Niagara Falls

[fishfight]

(07-30-2013 02:00 PM)alex_fish Wrote:  

(07-30-2013 12:35 PM)mcfly Wrote:  Yesterday at the whirlpool action was really slow but we had a few runs.

I was waiting to hear about your report before I mentioned what happened on sunday at the pool. I had just about the worst fishing day I have ever had. And I very rarely catch anything at all. So what could be worse than not catching anything? The sight of a spot filled with active fish and fish being landed and still not catching anything. I could see fish breaking the surface literally non stop (during the morning hours, then it slowed down a bit). I also saw a couple of pike looking fish near the shore. Early morning hours produced in at least one big catch for a guy close by (not sure which species as I didn't go to investigate) and the rest of the time I was there others were landing large bass sized catches pretty frequently. It baffles me as to why neither I nor my friend got any bites. Sometime past noon we could no longer handle the disappointment and we decided to try other spots closer to home.

Best time to fish the whirlpool is before 10am, and after 6pm on a sunny day, water level is also lower before 9am, so one can cast farther out to where the fish normally stage the night before. I normally call it a tough fishing day at the whirlpool if I have not landed any fish by 9am. The current down close to the bottom is also calmer than the current at the surface, fish needs to work harder to fight the current when they have to come to the surface. It gets very deceiving to witness fish surfacing, my moto is when you can spot the fish, chances are you will not be able to get them.

I have yet to hear of pike at the whirlpool, but quite a few musky around, that means fish also get spook when those toothy creatures start hovering close to shore.

Another important issue to consider is one should use small heavy 1/2 to 3/4 oz lure, spoon, jig heads, cast and retrieve or by bottom bounce technique. Lure needs to get close to the bottom with the slowest possible retrieve/presentation, hoping to not snag your lure. Most have lost enough fair share of lures to get confident fishing the whirlpool. Many fish caught were usually not too far off the bottom, but that was when the fish was able to spot your lure when you originally present it close to the bottom, to give the fish enough time to spot and chase after your lure.

If one is too concern of losing our lure, retrieving them too close to the shore for fear of losing them, then fishing whirlpool is not the place to fish. It takes the proper "risk/gutsy attitude" to be successful fishing whirlpool.

This is a river with unpredictable strong current flow, one normally cast upstream on a river system, let your lure sink, before applying slow retrieve, to also pause your retrieve every so often, ensuring the lure stays low as long as it can. Since whirlpool current keeps on changing every so often, we need to adapt to the inconsistent flow as well. Sometimes casting straight, sometimes casting in an angle.

When I fish the whirlpool, having an attitude of not losing a lure for the day is considered being very lucky. Landing fish more often than not when I visit the whirlpool (3 out of 4 visit) is also a sign of success.