hawkeye625

A couple of you guys suggest catching your own bait (minnows). What type of net can/do you use and is it legal for shiners? I'm new to fishing the river and had to drive to gander mountain for minnows last year, would much rather buy a net and catch my own. Seemed to be alot of emeralds close to the launch. Thanks for all your help. Jeff

Thanks for all the input guys. I think I'll wait to see what sales come up before spring and go from there.

Hello, I'm new to lake Ontario last year and hooked for life. We fished twice on lake Ontario, once in the spring near the Niagra Bar and out of Olcott in the fall. In talking with some folks at the docks it seems a probe is a must on this lake. Just wondering what you guys use and what you would suggest. I have 2 cannon unitrols and 2 mag 10's. I really don't know much about probes and don't want to get too complicated. I also had some trouble picking up fish on my sonar (lowrance 520) in deep water (200+ ft). Tried different settings on sensitivity but still didn't get any marks, but we were catching a few fish. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jeff

Hello to all, Made my first trip to the niagra river and lake ontario the first 4 days of May. Didn't slam the fish but had a great time and will be back soon. I've steelhead fished Lake Erie tributaries for 20+ years and boated Erie for the past 2 years, mainly for walleye and perch. The Niagra River made short work of my motorguide propeller (I guess we were in the wrong place at the wrong time, it spun backwards and dissappeared in the current). Part of the learning curve I guess. Lake Ontario seems to be more boater friendly than lake Erie but twice the distance from my home in Pittsburgh. I think it's well worth the drive not to get beat to death from the waves. Hope to tangle with a few kings this summer with some info gathered from this site. Fairly new to trolling and downrigging so any info or tips would be greatly appreciated. Tight lines to all, and hope to see you on the water. Jeff

Made my first trip to lake Ontario this last week and had some good times and some bad. First drift down the niagra lost a prop..thanks to gander moutain we were back in action for the next day. didn't do well on the river so we drifted the bar for lakers and picked up a couple..winds changed and had some fun...17 in 2 hours. next day wind came from north/northwest and no luck on the bar. tried trolling on saturday and counted 50+ boats going in all directions, a little intimidating for a newcomer. boated 2 steelhead and went back to the green can to drift. ran out of minnows and had a tough time finding any local bait shops. Are there any near the fort or Lewistown? All in all we had a great time, but would appreciate any suggestions to boat a few more fish. Is there a trick to catching lakers around bar with a north or northeast wind? are the lakers around the bar near shore all year long..or do they go deep..really enjoyed catching them on medium tackle close to shore...but don't mind trolling for them if that's what it takes. Looking forward to the next trip in a couple of weeks and welcome any suggestions.. Thanks in advance and hope to see you all on the water.