River Dave

Man you're have quite a day Jigger! I love that dark one with the stripes. Smallmouth are just the coolest aren't they? Are you finding them deep right now or is it shallow where you're fishing? I marked a lot on dropoffs when I was out the other day. Went from like 10' down to 20+' and they were all suspending over the deep water but hanging at that 10' depth. That was the spot next to the Thruway I was fishing the other day and I drove right by it on the way home (on the Thruway) and a guy was fighting a fish. I went by there again yesterday morning on the way to work and another guy was landing one at that same spot. Kind of cool to see guys landing fish on my drive to work at 60mph.

Sorry for your loss, we went with "gone fishin' " on my dad's headstone. It was my favorite.

If you have optical on your health insurance you may be able to get a pair of prescription shades real cheap. We are allowed one pair every couple of years and I could have had a free pair this year but I need progressive lenses and that's what killed me. Regular prescription polarized fishing glasses would have been no cost but the progressive were like $300 so I didn't do it. That had some nice ones too, would have been great. Now I'm back to clip ons.

Oh man that is some killer video, I love that! What type of bait are you using with fly rod for bass like that? I used to throw small poppers on a fly rod for bass but would only catch little fish, like real little. Always wanted to catch bass on a fly rod and finally resorted to putting a spinning reel on one. Caught some bass that way and by the time I broke it I was loading up hooks with corn and catching carp with the fly rod. Only lasted for one summer but had fun with it for awhile. I still have a regular fly rod setup in the garage but haven't touched it in years. I have some rods that are set up a little different but, for the most part, I spool my baitcasters with braid and my spinning gear with mono. I have one spinning rod set up with that Berkley nano-fil and it's awesome. At $20 a spool I only did the one but then I read up on here how guys back with mono and just use the better line for the last quarter spool or so. I will definitely do that the next time I need to spool up. I don't want to spend $20 per reel but I will certainly split a spool of that line between 2 or 3 reels if I use a mono backer. My mono of choice has always been 8# Trilene XL, and my braids are a mixture of Spiderwire, the generic Power Pro at Cabelas, and some spools I got from my dad. Next spool I buy with definitely be 20# PP after all I've heard about it. No tournaments for me, I'm just fun fishin'.

Ouch, that one hurts! Nice one Jigger, great color!

I'll be painting my sons room and working in the yard wishing I was shore fishing. Busy couple weeks ahead but trying to get it all done before the fishing heats up.

Looks like I shoulda' stayed on shore with Jigger, I got skunked! I ended up hooking two fish today but lost both. Had about a 2# LM on a chatterbait come off as I was trying to lip him and lost a little smallmouth on a swimbait. Water temps were only mid 40's today, coldest water I've ever fished so I had no idea where to go or what to do. I did end up finding some fish both deep and shallow but couldn't get bit. There were a bunch of fish on the edge of the main channel right next to the Thruway and guys were catching fish there but I hated fishing right next to the busy road so I left after a few minutes. I work in a noisy factory and like some peace and quiet when I go fishing. I'm sure I could have caught some if I'd stayed but I just hated being right next to the thruway like that. The other place I found fish and somewhere some of you guys should check out was Beaver Island Marina on Grand Island. That was full of fish of every species but I couldn't get bit there either. If anybody goes focus on the left (if you're on shore) side where there are holes in the break wall letting current in. Fish were stacked up in there but there was so much bait in there nothing would bite. There were thousands of those orange finned shiners or shad or whatever they are along with every sucker in the river but I also so a lot of perch, bass and a few pike. Might be worth a look for somebody. I really didn't plan on fishing much today anyway so any time I did get was just a bonus. I was just tuning my electronics and making sure everything was cool with the boat (it was). Next trip will probably be Silver Lake for pike but it may be awhile, lotta' stuff to do at home right now. Here's the highlight of my day, a bald eagle sitting in a tree next to its nest on Strawberry Island. Too cool.

Nicely done Farmer! I came fairly close to hitting Silver myself today but since it was the first time in the water this year I stayed close to home and hit the Niagara River. I was only out from about noon until four and was trying out my new depth finder more than anything but I did get a fair amount of fishing time too. I hooked two bass and lost both, one small SM and one average LM so no great loss. Felt good just to get out in the boat again, waited all winter for that. Highlight of the day for me (other than just going in the first place) was seeing a bald eagle on Strawberry Island. Lotta' stuff to do at home so trip #2 probably won't be for at least another week or two.

FINALLY! Been waiting all winter for this. Playing with the boat more than fishing but I'll post something when I get back to let you know how I did. I'm not expecting to catch much but will probably look around for some Pike.

Lol you sound just like my buddy! He's another steelhead junkie and loves it when it's cold and rainy. I've never stream fished for them before but they must be something special for you guys to go through what you do just to catch them. My buddy is always sending me pictures of him standing in the snow with icicles in his beard holding a fish. I'll admit I don't get it but I'm obviously missing something because the people that do it seem to absolutely love it. My nephew is always driving all over the place to wade into freezing cold water for Steelies. I used to do a lot of trout/salmon fishing but it wasn't my thing so I just stick with warm weather bass and pike. I know, I know, even my own dad called me a wimp. Buying the house so I could fish was an absolute blast while I was there but turned out to be a horrible investment. Would have been much smarter to buy somewhere else but I did enjoy my time there. I fished several times a day, every day, for 7 years. Even if I had 10 minutes to kill I would walk across the street and cast a few. Caught a ton of fish but lost my shirt when I sold the house.

Wow that's wild. I've had pike take fish that were already hooked but never the other way around. Crazy. This cold rain is going to kill the fishing I'm afraid, really gonna' bring down the water temp. Bummer.

I used to live kinda out that way when I first got married and fished there a couple times. No surprise but I never caught much there either. I'm noticing a theme here, I fished almost everywhere over the years and never caught anything. I must have really sucked. My problem is all my good shore spots are posted and/or developed now. Some of my old South Buffalo spots are still accessible but I think all the polution finally caught up with them because the fishing isn't like it used to be. I used to live one house away from Cazenovia Creek in S Buffalo and fished it every day. That's why I bought the house, just so I could fish. Caught a ton of bass (and everything else) out of there. Fishing is terrible there now.

I'm cursed when it comes to SBH, I never catch anything there. Ever. Good luck Chris. Lousy weather but still saw some boats out on the River this morning. Looked like mostly perch fishermen based on where they were fishing. Yesterday morning the weather was just gorgeous but very few boats were out. Hopefully I'll be giving a fishing report soon, gettin' antsy now.

Nicely done Jigger! My fishing partner lives on 101st so he's right over by you. I'm working all weekend but hoping to maybe get out for a bit on Tuesday.

If that's the one out by Jigger my fishing partner goes there a fair amount (he lives like a mile from Cayuga Island). Hasn't been very good so far this year but neither has anyplace else from the sounds of it. Gotta' turn around sooner or later. I used to go to the old Buffalo Launch Club (or something like that) marina years ago, I think that's the same place.

Oh man I forgot all about that spot! I used to go back there all the time fishing those old boathouses/docks but bought a different boat and went without a trolling motor for a few years so couldn't really fish it right anymore. I guess once I got a trolling motor again that place had slipped my mind. Man probably been 10-11 years since I fished that spot. Used to be a good place for small bass and pike and a great place to take the kids for bobber fishing for sunnies. I'll have to check that out again this year. Great tip Jigger!

Yea I got the boat and my gear all ready this past week. I wanted to go out for a little while yesterday but the weather was crappy so I stayed home and got some more chores checked off the " to do" list. I'd rather do that when it's cold and get it done so I can fish more later. If we get some nice days I'll try and get out for a little bit this coming week. Not expecting to catch much yet but I'd like to at least try out my new depth finder. I think pike opens Sunday so maybe I'll head to Silver Lake and chase them around for a while. I always see boats along the Thruway fishing just down from the Ontario St boat launch in the River every Spring. I'm told they're after perch and, if there's perch there's Pike, so maybe I'll try that too. Never had the boat early enough to fish those spots before.

I fish the upper Niagara all the time but usually from a boat. A friend of mine has been catching some smallmouth on the river side of the breakwall across from LaSalle Park lately. I used to catch a ton of largemouth (and an occasional pike) on the canal side of the wall right where it makes the sharp bend by the sailboat club marina. It gets real shallow and weedy in that inside corner of the bend, used to kill 'em flipping jigs and T rigs into the holes in the weeds. I think you could probably fish both of these spots from the breakwall. The boat launch at the foot of Sheridan Drive is one of my only shore spots on the river. Walk over on the rights side towards the big power plant. Fishing is good all along there for smallmouth. Good luck.

Hey Chris welcome aboard! I don't know about Lockport specifically but I know there are other guys on here from out your way. This site just seems to get better every time a new guy joins the conversation.

Wow sweet! Welcome to the forums, lotta' local guys on here now.

To me one of the most interesting things I've learned since joining this forum is that there really are 6 and 7 pound largemouth to be had locally. I've heard stories before but never really from credible sources and no pictures so I'm amazed at the size of some of the fish I see on here. I live so close to Lake Erie I've grown used to reports of giant smallies but the big largemouth are new to me. I catch a ton of bass every year but I rarely break 4lbs so I didn't think I'd ever catch a 6 or better so it's nice to know it's at least possible one day without moving to Florida. One thing that really impresses me is the health of the fishery at Silver Lake. For such a small body of water there seems to be a good number of fish in there. Well done Farmer, that is a very impressive list to say the least. My list of six pounders since I started fishing from a boat in 1970: ZERO

Holy smokes that's a beauty right there! It's been several years since I've caught a largemouth big enough that that one couldn't swallow it whole. Jeesh!

I never use tube jigs (well, almost never). I generally fished faster with spinnerbaits, grubs, and occasionally inline spinners. Those were definitely my go to baits when I used to fish that spot anyway. I will say people kill 'em on tube jigs in the river though. Not really my thing but very productive at times. I just don't have the patience for it I guess.

I work about a mile from the launch so when I was working 3-11 I used to fish there almost every day for a while before work. Lotta' fish to be caught if you know the right spots. I always see people fishing from the wall but I always did much better way off on the sides away from that wall. The weeds right by the docks always look good but you'd be really in the way of boaters.

Hey that's my old spot! I used to fish there all the time. I would go off on the right side of the launch heading towards the Huntley plant and catch all kinds of smallies (even caught a muskie there once). Used to do real good sometimes right at those discharge pipes when the water was flowing. I haven't fished there in years but I launch the boat there all the time.