Submitted Photo Denis Kreze with his 28-pound brown trout.

Fishing for most of us has been replaced with chasing critters around woodlots and open water. While the 2022-23 deer season is allowing some time between Christmas and New Year’s to fill any leftover tags you may have, many are still taking to the water to fill the freezer with fresh fish.

While it looks like it may be a bit before we have any/safe ice for hard-water fishing, there is a spot — well it’s little bigger than a spot — that offers world-class angling year-round.

Now that I have your attention, let me tell you a little about the Niagara River.

The historic mighty Niagara has a history like few do. Bordering in two countries — USA and Canada — the Lower Niagara is rich in history. Predating what we know now, the Lower River has been the site of many battles throughout history. In fact, there still stands a fort at the mouth of Lake Ontario known as Fort Niagara.

While many battles have been fought, lost and won in and around the Niagara River, the one that most of us are interested in at that base of the Seven Wonders of the World, is fishing.

This time of year, when fishing the river, it’s all about water clarity. When snow or rain hits the area, the river will get darker/stained. This is not a good thing when drifting while you’re fishing.

The one thing that most folks don’t realize is keeping warm is very important this time of year on the river. We have found that dressing in layers and having a good base layer, teamed up with a pair of warm boots, goes a long way to your comfort.

Like every body of water the river needs your respect, because it is ever changing. Recently I spoke with charter captains and anglers about fishing the river this time of year.

Recently river fishing has been good for both boat and shore fishermen, but that changes with weather and lake effect. According to Capt. Joe Srouji of Angler’s Edge Outdoors, he enjoyed a great morning on the water this past week with Jim Kelly and his son, Aidan of Elma over the weekend. It was a short trip because of Aidan’s hockey game, but they scored early, landing seven trout and losing several others while drifting beads and eggs from three-way rigs.

Longtime friend and captain Arnie Jonathan of AJ’s Guide Service did well this past weekend using Kwikfish, paddletails, chartreuse beads, and egg sacs from Artpark to the Niagara Bar. The past few days the river was packed with boats taking advantage of the conditions.

Lisa Drabczyk with Creek Road Bait and Tackle reports that steelhead action has been good along Artpark, with a few lake trout also cooperating. Shore casters are using egg sacs, egg imitations, spinners, and jigs. Brown trout are being caught from the docks off Fort Niagara for something a little different.

Musky season ends Dec. 15 and action has been good in the upper river and in Buffalo Harbor when the conditions cooperate. Capt. Hans Mann of Buffalo Harbor Outfitters did it again a few days ago with a 53-inch, 26-inch girth harbor fish. Greg Tilley of Pembroke reeled in the fish, catching it on one of Mann’s homemade Poly Carver lures in firetiger pattern. He also caught another 46-inch musky on Monday for an awesome fall season so far.

It was a good end to the musky season for Capt. Hans Mann of Buffalo Harbor Outfitters, who caught some good ones, including another 46-inch fish by Justin Jackson of Binghamton on the final day in Buffalo Harbor.

Olcott fishing action has seen limited pressure, but 12-year-old Logan Noon of Newfane has been sneaking down to fish Burt Dam and 18 Mile Creek and doing well with a mix of beads and egg sacs. Steelhead and brown trout are both available. Remember that water releases from the Erie Canal were discontinued on Dec. 15 and it will all be up to Mother Nature when it comes to water flow in 18 Mile Creek.

Depending on weather the smaller tributaries generally clear up quicker. That said they will water faster than larger creeks. This is why it’s generally best to check with the weekly updated Niagara fishing report at niagarafallsusa.com.

Lower Niagara River action had been good last weekend, but things changed quickly because of the weather. Mike Ziehm of Niagara Falls reports that the river was already dirt on Sunday from the sustained west winds over Lake Erie on Saturday night. The visibility was horrible upstream. It started at 2 feet visibility in the early morning, and he watched it slowly reduce to 1-foot to 6 inches by 3 p.m. Ziehm says that there is a ton of bait fish in the river again. He managed to hook up with five trout and landed two steelhead, on all vibrant color mixes of No. 4 spinners in orange and chartreuse, pink and chartreuse, and red and chartreuse.

High water levels in the river will also be a byproduct of those strong winds so be careful out there if you try fishing from shore in the gorge. Capt. Ryan Shea with the Brookdog Fishing Company did well when he fished the lower river, catching steelhead, brown trout, lake trout, bass and walleye. His most successful enticement was minnows for all those species this past week.

Speaking of walleyes, remember that there will be a reduced daily limit on walleyes in the lower Niagara River that will be going into effect on Jan. 1, one fish per person. That changes every year to help protect the big spawning females in the winter.

Denis Kreze of Fort Erie, Ontario was fishing the lower Niagara River this past week near the Niagara Bar and hooked into a personal-best brown trout that tipped the scales at 28 pounds. It was released to fight another day.

As 2022 winds down, we received some very sad news this past week. Longtime friend of New York State sportsmen Bill Hilts Sr. passed away. As I write that statement I am overcome with emotions.

While I am sad that I will not be able to spend time learning and listening to Senior, I struggle with those jealous feelings. Being selfish — as we are when someone has passed or is close to passing — happens because we want them to stay. As humans, death is the most stressful time we face. We know that and selfishly don’t want to face it.

We all live in a fantasy world of things that have had such a huge impact on our life and that they will ever leave us. Reality is different. We are born, live our lives and then we pass.

What I know is Bill Sr. is at peace. What gives me and those who knew him is he is again walking hand in hand with his beloved wife, Sylvia.

Much of what I am today is because of Bill Sr. He helped and encouraged a young sportsman from Chautauqua County to begin writing. From those first conversations, until later, he would let me know when I was doing something right and kept me from going down the rabbit hole. When I did go down that rabbit hole, he would let me know.

Bill Hilts Sr. was a mountain of man physically and could be very intimidating at first. It wouldn’t take long — if you were willing to listen, then do — would you begin to understand the lessons from a man who spent his life in the outdoor industry and helping others along the way.

There is so much more that I can write about Senior. As Robin and I drove through a lake-effect snowstorm twice to attend his service last weekend, I was able to share a few Senior stories with her. Of course, those are a few that I will keep to myself. As I was rambling on, she said he sounded like quite the man. Yes, he was and fortunately his legacy will live on. Whether it’s through his family, the thousands of young sportsmen and women that he helped along the way or upcoming and young writers he saw something in, Senior’s legacy will continue for generations.

It’s no doubt that hundreds of outdoor writers across the state and this great country will be writing about Bill Hilts Sr. in the coming weeks and months. The impact he had on each individual was different.

For me, though, it was life changing.