Rivers and the river. Canoeing is highly recommended for both the pleasure of it as well as for better access to more remote fishing spots. HOT SPOT: For Walleye, just below Mt. Morris Dam. BAIT TIP: Fish Mister Twisters tipped in white, yellow or chartreuse. Position Mister Twisters above the fish and let the lure drift to them. Otherwise, a night crawler, minnow or jig will catch a Walleye day or night. Northern Pike locate around the mouths of tributaries such as Black Creek, and along wider weed beds south of Rochester.
Chemung River - Chemung & Steuben Counties. The Chemung combines the Tioga, Cohocton and Canisteo Rivers in the southern Finger Lakes, starting in Corning and running through Big Flats and Elmira into Pennsylvania. Principal game fish are Smallmouth Bass and Walleye, with enough Perch, Rock Bass, Channel Cats, Bullheads, Pike, Suckers, and Muskie to make things interesting. Carp are also plentiful and offer excellent sport on light and medium weight tackle. Prime seasons for fishing the Chemung are summer and fall, with good Walleye and Muskie action well into December. Ninety per cent of the river is wadeable in summer, and there are several access points where canoes and small boats can be put in. HOT SPOTS: for Smallmouth include Bottchers Landing, the Walnut Street Bridge Elmira, below the dam in Elmira, at the Wellsburg Lowman crossover and most creek tributaries. Traditional Walleye hot spots include Patterson Bridge west of Corning, below the dam in downtown Elmira and near the state line west of Waverly. Rock and Largemouth Bass are large in size, if not numbers, in the large back eddies and slack water areas. Cohocton River - Livingston & Steuben Counties. A popular and productive Trout stream with its source at Springwater, the Cohocton’s upper reaches carry good Brook Trout best fished with live bait in the deep pools. At
24 Call us at 1-800-284-3352
the Livingston-Steuben county line, a barrier dam pool is a genuine hot spot for Brown Trout all year. South from Wayland to Rt. 415, nice Browns can be taken with ultra light spinning gear or live bait with best chances by fishing from a canoe. Atlanta to Bath, try fly fishing from early spring into October. Spinning tackle users fish small silver or gold spinners. When in doubt, night crawlers work for just about everything. Trout are heavily stocked in the town of Wallace. Limits are two, 12 inches or more, in the special regulations areas and five of any size in other parts of the water but no more than two larger than 12 inches. Two HOT SPOTS are restricted to artificial lures only. An artificial-only area starts at the VA Hospital and runs up stream to Knights Brook. The second runs from Avoca up stream a couple of miles. Another HOT SPOT with lots of Trout is the pool under the bridge at the entrance to the VA Hospital. This area is just outside the artificial-lures-only water. Genesee River - Livingston & Monroe Counties. The Genesee has a dozen species and winds over a variety of remote, backwoods and urban settings. Large and Smallmouth Bass, Bullhead, Channel Catfish Walleye, Crappie, Carp and Suckers are common throughout the river. Access from every road crossing is fairly easy along most of
At the city of Rochester, a series of waterfalls flow into a steep sided gorge and the fishery changes to the Lake Ontario species. (see pages 4-5) During Spring, Brown and Rainbow Trout are caught in droves down from the falls. Lake Trout are taken from piers at the mouth of the river. The fall run of Coho and Chinook Salmon is followed by Brown and Rainbow Trout. All are easily taken between Seth Green Island and the falls. Otselic River - Cortland County The Otselic River runs through the southeastern quarter of Cortland County. This large, partially open stream offers two very distinct fishing experiences. From the village of Cincinnatus upstream, Trout fishing is good, especially for Brown Trout. Below Cincinnatus, you will find Bass, Walleye and pan fish. Canoes or small boats can put in at Rt. 26 in Taylor, at Landers Corners or the Rt. 41 bridge in Willet. Susquehanna River - Tioga County HOT SPOT: If there’s one spot that’s popular with all species and the fishermen trying to catch them, it’s between Hiawatha Island and Owego. Smallmouth Bass and Tiger Muskies up to 20 lbs. live there. Smallmouth generally congregate near the riffled heads of pools while Walleyes school in deeper slower areas. The Bass are distributed evenly in the river, but there are some really big ones between Smithboro and Barton as well as Owego and Hiawatha Island. Walleye are scattered in the deep pools around Hiawatha Island and at Big Bend