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DOOR PENINSULA AND ALGOMA/KEWAUNEE AREA The ice is pretty much gone for the most part throughout the Door County Peninsula and now everyone has switched gears to the open-water opportunities that are almost endless here in the county. Brown trout fishing has started off with a bang just like it ended last year in December. Fishermen have […]

LAKE MICHIGAN/METRO AREA LAKES Water in the Port Washington harbor and in Sauk Creek was murky after the area received heavy rainfalls. Conditions should improve as weather stabilizes. Brown trout and occasional steelhead have been caught in the harbor near the power plant discharge. Anglers have been using a variety of baits – spawn, shiners,

Pocket porgies (Suffolk County) ECOs Kevin Holzle and Jordan Doroski, while on patrol in Mattituck, observed four people fishing on the east jetty of Mattituck Creek. After watching them for approximately 15 minutes, and watching one of the party place a very small porgy in his bucket, the officers decided that it was time for

Season Dates April 1: Trout, landlocked salmon, kokanee seasons open April 1: Winter flounder season opens April 1: Striped bass season opens (Hudson River, north of George Washington Bridge) April 7: Beaver and otter trapping seasons close (Northern Zone) April 7: Mink and muskrat trapping seasons close (portions of state) April 15: Striped bass season

Lake Ontario and tributaries: The spring fishing action should be picking upby now. Water temperatures were starting to heat up in the lake as stream outflows were nearing the 40-degree mark, according to Wes Walker at The Slippery Sinker. In Eighteen Mile Creek at Burt Dam, the water turned muddy again after the recent rains.

Many of the dock structures at DEC launches are not in yet, so be prepared to launch without them. Lake Ontario: Look for steelhead in the tributaries and try egg sacs or orange glo bugs with a red spot. Oneida Lake: Look for yellow perch in the bays and black crappie in Toad Harbor. Oswego

DEC fisheries biologist report that the mild winter sent spawning rainbow trout into the Finger Lakes tributaries earlier than normal, and many fish had returned to the lake ahead of the April 1 trout opener. Still, expect plenty of rainbows to be available on opening day. Electroshocking efforts on Catherine Creek, a Seneca Lake trib,

Not hearing a lot heading into the April 1 trout opener, but good stream conditions and a relatively mild stretch of weather could have anglers out early up north.