The fall Pacific salmon run is over for the year but Lake Ontario tributaries still offer excellent angling opportunities. November is typically one of the peak months for anglers to catch steelhead and brown trout in the tributaries. This fall has also seen good returns of Atlantic salmon in Oak Orchard Creek, Sandy Creek, and Salmon River and these fish should continue to be available through November.
Eastern Tributaries
Recent fishing has been good on the Black and Oswego rivers along with North and South Sandy creeks. However high flows are creating challenging fishing conditions on the Black and Oswego, so your best bet for steelhead would be the Sandy creeks. The other east end tributaries such as Grindstone, Little Sandy, Stony, and Mill creeks along with the Little Salmon River have had low flows for most of the season but are now finally receiving higher fish attracting water levels, but there hasn’t been much angler activity on them so far. For the Salmon River, there has been a lot of new silver steelhead entering the river with the recent rains and colder temperatures. The drift boat anglers have been doing very well, with shore anglers not being as consistent. New and inexperienced anglers are having a tough time catching fish, but the Church Pool in the Lower Fly Area has been a good hot spot.
Western Tributaries
Trout fishing has improved on the medium to large sized creeks including Eighteenmile, Johnson, Oak Orchard, Sandy Creek, and the Genesee River. Anglers have been catching mostly brown trout, but steelhead and the occasional Atlantic salmon have been caught. Steelhead catches should be on the rise as we get later into November. The smaller tributaries have seen low flows, but excellent fishing can be had after heavy rain events. Fishing on the Lower Niagara River has been good, but anglers are mostly catching incidental lake trout with the occasional steelhead or brown trout mixed in. Please remember that lake trout season is currently closed here and opens up December 1st. Steelhead fishing should only improve as we get closer to the end of the month.
