FISHING TECHNIQUES UPPER NIAGARA RIVER AND HOT SPOTS

Niagara River Fishing
Techniques and Tips

FISHING UPPER NIAGARA USING CRANK BAITS

By Captain Matt Cipoletti
Lewiston NY ~ Email:

With spring/summer time upon us, many “bassainiacs” will be in pursuit of that pound per pound hardest fighting fish we've come to love, the smallmouth bass.

Nowadays, with an overwhelming abundance of bass information coming from fishing articles, the internet, fishing shows, etc. one might not be surprised to see your fishin’ buddy pull a compact computer out of his tackle box and begin retrieving tips on how to catch more fish than you.

The following tips/techniques have allowed me to obtain the upper hand on those little monsters and I didn't need to pull out a computer to get the job done.

Crank baits may be a little more troubling than fishing live bait, but I feel the reward is well worth it. Try to be more aggressive when fishing crank baits. I like to cover a lot of surface area in the least amount of time. When I choose an area that I want to cover, I begin my casts on the edge or outer ring of the area and work my way in until I locate fish. Once fish are located leave your boat in that location until you work the area over, this prevents you from spooking the fish. Keep in mind; leaving your boat in one position on the upper river will demand that you have an electric trolling motor on your rig. If things start to slow or dwindle down move your casts closer to the inner ring until you completely cover the area that you want to fish. Some of my most productive crank baits include, Rapala Jointed Shad Rap, colors: crawdad, red crawdad, brown crawdad, and shad; Rapala Husky Jerk, colors: silver, gold, silver fluorescent/chartreuse, and fire tiger; and Bill Dances Ex-Calibur. Try various retrieve speeds, stop and go techniques, sizes, colors, and/or shallow diving verses deep diving cranks until you put it all together to have consistent catches.

For casting crank baits choose a rod that has either slow or moderate action. This will allow you to cast further and still have flexibility to set the hook without ripping off the fish’s lips. St.Croix has a series of crank bait rods for around $150.00 that I find to be excellent.

Choosing a fishing line is a personal preference. I don't feel you need to run a fluorocarbon line when casting cranks, it's not as critical as when you’re fishing for steelhead. My reels are spooled with Spiderline monofilament either LS or Triple XXX in 10lb. and I think the line works great for the job. Be sure to attach your line directly to the crank bait. Many fishermen opt out of this and attach a snap swivel to the end of their line and snap the crank on the swivel. Sure, this is more convenient and makes for easier changing of lures, but I feel it affects the action of the crank bait. I choose to tie rather than snaps.

My hot spots on the upper river where these tips/techniques have been very productive includes, but are not limited to, are: Lynch Trailer Park water front which is located on the east branch of the Niagara River opposite side of Grand Island just south of Cayuga Islands' Little River. This area holds a significant drop off with depths that range from 3' to 12'. Once you locate the drop off, keep yourself out about 25 yards from shore and begin casting toward shore using the edge or ring technique until you cover the entire area. There have been days I never left this spot using nothing but the crank baits I described earlier.

Further up river is Gratwick-Riverside Park, begin your drift just before the boat ramps. As the current drifts you down river cast toward the boulder rock shoreline allowing your crank bait to bounce off a rock or two when retrieving. Crank baits that resemble crayfish or crabs work best here. Continue the drift until you pass the huge private boat slip, it will be the only slip around and you can't miss it. Tip- it wouldn't be a bad idea to work a tube jig around the front of the slip. Smoke, motor oil, and pumpkin seed have worked great for me.

The upper river holds some terrific structure whether it be a rocky shoreline, abandoned pump house offshore, wood pilings or boat docks. Work the different types of structures with the appropriate crank baits and you will be bound for success.

UPPER NIAGARA RIVER FISHING TECHNIQUES AND HOT SPOTS

PLEASE NOTE: Author unknown. If anyone has an idea of who the author is, we would like to know so we can credit this writer for such a great article. Some historic, famous names are resurrected at the beginning of this article. These were men that knew the upper river like the backs of their hands. This article and map were put on it’s own page on this website because of its map and its importance.

In the Niagara River, successful angling is dependent upon an understanding and application of a technique developed for fast water fishing over many years. Some of the historical guides that have developed this technique are Hans Mang, Hamp Howard, Freddie Mauser, Patty Hoctor and Bill Dekdebrun.

In the upper Niagara River you'll find, first of all, the famous fighting Niagara River small-mouth bass, yellow pike, northern pike, and muskellunge. In addition, anglers fishing from like banks and docks have been successful in landing rock bass, perch, calico bass and bullheads. There are a number of large sturgeons taken from the waters of the Niagara every year.

Many people have made the statement that they have fished in the river any number of times and have yet to catch their first bass. That’s because the wily bronze-back confines his activities to certain weed beds, wrecks, rock ledges, and deep holes that in many cases cover less area than a normal living room. The successful bass fisherman has managed to range these small-mouth lairs, and any fishermen with a reasonable amount of ability can manage to become a Niagara River bass fishermen by using our marked map and establishing his own ranges.

Our map is self-explanatory. Solid lines denote bass drifts, and broken lines designate areas where you may troll for muskellunge. Go to map below

Other than to say it is possible that you may pick up a good number of yellow pike while fishing for bass on these designated drifts, we'll not indicate any specific yellow pike grounds except those at the head of the river and Thompson's Hole. It would be physically impossible to give accurate land ranges for any of these spots. Average water depth of bass fishing drifts will range from six feet to ten feet except for certain deep holes, which are indicated on the map.

In regard to rigging for bass, most successful anglers use ten to eighteen pound test braided Nylon line with a snap and swivel at the end. Recently more anglers are using spinning tackle and the light monofilament lines, also with a snap and swivel. Fastened to the snap is a sinker very similar in shape to the large chugging wires used in the lake and river trolling. However, these are miniature replicas . . . the wire being only seven to nine inches in length and the sinker set close to the top weighing only 1/2 to 3/8 of an ounce. Snapped into the same snap and swivel is a three-foot gut leader with a No. 21 or No. 22 Cincinnati bass hook without eye.

The universal bait is the soft-shelled crab properly set up. By “setting up" we mean that the crabs must be reasonably soft and of the consistency of sponge rubber. Our experience has been that the smaller crab is most successful. Late in August and early September, many fishermen switch from crabs to chub and moddock, but nine out of ten bass caught in the river fall victim to the soft-shelled crab.

We locate our drift and get above it because of the river current, drop the line over, allowing it to get away from the boat about fifteen to twenty feet and drift over our designated area. A bass generally will pick up the bait and make a slight run. On feeling a bite, smart fishermen will immediately peel off about ten feet of line allowing the bait complete freedom. This relieves any strain on the line indicating that it is not natural. Then the hook may be set and if you connect, you have a real fight on your hands.

You'll notice from our map that there is very good fishing on both American and Canadian sides of the West River. Some especially good spots are from the head of Grand Island to Oakfield Road on the Grand Island side, and from just below Black Creek to Twin Poplars on the Canadian side. Another hot bed is just above Staley's Reef on the Grand Island side of the river near the new parking area on the Niagara Frontier West River Parkway. This is called the Clay Banks. Out from Staley's Reef is a big hole called the drop off and directly below the Reef is a fine bass area called the Weed-Bed.

This should be fished about 3 or 4 feet outside the weeds. Both sides of the head of Navy Island have produced fine bass fishing. There'll a big weed bed there that is very productive of bass. Surprisingly enough to many, you'll see there's a long bass drift to the west side and above the head of Strawberry Island. All of these spots marked on the map produce good catches of black bass.

It is very important that you try these spots at various distances from shore, because once you strike a fish and take range, you will be able to get additional fish, as we have mentioned before. The east branch of the Niagara River generally has only a few places where there's good bass fishing, although the East River from Edgewater to the foot of the island has produced some of the very finest bass. We hope these instructions and maps will help you in a greater enjoyment of what we think is the finest fishing in the world.