Cold Winter and Spring Niagara Bar

[Big Water]

To the seasoned veterans,

 

With all of the ice in Erie, what are the prospects of fishing the bar in April/early May?

 

1) Remember the Titanic!

2) Just dodge the bergs.

3) Won't be an issue by then.

 

Too new to this to know what to expect.

[Iceman]

I am hoping for a warm late February, warmer March, & early T-Shirt weather for April!

[traveling man]

#3. in early may

[Yankee Troller]

When Erie froze over about 3 Winters ago we saw a lot of Fog in May on the West end. Radars were very helpful! The King bite was tough for the first half of the month, but Lakers and Coho were plentiful. Then some Salmon showed in numbers offshore for a few weeks towards the end of the month. The motherload hit the inside waters during the Niagara Pro Am. It was a slaughter!

[hawkeye625]

That was our 2nd year fishing Lake Ontario.  Fog was so thick it was scary.  That was the only year I remember the Salmon division not getting filled in the spring LOC.

[Tim Bromund]

That year was strange, but traditionally, this is the kind of winter that gives us killer spring king fishing on the west end.  The shallow sandy water on the Canadian Side warms up first and the bait and kings pile in there, but the ice water pumping out of Lake Erie will be 8-10 deg colder and that forms a thermal barrier that the kings won't cross and it kind of corrals them on the far west end.  As Erie warms and that thermal barrier dissipates, the fish spread out across Niagara county as well, unless a lot of E and NE winds push the warm water, bait and fish back into Canada repeatedly.  These are the years where it seems like every Salmon in Lake Ontario spends the spring between Somerset and St Catharines.

 

Tim

[GAMBLER]

That year was strange, but traditionally, this is the kind of winter that gives us killer spring king fishing on the west end. The shallow sandy water on the Canadian Side warms up first and the bait and kings pile in there, but the ice water pumping out of Lake Erie will be 8-10 deg colder and that forms a thermal barrier that the kings won't cross and it kind of corrals them on the far west end. As Erie warms and that thermal barrier dissipates, the fish spread out across Niagara county as well, unless a lot of E and NE winds push the warm water, bait and fish back into Canada repeatedly. These are the years where it seems like every Salmon in Lake Ontario spends the spring between Somerset and St Catharines.

Tim

Hopefully this is not the pattern! I hope march comes with record warm temps! I love ice fishing but the salmon and trout itch is really bad.

[archman]

How do winters like this affect the bass fishing on the lower in the spring?

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[kliph]

The big question is; how much ice will there be on lake Erie?

That will determine when the Ice Boom comes out.

Back in the 80s we had lot's of ice coming down the river at the end of

April. Then a west wind blew it past Wilson.

Cold water, but we did catch fish.

[GAMBLER]

I thought about this aearlier tonight.  If the salmon division does not fill up, Dave Chilson is set to pocket some $$$$ since the steelhead division money is being dumped into the King division. 

Edited February 5, 2014 by GAMBLER

[Yankee Troller]

Hopefully this is not the pattern! I hope march comes with record warm temps! I love ice fishing but the salmon and trout itch is really bad.

 

 

Hopefully Tim is right! I'm selfish! I want all the Kings to myself, and the guys out West for a while. 

[poverty stricken II]

This would be another year for wet the net to win grand prize for spring loc if Lakers were eligible..

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[hawkeye625]

I thought about this aearlier tonight.  If the salmon division does not fill up, Dave Chilson is set to pocket some $$$$ since the steelhead division money is being dumped into the King division. 

Wonder why the money from unfilled slots never rolls to the next derby?  or isn't raffled off at the awards ceremony?  We all have a ticket number right?  It could be divided up among daily winners too!  Just a thought.  The $$ should go back to the players and not the house....

[GAMBLER]

It should be divided up equally in that division not put in his pocket. The Orleans county derby divides it up if a slot is not filled.

[jimski2]

Lake Erie ice from Port Colborne pours cold water into Lake Ontario through Ports Weller and Dahlousie. Warm waters from canada's population centers turn on the feeding frenzy first in those areas off shore. After the ice flows end the salmon really start feeding about forty some degree F. On our waters. The key to spring fishing is water temperature. Find flows from road ditches, streams, sewage treatment plants that warm up near shore waters for active feeding trout and salmon.

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