October 31, 2013

St. Lawrence River: Walleye anglers were connecting at various depths near humps. Perch continued to hit on fathead minnows. No reports of late on big muskies, but the muskie hunters are out. Black Lake: Most of the attention has now turned to whitetails, and it will stay that way until the ice fishing season arrives.

Hatches have been spotty although nymph fishing remains the most consistently effective method of netting a fish. Fall fish are migratory and they tend to be in deep cuts in fast water.  They also like deep holes.  Remember that the upper reaches of the Beaverkill closed to fishing on Oct. 15. The West Branch is also

Not a lot in the way of fishing reports now since most have focused on archery hunting and the small game seasons.

The region’s deer hunters have turned their attention to the north and south, with the Northern Zone firearms season now open and the Southern Zone archery offering kicking into high gear as buck movement picks up. Not a lot of youth deer hunt reports.

The blackfish season is open and the fishing was excellent. The best bet for keeper-sized blackfish was on the artificial reefs off Montauk and Orient points and along the North Shore rocks. The East End North Shore beaches yielded numerous keeper blackfish. On the South Shore, blackfish were caught off the rock jetties at the

Not much in the way of fishing to report now that the firearms deer season is in full swing. And at this point, no word on the deer hunting success.

Cayuga Lake: No new information and no word on any brown trout or Atlantic salmon activity in the tributaries yet. Vertical jigging had been working for lake trout, with fish being found in 85-95 feet of water. Trolling down 60-90 feet over 100-160 feet of water with spoons or flasher and flies was also producing

Lake Ontario: Anglers casting spoons or egg sacs off piers were catching salmon and also a few brown trout. Oneida Lake: Yellow perch were still being found in 10-20 feet of water, with minnows, worms and small jigs working. The shore walleye bite has started to pick up and fish were being caught by anglers

DEC’s Randolph fish hatchery has been conducting its fall stocking of broodstock trout in Allegany and Cattaraugus counties. All breeder trout stocked are over 2 years old and are stocked in waters where trout fishing is permitted year-round. The following waters have been stocked as of Oct. 18: Birch Run Pond, 50 14-inch brook trout;