Western Lake Ontario Fishing

DEC Region 9 contains the Niagara River and the western-most portion of Lake Ontario in New York. The general consensus is that trout and salmon fishing in the Niagara County portion of western Lake Ontario is among the very best New York has to offer. Lake Ontario and the Lower Niagara feature opportunities for catching steelhead (rainbow trout), chinook salmon, coho salmon, brown trout and lake trout. Lake Ontario's chinooks are, by far, the largest found anywhere in the Great Lakes.

Western Lake Ontario offers spectacular near-shore chinook fishing starting in late April and lasting through May. The Niagara Bar, the ouflow area at the mouth of the river, is one of the top areas on the Great Lakes for spring fishing opportunities. Spring action continues east to 30-Mile Point at Golden Hill State Park and all points in between. Offshore fishing for chinooks ramps up in July and runs through September. Popular ports for offshore fishing are Wilson, Olcott and Youngstown (near Fort. Niagara). A good concentration of spawning-bound chinooks occurs each year at the Niagara Bar, offshore of the mouth of the Niagara River, during late August and early September. These chinooks enter the Lower Niagara River and are caught by boat and shore-based anglers later in September and October.

Eighteenmile Creek, which enters Lake Ontario at Olcott Harbor, also gets a strong run of chinooks, starting in mid-October. Many thousands of anglers use the Fisherman's Park facility at Burt Dam, Town of Newfane, for gaining stream-fishing access to Eighteenmile Creek chinooks.

Later in October and November, brown trout begin to enter Eighteenmile Creek on spawning runs providing Lake Ontario's best streamside brown trout fishing. Brown trout are available all winter long, in addition to steelhead. Burt Dam and its relatively constant reservoir discharge, provide ice-free fishing conditions, essentially all winter long. Other small tributaries of note that attract good runs of fish include Four Mile Creek, both branches of 12 Mile Creek and Keg Creek. All are dependent on good water flow for fish runs.

Western Lake Ontario Fishing Reports

DEC Lake Erie and Western New York Fishing Hotline webpage

DEC Western New York Fishing Hotline (716) 855-FISH

Niagara County Fishing Hotline-(877) FALLS US