Beginning of winter in Niagara. First and foremost, you have to be dressed for the part. Layers of clothing are the way to go, keeping that warmth in as much as possible. There are days when you can be overdressed, so being able to take off some of those clothes can be just as important. And no matter how cold it can get – remember that water flowing down through is pegged at 32 degrees – when you are catching fish, it just doesn’t seem to feel all that cold.

Thanks to a new law that was enacted in 2009, all boaters (21 feet or less) are now required to wear a personal flotation device from November 1 through May 1 – unless you are on a charter boat. Charter vessels are exempt from this new legislation. That said, it’s still not a bad idea either way. We do recommend fishing with a charter person your first time or two on the river to learn the ropes. Capt. Frank Campbell actually provides survival suits for his customers as an added precaution – and to help keep his clients warm. It’s food for thought. If you are uncomfortable, you won’t have a good “total experience.” His personal touches keep his customers coming back year after year.

For the fishing end of things, Campbell has some personal preferences that all contribute to his success. For example, his choice of rod allows him to catch more fish. “I use a Quantum Tour Edition seven and a half foot medium action rod with a soft tip. I’ve found that the fish will like to hang on to a bait for a period of time and the soft rod tip will help keep the fish available to customers longer. A stiffer tip will let the fish feel the resistance sooner, causing them to let go of the bait offering, whatever that may be – such as egg sacks, single eggs, egg imitations like yarn balls, or live bait like minnows. More on that a bit later. The rod also has slightly larger guides that will not freeze up as quickly in the cold.

The next most important component is the reel. Campbell’s personal preference is a Quantum Energy baitcasting reel, outfitted with eight pound test Cajun fluorocarbon line. “I use fluorocarbon line for the visibility factor, especially when the water is clear,” insists Campbell. “I also don’t get as much line stretch, so it helps with the hook set. And when the water becomes super clear, I’ll drop my leader off the three-way down to six pound test and even extend the leader a foot or two.

A three-way rig is the tried and true method for taking these trout in the winter. Using a three-way swivel, they will extend a leader off the trailing eye five to seven feet back before they attach the bait. Off the bottom eye is a foot of leader with some type of a weight attached. For winter fishing, Campbell prefers starting out with a one ounce pencil lead. If the water is really clear and he needs to get the bait away from the boat, he’ll trim that lead down – sometimes in half – to get the presentation required to catch fish. He may have to add weight if he’s fishing in deeper water, again another consideration when facing clear conditions.

“In the winter, when the ice bridge forms below Niagara Falls and Lake Erie has frozen over, water clarity becomes an issue,” says Campbell, who also serves as co-chairman of the Niagara Tourism and Convention Corporation’s Board of Directors. “We have to adapt to those clear conditions by downsizing our bait, lightening up our line and fishing a bit deeper water. My hook size could be as small as a No. 12, down from the normal No. 6 or 8 that I will use. Last year, one of my best baits when the water was clear was a single salmon egg treated with Pautzke natural cure*. It gave the egg a nice orange tint to it and I would put that single egg into a sack. It seemed to make a difference for me.” Knowing what the fish want on any given day seems to be an intuition that Campbell has. Then again, being on the water almost every single day doesn’t hurt either. “Keep a good supply of different baits on your boat,” reflects Campbell, “from minnows and yarn balls to egg sacks and Kwikfish. I can’t be caught without something that will work on any given day.”

GO TO THE PAUTZKE BAITS PAGE TO SEE THE VIDEOS ON EGG CURING AND PICTURES OF CATCHING FISH IN DEVILS HOLE AREA

Niagara River Tips and Tactics Continued .......

Presenting your fish offerings in a way that’s appealing to the fish is critical for consistent success. “You have to figure out what the fish want based on the conditions – be it clear water or wind direction,” says Capt. Frank Campbell of Niagara Region Charters. “Often it’s both. Boat control is essential for catching fish.” Boat control is one of the biggest “secrets” to catching fish when drifting the Niagara River for trout – how fast you drift, what it’s doing to your bait, whether your boat needs to be turned sideways or into the current, to name but a few. One of the hot lures on the river is a Kwikfish. Similar to a flatfish, these banana-type baits give a wobbling motion that trigger trout to hit. Last year, with quite a bit of wind from the south or southwest, those baits were on fire for all trout – steelhead, browns and lake trout. Wind from these directions will push you down the river and give these baits the motion required to make them most effective. However, every one of the boats (Campbell operates a 21-foot deep V aluminum Lund boat, the preferred choice on the Niagara) that fish these waters for hire have a bow-mount trolling motor. If a northerly wind is holding you up, you can always pull yourself along and increase your speed to adjust and make just about any bait work for you.

Best sizes for Kwikfish are K-8 and K-9. Top colors are silver, silver-blue, silver-green, silver-pink, silver-chartreuse and gold, again depending on the conditions of the water. Most of the guides will remove the set of treble hooks on the belly of the lure, especially if catch and release is practiced. And like the other baits, a three-way rig is used with a slightly shorter leader. Maintaining contact with the bottom is important to keep your offerings in the prime fish zone on all accounts.

When wind isn’t as much of a factor, the trolling motor can be used to keep your boat sideways. Egg presentations are normally the same speed as the current or slightly faster, so keeping your line perpendicular to the bottom can be a factor – but not always. “Stay away from the pack of boats and find active fish on your own,” says Campbell. “If you can find active fish, you can stay on them all day and not be bothered by anyone else. And you can find fish throughout the river, from Lewiston all the way down to the mouth on the Niagara Bar and all points in between. Because this is a shared resource with the Province of Ontario, having a Canadian fishing license is a bonus, opening up new waters when the conditions require flexibility. However, you can get away with just a New York license just fine.”

So just how good is the Niagara? Like with any kind of fishing, there are no guarantees. On the Niagara, an average day for Campbell is to expect at least double digit hook-ups. You won’t catch that many every time out, but you should have that opportunity all things considered. There are days when you can catch two or three times that. The average size for a steelhead trout is six to eight pounds, but Campbell sees a good number of fish over 10 pounds. His biggest steelhead to date was a 22 pound lunker. Brown trout average four to six pounds and his biggest fish to date was a 30 pound monster. Lake trout average eight to ten pounds and his biggest so far has been a 35 pound behemoth.