CHAUTAUQUA LAKE

Walleye fishing has slowed a little. In the north basin, better recent action has been off weedlines early and late in the day. South basin anglers are catching some walleye along the deepest part of the lake. Black bass have been biting well recently. Target largemouth bass around docks and other structure, and smallmouth bass outside weedlines. Fall is a top time to target muskellunge on Chautauqua Lake. Key on areas from the weedline out to 20 feet of water by trolling with large stickbaits or by casting stickbaits and large musky spinners.

LAKE ERIE AND TRIBUTARIES

Anglers continue to report great walleye fishing on Lake Erie. Limit catches were the norm out of Cattaraugus Creek this week in 60-70 feet of water. Lures run within 20 feet of the bottom worked well. There is solid walleye fishing from east of Dunkirk to the Pennsylvania line as well. Concentrate efforts in 65-85 feet of water. Yellow perch fishing off of Cattaraugus Creek slowed a bit, with the better catches at around 15-20 perch per outing. Depths around 60 feet of water is a good starting point.

All Lake Erie tributaries except Cattaraugus Creek have been fishable since early week. However, the fishing has been slow, possibly due to elevated water temperatures. There are some steelhead in all streams, but fish seem to be widely scattered. Falling creek temperatures should help. Cattaraugus Creek is still running a little high at about 750 cubic feet per second.

LOWER NIAGARA RIVER

The Niagara River salmon action is still going strong according to reports from shoreline casters and boat drifters. From shore, Ricardo Davila of Wheatfield was doing well tossing Booker glow in the dark spinners. Rich Pisa of Kenmore was drifting egg skein under a float along the shoreline around the Whirlpool Bridge. Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls was tossing No. 3 spinners to take his first lake trout of the year off of Artpark. At the Sanddocks in Lewiston, Gianni Etopio of Youngtown was using a soft splittail plastic on a jig to take some walleye and even a salmon the last week. Charter guys like Capt. Frank Campbell of Niagara Region Charters are still reporting success in Devil’s Hole drifting treated egg skein on a three-way rig. Mike Cardamone of Lewiston was 5 for 8 on salmon on Tuesday. A few steelhead are starting to show up, too. With air temperatures plummeting into the 50s this weekend, look for fishing to turn on again.

UPPER NIAGARA RIVER

The upper river is a good smallmouth bass fishing option in the fall as waters cool and bass go on the feed. Also, conditions on the river are often more manageable than the open lake in the fall, and boat launches remain open late into the fall. Target feeding bass outside weed edges by drifting bottom bouncing rigs with live shiners, crayfish or plastics.

This year’s king salmon run in the lower river has been very strong. Limit catches have been common for charter boats fishing the Devils Hole drift all week. Controlled drifting with a three-way rig and cured skein or Kwikfish lure is the standard technique. A few steelhead are showing up in the upper drifts and some walleye catches have been near Lewiston. Anglers at the NYPA fishing platform and shore anglers at Devils Hole and Whirlpool State Parks are catching decent numbers of kings. Casting large glow spoons and spinners works well along the State Parks shoreline during low light periods. The NYPA platform is open from dawn until dusk.

LAKE ONTARIO

Tributary fishing is picking up, primarily on Oak Orchard and Eighteenmile creeks. Conditions are good at the Oak, with upper moderate flow and good color. Decent numbers of king salmon are showing at the dam, and fair numbers of kings, brown trout and steelhead are spread out in the walk able section. Eighteenmile Creek has slightly lower flow with slight color. There are very modest numbers of kings, brown trout and steelhead showing at Fisherman’s Park. The small to medium streams from Johnson Creek to Rochester got a little bump in flow and range from moderate to low. Some fish are moving up those streams.