Those are 2 beauties! The old lady and I are headed to Michigan next week to try some of their fabled rivers. The Kalamazoo and Grand rivers and some other tributaries.
I plan on hitting the oak then Johnson this Wednesday. How was Johnson downstream of the dam? If there water or is it pretty dried up? Also if any one has feedback on 12 mile creek that would be appreciated.
Johnson is low, but we did see some salmon at the small park by Railroad Ave.
All this rain is finally going to bring some fish in. Looks like everything is going to be unfishable until Monday.
I hooked my first Salmon ever at The Rock 2 weeks ago with a pink and white jig. Then last week got my first steelie of the season with a yellow uv soft bead at the same spot. Like other said warm weather steelie fight much better than when it cold. Finally got my BC swing and Wallis cast down.
Any updates on erie tribs would be appreciated. Plan on hitting one of them up on Wednesday. I want to get away from the salmon snaggers on Ontario tribs. It looks like it should be pretty good, based on the weather and USGS flow charts, but some eyes on the water would help.
We fished Silver Creek on Sunday. It looked perfect. Just a tad high with a slight stain to it. Not a damn fish in it at all. My friend told me there may be a sandbar at the mouth that hasn’t yet broke through. If that is the case then Walnut creek will have zero fish as well since they merge together and then hit the lake. We also fished 18-mile and it had some fish in it, but they were spread out and not up past Hobuck flats from what I heard. There aren’t a lot of fish in it. We also fished Johnson Creek. It had a decent number of kings in it, and some browns, and a trickle of steelhead.
I haven’t been around the Catt. But 18 is in decent shape. But as Joel said fishing has been slow. More rain on the way Thursday. These fish have to come in sometime.
So I’m very new to fishing the lower Niagara. I fished devils hole. Closer to the power authority where the boats like to go. Any suggestions on how deep to fish when float fishing?
Found some steel today. Quite a few guys fishing and a few hookups that I saw. I went for 2 for 3. Landed a decent buck about 23" and a jack. Walked about 6 miles though.
Nice to see some Chrome! Wow, that water looks low. I’m surprised people were catching fish there.
you only need to fish from 7-10 foot deep depending on where you fish
My standard Niagara rig is a slip float, one of these sinkers at the end of my main line sinker (1/2 to 1 oz) then a 3-4 foot leader and , and a hair jig 1/16-1/8 oz. or a berkley minnow on a jig head.
If you are fishing roe, bead or a light jig then run a shot line between your trolling sinker and leader.
My niagara reel is spooled with 15 lb mono and depending on water turbidity I run 8-12 lb leader. You need to get the fish out of the current quick. There is no chasing fish down and if they get into current you are pretty much screwed. Having said that there are some people that fish 6lb leader and do fine.
Finally, remember that the water fluctuates several feet in the early morning. Do not go out onto the rocks if you have never been there before. look for algae growth as a good indication as to how high the water will get.
P.S The above set up is for steel head and trout. If you are targeting kings offer quarter to half dollar size skein .
and a final note you don’t need to cast out to the middle of the river, 10-20 foot from shore is all you need. Try to fish the slow side of the current seams.
Thanks for the tips! You don’t put any split shots on your 3-4ft leader? I was using a slip float. Then a 1/2 ounce barrel sinker. Then a foot leader with a bead on it. Then another 1 foot leader what an egg sac on it. Didn’t have much luck with it.
As far as adding shot, it depends on the current. Try to imagine your presentation under water how do you want it to act? add weight accordingly.
What are you targeting ?
I have only caught salmon down there on big chunks of skein
Lower Niagara has been very slow lately. I’m heading to Oak Orchard this coming Wednesday. This will be my first time there. Anyone knows a good route to get there? Thanks.
I usually park at the dam and walk downstream. Bring a PFD there are some special site rules a few hundred feet below the dam were a pfd is required.
don’t get discouraged when you see the crowd by the dam, there is plenty of room and fish downstream
Shoot! I don’t have Pfd. Thanks for the infos.
I was targeting Salmon. Steelhead sooner than later though.
looks like some scumbags were doing some serious poaching last night at burt
I did good today at Burt. Landed 3 kings and a steelhead. I lost a brown and landed a foul hooked brown.
Here’s the biggest king:
Here’s a video I tried to shoot of the last king:
Went to Burt again today. Was crazy busy and annoying. I managed to land 1 steelhead, and had 2 solid hits from some salmon, but they both shook. I can’t wait for the Erie tribs to settle down.