Freshwater Fishing.
The lower Niagara River below Niagara Falls is a Fisheries Management Zone 19 fishery for migratory rainbow trout (steelhead) in fall through spring, brown trout, lake trout, chinook and coho salmon. The NOTL stretch holds the bank fishery and the river mouth at Lake Ontario serves as staging water for migratory salmonids before they ascend the river or move into the lake.
Smallmouth bass and walleye round out the warm-water species.
The brief.
FMZ 19 governs the lower Niagara below the falls; rainbow trout (steelhead) and brown trout are open year-round with size and bag limits, chinook and coho salmon are seasonal, and bass open the fourth Saturday in June through November 30. An Ontario fishing licence is required.
The iconic drift-boat fishery — the Whirlpool drift water and Devils Hole — sits upstream in the City of Niagara Falls jurisdiction; what NOTL holds is the river-mouth and lower-river bank fishery, plus the seasonal staging water at the mouth. Migratory salmonid windows are September through November (chinook and coho run) and February through April (steelhead run); January and February are the bald eagle months on the same water.
Bring layers in winter.
2. places.
- 01
Lower Niagara River (NOTL stretch)
FMZ 19 bank fishery for steelhead, brown trout, lake trout, chinook and coho salmon, smallmouth bass, walleye.
- 02
Niagara River mouth at NOTL
Staging area on Lake Ontario for migratory salmonids before they ascend the river or move out into the lake.
Today's read.
Cold but firm — winter-ready conditions · light winds · clean air.