Captain John V DeLorenzo
Niagara River Guide Service
2493 Michigan Ave
Niagara Falls,
New York 14305
email: LJNRGS@Aol.com
Map of Niagara Bar
How to Fish the Niagara Sand Bar
The Niagara Bar at the mouth of the Lower Niagara River is one of the most prolific as well as easiest spots in the Great Lakes for the average person to catch trout and salmon. Hopefully this article will help you to get started or to increase your catch if you've already fished here. First let me take a minute to explain the map above. The numbers scattered around the map are the depth of water in feet. The dotted Red line in an outline of the edge of the sand bar as it surrounds the deep trench where the main river channel enters the lake. The green arrows are the main 5 different areas of the Bar that we drift depending on the wind, movement of the fish, and species we are after. They are each lettered A,B,C,D, and E so I can refer to them in the article. The blue lines are water of course. The pointed blue lines are the area of the bar that gets extremely rough under most wind conditions. I mention this because many times while the inside drifts like B and C are very fishable with only 1 foot rollers drift D can quickly move you out into 4-6 footers before you know it.
WIND------Fishing the bar is totally dependant on the wind conditions. Any wind out of the south or south west between 5-15 mph is ideal. You can even fish a S to SW wind up to over 20 mph as it is offshore and dosen't have time to build. Any wind out of the N to NW at 10 to 15 mph however is going to cause you a problem as it builds as it blows across the lake. E or NE winds will also make it rough but even if they are only 10 mph they are blowing directly against the way you want to drift and make fishing very difficult. Besides haven't you ever heard the old saying about wind and fishing. "West is best and east is Least."
SPECIES AND SEASONS------ The fishing on the Bar for trout and salmon starts in December and goes through the middle of May. There are very few days during this whole time period that if the wind allows you yo get on the Bar that you can't catch 15-30 fish in a morning. While the predominate species we fish during the winter on the bar are Lake Trout, there is also quite a few Brown trout caught although they seem to appear and disapear from week to week and even day to day. December was reaaly good for Browns this year but they have been sporatic since then. You generally pick up one or two a day then all of a sudden a school moves on the bar to feed and for 3-4 days your catching 8-10 browns a day. Then the wind blows a little and they're gone!! As the river water starts to warm up aliitle in April you usally will start to catch a few more browns as well as a few coho's and even an occasional Chinook salmon while drifting the bar. Remeber when fishing the bar that there is a slot limit in place on Lake trout. Any fish measuring between 25" and 30" must be returned to the water as these are the prime breeders. There is also a closed season on Lake Trout during the time they spawn from Oct 1 to December 31. All other trout and salmon species have a nine inch minimum size and no closed season. The only exception to that Rule is Atlantic salmon which have to be over 25" to keep. BEST BAITS----- The best way to fish the bar and consistantly catch fish is no doubt by drifting live bait. The two best baits are Spot tail shiners and Emerald Shiners. In a pinch Golen shiners also do the job. Hook these minnows lightly through the lips from the bottom up. Use the drifting set up I outlined in my first article on basic rigging. When fishing the bar, because it is so deep I generally use 1 3/4oz sinkers. On any of the drifts outlined on the map basically you are starting in 50-70 feet of water and drifting up in between 16-25 feet. Most of your hits will come as you are dragging up the ledge at about 30-40 feet although many times the fish will lay back off the ledge in 18-25 feet of water on the flats behind the ledge.
OTHER BAITS-----While minnows are the best baits on the bar there are times that Jigs produce as many or even more fish then minnows.There are two basic jig types used on the bar. The first is a bucktail style jig and secondly rubber style jigs like your Sassy Shads and Finnese Fish. Whichever style you are using you want to use a head between 3/4 to 1oz. These size heads are small enough to allow you to get some natural looking movement to your jig but are still heavy enough to get to bottom. Probably the most popular color bucktail is white with a sliver of black, red, brown or blue mixed in. I also like to have 3 to 4 peices of tinsel tied in to add a little extra flash. The head of the Jig can be left plain or painted red, white, or black. Best colors for your rubber jigs are the all chartruese, silver or pearl with blue or black backs and the clear colors with crystal specks in them and green, black, or chartruese backs. Both in the Sassy Shad and Finesse Fish I like the 4" size. THE DIFFERENT DRIFTS------The first drift on the map marked A is also called the light house drift and is not really part of the sand bar but is a small point or bar all of its own. This drift dosen't usually hold alot of Lake Trout put many times is one of the top spots for Brown trout in the whole river and Bar area. The ledge you come up here is very steep and has alot of snags so be care and work you line up this ledge quicky. Drift B is what we would generally refer to as the inside drift. We use this drift mostly when the winds are strong out of the N to NW and it is the only place it is calm enough to fish. The Lake trout in here are usually smaller fish that are between that 25"to 30" slot and have to be thrown back. This winter several times nice schools of browns moved into this area and I did very well on them on both emerald shiners and Emerald Ice colored Finesse Fish. There is not much current in here so you either need a good west wind or you need to move yourself along with your electric trolling motor. Drifts C and D are the standard drifts on the bar and bring you up the ledge so that you drift either just inside the green bouy or just outside of it. Ninety percent of the time these are the only 2 drifts you will have to make to catch fish. They also are the best drifts to try if you want a variety of the species I've talked about. Drift E is the drift we call the Hawg Trough. The Lakers you catch on this drift will consistantly be bigger than anywhere else on the ledge. Almost evey laker you catch here is over the 30" slot. This drift is best fished on a west wind so it pushes you you up in the dirction of the arrow. I have also had good luck fishing the canadian side of the trough when the wind is out of the east and is pushing me in the opposite direction.
