I was leading ice fishing seminars at the Buffalo Sport Show several Januarys back when the rep from Niagara County Sportfishing, which was exhibiting at the show, asked if I wanted to go fishing the next day before the following afternoon’s show opening.
It had been a frigid winter so far, and lakes Erie and Ontario were locked up in ice, so I figured we’d be hardwater fishing. When I told my host, Bill Hilts, Jr., that I only had my “show” ice tackle with me, he said no problem — that he and the guide would supply everything.
What I didn’t realize was that “everything” meant traditional open water fishing rigs — for despite sub-freezing air temperatures, we angled the open water of the Lower Niagara River. Drifting egg sacs from an open aluminum boat, we spent the morning catching steelhead and lake trout while dodging snow squalls.
“December and January is a trout bonanza on the lower Niagara,” according to Hilts, who is the outdoor writer for [The Buffalo News] as well as the Outdoor Promotions Director for Niagara USA. “Steelhead are the primary target, but you can catch lake trout and browns.”
