Chautauqua “Steelhead Madness” Begins in March

Fast Fishing Action in Five Streams

After 10 weeks of solid ice, the Chautauqua winter ice fishing season ended in a flash to open the door for fast action in the five Chautauqua County streams of the famed “Steelhead Alley.” With incoming flights of Canada Geese honking overhead, the tributary and inland streams flushed free of ice very quickly, with water levels going up and down with recent rainy and variable weather. The beauty of this natural transition is awe-inspiring. The good news is that the steelhead bite is on. Fresh fish are in all the Lake Erie tributaries, even in the upper stretches where anglers can find clear water.

Steelhead Alley Streams: These include Cattaraugus Creek, Silver Creek, Walnut Creek, Canadaway Creek, Chautauqua Creek and all the tiny feeders of these creeks - the fish are there too. When the creeks run high and hard, the lower sections of these streams are turbid from upper-elevation snowmelt and rain, the fish move up to the tiny feeders and clear water. A call to a local tackle shop or guide service, as noted below, will provide updates on the best time to fish here. These local guides, with their deep knowledge and experience, are your best bet for a successful fishing trip. One of the most popular tributary fishing hotspots located just south of Dunkirk, NY, is Canadaway Creek, where it meets Lake Erie.

Maps: For a color map of Chautauqua Creek angler parking spaces and angler access areas, visit https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/chautauquacreek.pdf. For a color map of Canadaway Creek from Lake Erie to Laona Falls, https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/canadawaycreek.pdf.

The Canadaway Creek mouth is a steelhead and brown trout entry point and offers easy, well-trodden angler walkway paths to the stream right from roadside parking on Route 5. The steelhead that enter Canadaway can swim as far as 6-miles upstream to Laona Falls, where they cannot swim the high falls there. They eventually return to Lake Erie as the waters warm. With the spring warm-up, schools of large, catchable smallmouth bass stage in the creek between Route 5 and the open lake – about a ¼ mile stretch. This area is a fun hotspot for first-of-the-year trophy smallmouth bass action.

Spring-run steelhead from Lake Erie savor a variety of baits, including egg sacs, egg flies, trout beads, jigs with grubs, twister tails, minnows, worms, streamer patterns, wooly buggers, egg-sucking leech flies and more. Learning how, why, where and when is one reason why joining forces with a local guide is a good idea. The variables that affect the fish’s ability to take an angler offering include water clarity, temperature, oxygen levels, nutrients in the stream (hatching insect larvae and minnows), and the moon phase, among other things. Water temperature is among the most significant factor, followed by turbidity. The clarity or cloudiness of the water affects how fish forage and how they find shelter and ambush areas, forcing visual orientation or scent preferences to feed. Storm events increase sediment and nutrient runoff into the tribs, affecting water quality and fish population numbers at various areas along the creeks. Local guides can share information on such spots to remember for next time.

Regulations: There is no closed season for trout and salmon in Lake Erie tributaries, but there are special seasonal regulations that do apply to ALL Lake Erie tributaries from Sept. 1 to Mar. 31. The special rules apply from the bridge closest to the mouth upstream to the first barrier impassable by fish. Fishing is allowed from 1/2 hour before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset (fishing at night is prohibited), and for hook size, the distance between a hook shaft and point cannot exceed 1/2 inch. Hooks attached to any artificial lure must be free-swinging, except on an artificial fly or jig. In addition, in Chautauqua Creek, from the bridge on South Gale Street upstream 1.3 miles to the upper Village of Westfield water intake dam, this is a catch and release zone for trout and salmon. Generally, for all Lake Erie tributaries of Chautauqua County, a 12-inch minimum size limit with a daily bag limit of 3 fish per person. Anglers can check the NYSDEC fishing regulations at https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7917.html. Catch/release is encouraged. Steelhead can live for decades.

Inland Trout Streams: Switching from Lake Erie tribs to inland trout streams, Apr. 1 marks the traditional inland trout stream opener. With warmer weather heading to Western New York, all trout streams are legally open to trout fishing all year. But note, from Oct. 16 to Mar. 31, fishing for inland stream trout is by catch and release only AND artificial lures only. Catch and release means that any trout caught during this period must be immediately returned to the water unharmed. Spring trout stocking is occurring right now in Canadaway Creek near Arkwright, Cassadaga Creek near Stockton, Clay Pond near Poland, Goose Creek near Harmony and North Harmony. Check the NYSDEC Spring Trout Stocking page at https://dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/freshwater-fishing/stocking/spring-trout-stocking for more information or call the Randolph Fish Hatchery hotline at 716-358-2052 for stocking updates.