Lake Ontario steelhead will appear in most streams used by trout and salmon. Steelhead fishing in the tributaries can be outstanding in November and continues through the winter months into the spring, when spawning occurs around late March and early April.

Anglers willing to brave the harsh winter elements can enjoy great fishing for trophy steelhead in the dead of winter, temperatures permitting. Steelhead runs peak in early spring.