CHAUTAUQUA LAKE

Chautauqua Lake fall fishing has continued to be good, this year. With regular bass and muskie season ending the last day of November, there is plenty of time to chase line tighten smallies and monster muskies. Tubes and crawfish-style baits are working well off rocky points such as, Lakewood Bar, Warners Bar and Mayville Flats.

Trolling for muskies during the fall is a good pattern to work. Working oversize crankbaits and buzz baits is good place to start. Working deep weed edges in the northern basin has been producing good action.

LAKE ERIE AND TRIBS

Recent rains has increased the flows in local tribs, but has made the water difficult to fish and muddy. When able, anglers are still doing well on Lake Erie perch in 50-75 feet of water off Sunset Bay.

LOWER NIAGARA RIVER

We had a report that there were some boats on the water, just prior to the weekend and the first fish they caught was a musky — drifting MagLips off three-way rigs. They also caught a walleye before they hit some trout, steelhead and lake trout. Lake trout season is closed until the end of the year, but sometimes you just can keep them off the hook. In the gorge area of the lower river, shoreline casters are still catching a mix of salmon and trout. Treated egg skein fished under a float has been a consistent producer for Rich Pisa of Kenmore around the whirlpool area. Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls was picking off some steelhead and salmon on a No. 4 spinner while casting the New York Power Authority Fishing Platform before he was chased off due to high water levels (probably due to the high winds). If you want to check whether or not the platform is open, call 796-0135, ext. 45. It usually closes down for the winter around Dec. 1.

LAKE ONTARIO AND TRIBS

In Olcott and 18 Mile Creek, good reports of steelhead and brown trout have surfaced to complement the salmon that are still hanging around at Burt Dam. Karen Evarts at The Boat Doctors in Olcott reports that there are king and Coho salmon in various stages of their life cycle, including some fresh ones entering into the system. Egg skein and egg sacs work best. If the water is stained, chartreuse- and orange-colored egg sacs are best. If we get the rain we are supposed to receive, you can try drifting an egg sac or a single egg in some of the smaller streams like Keg Creek to the east of Olcott or 12 Mile Creek at Wilson. Fishing pressure should drop off a little bit as whitetail deer fall into their rut stage.

UPPER NIAGARA RIVER

In the Upper Niagara River, the last month of musky fishing action improved with the adverse weather, just in time for today’s Niagara Musky Association’s Tim Wittek Memorial Catch and Release Tournament out of the launch ramp area at the foot of Sheridan from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. To get your blood circulating again, there will be a post-tourney chili fest at the foot of Sheridan in Tonawanda. Cost is $25 to enter this catch-and-release “iron man” tournament. Call Scott McKee at 225-3816 for more information. If you just want to find our more information about fall musky fishing in the Niagara, stop in at the NMA monthly meeting at the Eldredge Club, 17 Broad St., Tonawanda on Tuesday night (Nov. 7) starting at 7 p.m. Guest speaker will be Marc Arena with Red October Baits. Water conditions were murky this week thanks to the wind. The lower river musky season extends to Dec. 15.