Can you fish at night on Lake Ontario?

[rswanson330]

Hi. I'm new to your forum, very impressive. I'm from Connecticut and am planning a trip up to Pulaski in May targeting steelhead, browns and walleye. I'll be trailering my boat and, as the plans go, will concentrate on salmonoids during the early hours and, as the week moves on, pay attention to the walleye after dark. I was reading the regulations and, as I understand it, there is no fishing on Lake Ontario after dark.

Is night fishing for walleye against the law?

[Yankee Troller]

Its my understanding u cant fish past the first bridge of a river or stream after dark, but the lake is fishable.

[Fish Junkie]

Yankee is right. The lake is fair game. Tributaries are a different story....

[Tim Bromund]

the regulation against night fishing in the tribs is only in place from Sept 1 - March 31 (basically the trout and salmon runs). April 1-Aug 31 night fishing in the tribs is allowed.

Tim

[Legacy]

rswanson330, i think the best advice is to get a nys fishing regulations guide and carry it with you on your trip. and if a question comes up while fishing you be able to answer it, hopefully, without a doubt.

[dieselhp]

Yes the reg book spells it out fine.

NOT! To the officers

I was told by the DEC on the water you could not carry a lure in your boat while fishing the estuary with more then one hook and one point (Salmon River Rules) even though you are not using them. I could have been fined. After a call to the main office they could not tell me. They switched to a upstate office and I was told I can carry the lures as long as I don’t put them in the water till I clear the mouth of the river, The book says the same. You know I now carry a copy of this whenever I am on the Salmon River. He was going to give me a fine but I told him to show me in the book and he said after a few min of looking for it he said he did not have time for this and left. He did say he could have taken my boat and all my gear. Yea I would deal with that. I think the problem is when the run starts they bring in guys from all over the state and they are not up on the rules.

Make sure you read the rules, understand them before you do anything.

[rswanson330]

Thanks, guys. I always keep a copy of the "Directions" for the body I'm fishing in the boat. I'll be downloading and going over the Lake Ontario and Tributary directions long before we hit the road.

I see now where I was confused with the rules on the NY DEC website; I was reading about the tributaries, not the lake. Thanks for the help.