— — 1. Lake Ontario and tributaries

Fishing fell apart last weekend when lots of rain blew out area tributaries and all the muddy run-off created turbid conditions. There is some good with the bad, though. The excessive run-off from rain and snow melt has attracted trout into all the streams and as soon as the waters clear the fishing should take off.

Many of the smaller streams are already fishable and the larger creeks will probably be on fire by this weekend. Drifting egg sacs, egg imitations or live bait such as minnows under a float will catch you fish in the streams and in the harbors of Wilson and Olcott. Harbor action should also produce a few yellow perch if the conditions allow for it.

Pier fishing out in the lake is already taking place by spoon casters, according to Wes Walker at The Slippery Sinker, and even some lake trollers have started to work the shallows along the shoreline for salmon and trout. Trolling stickbaits in tight to shore near tributaries that bring in some warmer water temperatures should be the recipe for success. Planer boards or in-line planers like Yellow birds will assist you in your efforts.

2. Lower Niagara River

It wasn’t supposed to happen that fast, but lower river waters turned to mud by Saturday, impacted by the excessive run-off and rain. That said, while it scared many fishermen off, fishing in the river was still pretty consistent for the most part. Boat anglers were averaging six to eight fish per trip with egg sacs and minnows the best baits to use; Kwikfish if the winds were out of the south or southwest. While steelhead have been the primary target, brown trout and lake trout have also been hitting baits regularly. It should only get better as the waters continue to clear. Be sure to mark your calendars for the Niagara River Anglers Association’s spring feast and raffle at St. Leo’s on Military Road in Niagara Falls on April 11. Check out their Web site at www.niagarariveranglers.com for details.

3. Upper Niagara River

Trout are starting to hit around Bird Island pier, the foot of Ferry Street and near the locks on egg sacs or spoons.

4. Lake Erie and tributaries

The rains last weekend blew out local tributaries and the small to medium sized tributaries are back and fishable again. The rain and snow melt really brought in the trout and the spring fishing is now happening. Use egg sacs, egg imitations, minnows, hair jigs tipped with grubs or wax worms and fished under a float — all will catch fish. Casting the stream mouths with spoons or spinners will also produce some fish. The fishing platform in Dunkirk is also producing some fish at the warm water discharge. Small boat action is still an option in the harbor, too. Not too much ice left so it should be an early spring on the lake proper.

5. Chautauqua Lake

Craig Robbins sends word that there is still plenty of unsafe ice on the lake and the canals aren’t really open yet for any fishing. A good wind should bust things up enough to get things going again.

6. Finger Lakes-Inland Waters

In an effort to keep anglers happy, a variety of locations are stocked with trout in Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Wyoming and Erie counties. For example, in Allegany County, nearly 18,000 rainbow and brown trout are stocked at Wellsville and Amity, including 1,500 2-year-old browns, on the Genesee River. This is the kick-off for inland stocking for the Randolph Fish Hatchery, starting on March 18-19.

In Cattaraugus County, Allegany State Park receives a good chunk of fish in the neighborhood of 6,000 trout, and in Ischua Creek with another 5,000 plus trout. Goose Creek in Chautauqua County gets a fair share with 4,000 trout. In Wyoming it’s the East Koy leading the way with nearly 7,000 trout and Erie County’s top streams include Cattaraugus and Cazenovia creeks. For a complete list of pre-April 1st stockings, check out the DEC Web site at www.dec.ny.gov.

n The New York State DEC Region 9 Fisheries Office will be running angler diary programs on three streams during 2010 and they are currently recruiting anglers to keep diaries. A diary program for the Genesee River in Allegany and Wyoming Counties will run from April 1 through Oct. 30. This program will cover the river from the state line downstream through Letchworth State Park and will record data for both trout and bass fishing trips.

n The other diary program will cover Ischua Creek in Cattaraugus County and Goose Creek in Chautauqua County. This program will run from April 1 through June 30 and will evaluate an experimental stocking involving equal numbers of brook trout and brown trout. If you fish any of these three streams (even once) and would like to keep a diary for DEC call the DEC fisheries office at 372-0645 or e-mail atfwfish9@gw.dec.state.ny.us. The diary programs will be used to evaluate the quality of the fisheries in these streams and determine future management actions for them.