Fishing Beat: Walleye night bite heats up in Lake Erie (2024)

There are plenty of fishing opportunities as we head into a holiday weekend. With this being National Safe Boating Week, make sure you stay safe out there. The National Lake Trout Derby is this three-day weekend on Seneca Lake.

Lake Erie and tributaries

The walleye night bite is hot from Buffalo to Evans Bar reports Capt. Tom Sieczkarek of No Regrets Sportfishing. The walleye bite turns on one-half hour before sunset and continues well into the night with many limit catches being reported. Sieczkarek’s best baits have been Chuck Booker’s P-5 stickbaits in perch, purple and chartreuse, as well as Rapala Scatter Raps in the same colors. Try flatlining 65 to 100 feet back in 20 feet of water or less. Bruce Kowalski with TAAR Outdoors in Lake View reports that walleyes are snapping off Hamburg and the windmills at night. Try running stickbaits back 100 feet in 8 to 14 feet of water. Shallower humps with deeper structure is the ticket. Walleyes during the day have been slow according to Kowalski, but anglers running the 25-foot to 30-foot mark out of Buffalo near the outer walls and around the mills has produced fish. Jigging and blade baits in the evening around the outer wall north gap also have been good.

Bass action has been inconsistent with spawning going on. Matt Wilson of Lewiston found plenty of bass but getting them to bite was a challenge. It seemed like the fish he got to bite came on sandy, light-colored bottoms. He found some walleyes east of Seneca Shoal. Smallmouths are abundant around the Buffalo area according to Kowalski. Tributaries have bass, too. Use spinners in the deeper holes. Shore casters are throwing drop shot rigs and tubes. Use brown and green colors. Catfish are showing in good numbers and size along the Lake Erie shoreline as well as the mouths of the tributaries. Worms and cut bait on three-way rigs.

Mark Dzimian of Lake View reports that with the opening of Sturgeon Point launch and marina, he thought the 54-foot zone slightly west would hold post-spawn perch. Fishing along with Adam Hoak and his son Keegan, 12, the surface water temperatures of 58 degrees yielded minimal catches. A quick move 2 miles west to old reliable Evans Bar in 59 feet of water resulted in better catches or large post-spawn perch. It appears the warm surface water temperatures have pushed the perch west into 60-foot depths.

Niagara River

Capt. Dave Scipione of Lewiston has been using Kwikfish and MagLips to take bass and the occasional trout. Just about every drift down river from the sand docks has produced smallmouth bass, and jigs are working very well, too. Bass action has been good to very good according to Wilson. He caught 40 fish using a Flicker Shad and a 6th Sense jerkbait. He was casting points where there was a drastic drop-off. He noticed spawning going on in the flats and encouraged people to stay away from those areas. Capt. Frank Campbell of Lewiston said that bass and walleye catch rates are improving as the waters warm. You can target both species from Devil’s Hole to the Niagara Bar with swimbaits, jerkbaits and MapLips fished off three-way rigs. For trout, use minnows or MagLips. The top plug colors are silver-green or silver-chartreuse. Campbell noted that the Fort Niagara fishing cleaning station and rest rooms are open. Tommy Holycross of Wheatfield caught lake trout off the NYPA fish platform this week. There are plenty of bass being caught, and occasional white bass as well. Walleyes are hitting worm harnesses after sundown. The Lewiston Smelt Festival is Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. at Lewiston Landing.

Lake Ontario and tributaries

Salmon and trout are scattered according to Capt. Mike Johannes of On the Rocks Charters out of Wilson. The Wilson Harbor Invitational Salmon Tournament last weekend was tough as the lake began its transition from spring to summer. Johannes fished from Wilson to the Niagara Bar in 70 feet of water over the weekend and took a mixed bag of Coho salmon, steelhead, a brown trout and an Atlantic salmon. The Coho were being caught on the normal pinks and hot orange smaller spoons and the orange Coho flashers in about 60 feet of water. When fishing after a northeast wind or when the fish are finicky like this, always keep an eye out for a water change such as a temperature or current break. This is usually identified as a different color water line and it is essential to have good, polarized sunglasses for this, says Johannes. On Day One of the WHI, the team of Hell on Reels won the single-day event with 142 points based on 10 points per fish and a point per pound for the best six fish for the day. On Day 2, Team Bite Force won the contest with 128 points. The two-day overall winner was the Mister Squirrelly team to set the pace with 238.18 points, two points ahead of Bite Force. Vision Quest and Capt. Pete Alex led the charge in the weeklong Salmon Slam leading up to the WHI. His best five salmon and two trout totaled 115 pounds, 7 ounces – three ounces better than Mother Moose and four ounces better than Dirty Goose. The next big event is the Skip Hartman Memorial Salmon Team Tournament May 31 and June 1 (lakeontarioproam.net). The Don Johannes/Pete DeAngelo Memorial three fish/big fish contest is May 30. Entry fee is $100 per boat. Sign up at the Boat Doctors, the Wilson Gas Shack or Bootleggers Cove Marina. Call Mike Johannes at 523-1727 for more information. Capt. John Oravec from Tightlines Charters reports it is mostly a rigger/spoon program out of the Oak. He’s been finding some nice spring kings around 190-200 feet of water straight out of Point Breeze.

Chautauqua Lake

Crappie fishing has been good the last week reports Capt. Mike Sperry with Chautauqua Reel Outdoors. There are numerous undersized fish but a bunch between 10 inches and 13 inches as well. Minnows under a slip bobber have been working best for Sperry, but he’s also getting some on Mini Mites. White and clear with a chartreuse 1/32-ounce head worked well. The walleye morning bite has really picked up lately according to Sperry. A jig and twister tail worked close to the weed edge and in the weed pockets is working. Challenger minnows and Rapalas cast over the pondweed are catching fish, too. The first few hours in the morning are best; an overcast sky prolongs the bite.

Finger Lakes

Cayuga Lake: Lake trout are scattered with favored temperatures throughout the lake and water column according to Capt. John Gaulke with Finger Lakes Angling Zone. Fish can be taken from 15 feet out to over 150 feet of water. Some rainbow trout and salmon are being taken by trollers. Perch action should be good in the mid and lower portions of the lake.

Seneca Lake: Lake trout action was good for Gaulke on Saturday out of Geneva. The best area was 50 to 100 feet of water. Bait fish are everywhere. The National Lake Trout Derby runs Saturday to Monday. Check out laketroutderby.org.

Conesus Lake: Wade Rowcliffe of Rochester did well on the lake over the weekend with fishing buds Anthony Schaub and Dan Fields of Rochester. They drifted in 5 to 20 feet of water along drop-offs, casting stickbaits and crankbaits to take pike, walleye, bass and perch.