Devil's Hole

[Chautauqua Tony]

Fishing Report

Your Name / Boat Name:

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TRIP OVERVIEW

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Date(s):Sept. 25 & 26

Time on Water:2 hrs & 7 hrs

Weather/Temp:

W

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FISHING RESULTS

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Total Hits: 1

Total Boated:0

Species Breakdown:KIngs

Hot Lure: Eggs

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SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS

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Fished Devils Hole this weekend. This was my first time fishing the Niagara for salmon. It's nuts how packed that small drift gets. Saturday night we were able to fish the drift for about 2 hours. There was maybe 5 other boats there when we arrived. Had one King on within the first hour and lost it within a minute as my line got taken into my trolling motor. We saw about 4 other fish caught that evening and fish jumping everywhere the entire time. We left feeling real confident for Sunday.

We arrived Sunday around 7 am to a circus of boats. Unbelievable the traffic. Well the confidence slowly faded away as we fished from 7 till 3 with a hour break in between. Not one bite all day for the 3 of us. All day I only saw a few fish netted. It didn't seem nowhere near as good as the night before.

I know it's still a little early so i may try and come up for a day right before archery starts. If i do it will definitely be a week day with hopes of less traffic!

[jeb1340]

We made it out on Sunday morning also, we ended up with one coho and called it quits around 12. What did you think of the guy stuck on the rock? I think there should be a fine for stupidity, especially when others put their lives in danger.

[Chautauqua Tony]

How in the hell do you get stuck on a rock??? Somehow i missed that. How long was the guy stuck for? All i know is that there is no room for error up there. Some point in the afternoon, i tried starting my motor after a drift and it didn't fire. It was pretty nerve racking for about 30 seconds (which felt like 5 minutes). I would hate to be dead in the water there.

[nbajack70]

thanks for the report. I'll be drifting the lower niagara Oct 21st thursday thru Sunday and hope to get into a decent mixed bag. Salmon season is a madhouse everywhere now a days, it seems there is no escaping it. I saw a guy get trapped on a rock once above devils hole. Just above the hole there is a point where guys fish and with the afternoon water rise, they got stranded. Another boat gave them a lift back, but you're right,,, you don't want to take chances up there. The lower niagara can be unforgiving.

[jeb1340]

It wasn't me on the rock. It was some guy on the canadian side. He walked out their around 6:15-6:30 and by 9 the water had rising and he was trapped. He was screaming and waving his 15' centerpin rod. He called the police, as well as several boaters. Th sirens went off and then a charter captain went up and helped him to shore. The captain did hit a few rocks on the way up, but didn't think he did any damage. I talked to one of the captain's clients at the launch and he said the guy was shaking pretty good.

[Badhabit]

Looks like the Buffoon Brigade has invaded Lake O. from the Niagra , all the way over to our end at the Salmon River

[Chautauqua Tony]

It wasn't me on the rock. It was some guy on the canadian side. He walked out their around 6:15-6:30 and by 9 the water had rising and he was trapped. He was screaming and waving his 15' centerpin rod. He called the police, as well as several boaters. Th sirens went off and then a charter captain went up and helped him to shore. The captain did hit a few rocks on the way up, but didn't think he did any damage. I talked to one of the captain's clients at the launch and he said the guy was shaking pretty good.

I realize it wasn't you. I thought you meant someone got their boat stuck on a pile of rocks. That's the first time i've fished the Niagara and i knew before that the water rises at certain parts of the day. People are just stupid.

[rebs]

the lower river can be dangerous as the water drops when they are pulling water for the power plant reservoir, then when they stop pulling water the level rises real quick and you can get trapped out on a rock real easy.

fishing the devils hole in a boat can be very productive if you know what you are doing, when you drift down and reach the end of the power plant fishing platform you better have your main motor running. Do not drift down in front of the power plant, a whirlpool can open in a heartbeat and your boat starts spinning and you find yourself caught in a whirlpool. If you get caught in a whirlpool turn your motor to the left and push the throttle ahead slowly, you will ride the whirlpool for a few turns and then it will spit your boat out. if you leave the motor straight and hit the throttle the rear of your boat goes down and you can take on a lot of water, this can cause your boat to go straight up on end and flip over. that is what happened to a guy a few years ago, the Capt and 1 passenger drown and one passenger was rescued by another boat.

It is a great place to fish if you are knowledgeable and respect the river and its powerful current and whirlpools. Pay close attention to where you are and the water level. You can drift over rocks and not know they are there, a half hour later on the same drift you will hit the rocks because they started pulling water for the power plant and it is now shallower.

I like to use a baitcaster reel with 15 lb line to a 3 way swivel then about a 12 to 17 inch 8 lb test dropper to a 2.5 ounce pencil weight, using about a 7 to 9 foot leader also 15 lb test with either a quick fish lure or a small hook size 6, 8 or 10 with egg sacks or skein. Gold quickfdish with green scales or green spots seem to work really good. Egg sacks in orange, pink or green work at different times and conditions. When you feel the weight of a fish don't set the hook, just start reeling, keeping the line tight and the fish will be already hooked. More times than not if you set the hook you will loose the salmon.

I hope this helps someone to safely catch some salmon

[Chautauqua Tony]

the lower river can be dangerous as the water drops when they are pulling water for the power plant reservoir, then when they stop pulling water the level rises real quick and you can get trapped out on a rock real easy.

fishing the devils hole in a boat can be very productive if you know what you are doing, when you drift down and reach the end of the power plant fishing platform you better have your main motor running. Do not drift down in front of the power plant, a whirlpool can open in a heartbeat and your boat starts spinning and you find yourself caught in a whirlpool. If you get caught in a whirlpool turn your motor to the left and push the throttle ahead slowly, you will ride the whirlpool for a few turns and then it will spit your boat out. if you leave the motor straight and hit the throttle the rear of your boat goes down and you can take on a lot of water, this can cause your boat to go straight up on end and flip over. that is what happened to a guy a few years ago, the Capt and 1 passenger drown and one passenger was rescued by another boat.

It is a great place to fish if you are knowledgeable and respect the river and its powerful current and whirlpools. Pay close attention to where you are and the water level. You can drift over rocks and not know they are there, a half hour later on the same drift you will hit the rocks because they started pulling water for the power plant and it is now shallower.

I like to use a baitcaster reel with 15 lb line to a 3 way swivel then about a 12 to 17 inch 8 lb test dropper to a 2.5 ounce pencil weight, using about a 7 to 9 foot leader also 15 lb test with either a quick fish lure or a small hook size 6, 8 or 10 with egg sacks or skein. Gold quickfdish with green scales or green spots seem to work really good. Egg sacks in orange, pink or green work at different times and conditions. When you feel the weight of a fish don't set the hook, just start reeling, keeping the line tight and the fish will be already hooked. More times than not if you set the hook you will loose the salmon.

I hope this helps someone to safely catch some salmon

GReat post. I have a lot of respect for that river. Last weekend was the first time i fished it and it was a little stressful. So many boats. It seemed like a lot of guys are use to the traffic. We meat a charter guide the day we arrived at the hardware store in Lewiston. He was telling us if we start talking water over the transom, just let it happen. Then he told us about a guide who flipped his boat trying to throttle it after he started taking in water. **** is crazy. Really, people should wear a pfd. if you go over board in that river your done.

[rebs]

the lower river can be dangerous as the water drops when they are pulling water for the power plant reservoir, then when they stop pulling water the level rises real quick and you can get trapped out on a rock real easy.

fishing the devils hole in a boat can be very productive if you know what you are doing, when you drift down and reach the end of the power plant fishing platform you better have your main motor running. Do not drift down in front of the power plant, a whirlpool can open in a heartbeat and your boat starts spinning and you find yourself caught in a whirlpool. If you get caught in a whirlpool turn your motor to the left and push the throttle ahead slowly, you will ride the whirlpool for a few turns and then it will spit your boat out. if you leave the motor straight and hit the throttle the rear of your boat goes down and you can take on a lot of water, this can cause your boat to go straight up on end and flip over. that is what happened to a guy a few years ago, the Capt and 1 passenger drown and one passenger was rescued by another boat.

It is a great place to fish if you are knowledgeable and respect the river and its powerful current and whirlpools. Pay close attention to where you are and the water level. You can drift over rocks and not know they are there, a half hour later on the same drift you will hit the rocks because they started pulling water for the power plant and it is now shallower.

I like to use a baitcaster reel with 15 lb line to a 3 way swivel then about a 12 to 17 inch 8 lb test dropper to a 2.5 ounce pencil weight, using about a 7 to 9 foot leader also 15 lb test with either a quick fish lure or a small hook size 6, 8 or 10 with egg sacks or skein. Gold quickfdish with green scales or green spots seem to work really good. Egg sacks in orange, pink or green work at different times and conditions. When you feel the weight of a fish don't set the hook, just start reeling, keeping the line tight and the fish will be already hooked. More times than not if you set the hook you will loose the salmon.

I hope this helps someone to safely catch some salmon

GReat post. I have a lot of respect for that river. Last weekend was the first time i fished it and it was a little stressful. So many boats. It seemed like a lot of guys are use to the traffic. We meat a charter guide the day we arrived at the hardware store in Lewiston. He was telling us if we start talking water over the transom, just let it happen. Then he told us about a guide who flipped his boat trying to throttle it after he started taking in water. **** is crazy. Really, people should wear a pfd. if you go over board in that river your done.

I don't know about just letting it happen if you start taking water over the transom, if yuou are caught in a whirlpool and it is pulling your stern down enough to take on water. I would not just let it happen. The more water you take in the lower in the water your stern goes, a lot of those whirlpools are strong enough to stand your boat right up on end and either flip you over or pull the boat down, either way you are going in the water. Those whirlpools are strong enough to stand a telephone pole on end and suck it down completely under water. As I posted earlier, turn the wheel to the left and throttle slowly up, ride the whirlpool around a few times and it will spit your boat out.

As far as a life jacket, the coast guard has said they are not sure if one would help if you fell in. If the whirlpools are strong enough to stand a boat on end or a telephone pole then I doubt there is any question as to if it will pull a person under wearing a life jacket.

[tangler]

Man, those whirlpools sound sketchy. Glad my boat has a 5' transom, though u wont see it there. I am exited to hear that someone else fishes with baitcasting reels in the rivers, thought i was the only one. I have fished several models but the ABU record 60 has no peer as far as i am concerned. Once i got the hang of this thing i could feed someone on the opposite bank with a flip of the wrist. Dont be afraid to try one. Curious what models u guys are using. T

[Chautauqua Tony]

Fished Devil's Hole again Yesterday. Boated a 20 lb female. Lost another in the AM. Afternoon was slow for us. I saw a lot of fish caught during the day. Not really sure what I'm doing wrong because everyone else was doing way better than us!

[nbajack70]

thanks for the report Tony,,, 2 more weeks for me. I've had all my success for salmon on the niagara up in devils hole drifting large skein in purple or dark red in the morning and kwikfish after they raise the water in the afternoon. Make sure your touching bottom and that should improve your success. Even 2 or 3 ft off the bottom will reduce your success.

Are you seeing any trout caught yet???

[rebs]

I have a little thing I do to increase my catch of salmon, when I am fishing skein or egg sack I add a miniature marshmallow as a float to keep the bait up off the bottom a little. I use a 3way with a dropper line to the sinker not longer that 12 to 15 inches long to stay very close to the bottom, not dragging it on bottom but ticking or feeling bottom all along the drift. I started adding the marshmallow to act as a float, but I am not sure if it works because of that or the salmon smell the marshmallow scent or if its the contrast in color to the skein or egg sack. I do know it makes a difference for me. It works especially well when the fishing is tough and not many being caught.

Something I do not do is set the hook, when I feel the weight of a salmon I just start reeling up. If I set the hook I loose more salmon.

TANGLER The hole is a safe place to fish as long as you remember where you are, respect the river, pay attention to where you are in relation to the power plant outlets and other boats. Do not drift down in front of the power plant outlets as that is where the whirlpools can form very fast. Have your main motor running and end the drift at the fishing platform and then go back up for another drift.

[RodBuster]

Interesting reading about boat control on the whirlpools.

i have a question that maybe someone can answer.

I fish there a handful of times ever year.

I see sea gulls sitting on the water in the whirlpools all the time.

My question is how can it pull a floating object the size of a boat down but those gulls sit there without a care in the world?

Always been curious about that......

[jeb1340]

I'm guessing that it has something to do with "surface tension". There is a lot more area for water to "grab" the boat and suck it down. The boat is sitting in the water, the bird is on top. Another one to think about: Why when you are going 60 mph is your head pressed into the head rest, but a fly is able to fly in circles around the inside of your car? Shouldn't he be killed by the rear window?

[scott111]

Man, those whirlpools sound sketchy. Glad my boat has a 5' transom, though u wont see it there. I am exited to hear that someone else fishes with baitcasting reels in the rivers, thought i was the only one. I have fished several models but the ABU record 60 has no peer as far as i am concerned. Once i got the hang of this thing i could feed someone on the opposite bank with a flip of the wrist. Dont be afraid to try one. Curious what models u guys are using. T

i use the Abu Record 50. love it...dose not hold quite enough line for trolling for big salmon or salt water fish but otherwise, its the perfect reel for trout, walleye, pike, bass...its my go-to reel...been using it in the genesee river with spoons

would love to get a shimano calcutta TE next

[big-o]

Interesting reading about boat control on the whirlpools.

i have a question that maybe someone can answer.

I fish there a handful of times ever year.

I see sea gulls sitting on the water in the whirlpools all the time.

My question is how can it pull a floating object the size of a boat down but those gulls sit there without a care in the world?

Always been curious about that......

Damn good Question...any one got an answer?????