Hello and Niagara shore fish questions

[JohnnyB]

Hey all...new joiner here, but definitely recognize some names from the early days of fishing boards in Ontario.

I'm slowly rekindling my relationship with river fishing, specifically for trout.  A good friend and work partner is my latest addition to the list of fishing buddies,  as he has become addicted over the last year, and he really loves trout, so we have been chasing them down in smaller rivers and streams.

Took him down to the whirlpool last weekend to show him the power and beauty of the lower Niagara, as well as how to donate lures to her rocky bottom.

On that note, I figured I might pick the brains of our resident shore anglers here to see if we can hone our skills for the next visit.

I've only ever caught fish down there by chucking spoons,  letting them sink as long as I dare (you can understand why I snag up a lot), and ripping them back.  I've also done ok with bottom bouncing, and this is really one of my main questions:  how much weight do you typically use, and is a sliding sinker better/worse than the 3way rig and pencil lead?

I brought the float rod last weekend and actually had some good drifts, but didn't really commit hard to it. Any and all input is welcome for lures, lead lengths, etc.

[smerchly]

Welcome  Johnny Be Good....  All I can give you presently about river fishing is when i use a three way for trout in the current , like  Port Dal. harbour , I use a floating lure  with just enough weight to carry it to the bottom and using a lighter line for the weight . If the weight hangs up it breaks off and you keep your $$$ lures. 

[Steve_Guelph]

My go to when at the whirlpool is float fishing

[JohnnyB]

5 hours ago, smerchly said:

Welcome  Johnny Be Good....  All I can give you presently about river fishing is when i use a three way for trout in the current , like  Port Dal. harbour , I use a floating lure  with just enough weight to carry it to the bottom and using a lighter line for the weight . If the weight hangs up it breaks off and you keep your $$$ lures. 

Yes! I was trying that for a bit and it seemed to fish really well...I mean, it felt like I could really keep it in the strike zone for a good long while.

What do you like for length on your line going to the lure and to the sinker?

[JohnnyB]

5 hours ago, Steve_Guelph said:

My go to when at the whirlpool is float fishing

Are you mostly floating roe? Or do you mix it up with beads, shiners, jigs? 

[Tyler0420]

1 hour ago, JohnnyB said:

Are you mostly floating roe? Or do you mix it up with beads, shiners, jigs? 

Don’t forget pink worms. When nothing is working throw a pink worm on and hold on. 

[Mbocco]

Float fishing will out fish bottom bouncing if you are good at it.   You can stay in the strike zone longer as your presentation is more consistent once you figure out your weights and depths. 
 

You can’t bottom bounce the whirlpool anymore.  There is so much snagged line twisted around the rocks it’s a snag almost every time.  

You can still catch trout on spoons, spinners and crankbaits down there.  Vary your retrieve and depth.  The vast majority of fish I catch are within 20ft of shore and within 2ft of bottom. 
 

Elsewhere in the lower you can bottom bounce using weights from 3/4oz to 1.5oz depending on the current in your spot.  Sometimes I’ll use a 12” run from 3 way to sinker with a 4ft run to my bait.  Sometimes I’ll use a 30” run to my sinker and a 28” run to my bait.  Option 2 snags less.  
 

I find that the bite is never the same.  I carry roe, various beads, yarn, streamers, pink worms and jerk shads.  I’ve caught trout on all of the above.  

 

 

[JohnnyB]

53 minutes ago, Mbocco said:

Float fishing will out fish bottom bouncing if you are good at it.   You can stay in the strike zone longer as your presentation is more consistent once you figure out your weights and depths. 
 

You can’t bottom bounce the whirlpool anymore.  There is so much snagged line twisted around the rocks it’s a snag almost every time.  

You can still catch trout on spoons, spinners and crankbaits down there.  Vary your retrieve and depth.  The vast majority of fish I catch are within 20ft of shore and within 2ft of bottom. 
 

Elsewhere in the lower you can bottom bounce using weights from 3/4oz to 1.5oz depending on the current in your spot.  Sometimes I’ll use a 12” run from 3 way to sinker with a 4ft run to my bait.  Sometimes I’ll use a 30” run to my sinker and a 28” run to my bait.  Option 2 snags less.  
 

I find that the bite is never the same.  I carry roe, various beads, yarn, streamers, pink worms and jerk shads.  I’ve caught trout on all of the above.  

 

 

That is some awesome feedback,  thank you!

[smerchly]

Mbocco covered it well  !        Happy hooking

[Steve_Guelph]

Yup well said 👏👏👏

[fishingking]

Here is a little input thats been good to me many times while bottom bouncing or even just still fishing on bottom in a rocky area....so when you guys use the three way rig method...instead of using a pencil weight tied on the short piece of line grab yourselves a bag or the larger split shots and take some pliers and with a half strength squeeze crimp on a couple or a few of those split shots ....most times those splitshots will slide right off with one good yank and you save your whole rig minus the split shots...saves retying a tonne of knots n time and gear and while the guy beside u is retying you can get a few drifts in while hes occupied.....give it a try....may work for you or u may not like it...its worked for me in many spots..goodluck!

[Tyler0420]

7 hours ago, JohnnyB said:

Are you mostly floating roe? Or do you mix it up with beads, shiners, jigs? 

You can also try streamers I just bought 50 off cplummer  if you don’t like tying your own you can msg him. Cheaper then the shops and ships to your door.