Lake Simcoe Fishing Update

Simcoe Lake

Ice in the Virginia Beach-Sutton area hardened to seven inches by Monday, but walkers and light machine runners could only reach shelves of less than 15 feet.

Smaller perch dominated first — ice forays off Virginia Beach, with most holes good for runt runs, with a rare ringback measuring 10 inches. Tonawanda ice antic Al Tomasello enjoyed a run at these runs and felt secure on solid ice there, but said “It was a bit unsettling to see [boats] traveling to and from Georgina Island while standing on that ice.”

Cooks Bay ice hardened to eight inches in places, but the overall bay has varying depths, with walkers and only light ATV’s able to cross.

Rick “Whitey” Arsenault offers the same cautious warning to anglers he gave last week: “They [small hut owners] are out there over six feet, but they can’t chance a run to the 16-foot depths and deeper just yet.” Arsenault noted some perch and a few pike reports have come in, but the main run has not begun.

Check with him at (905) 476-2652 or visit his Web site: www.simcoefishingadventures.com. Cattaraugus Creek

Feeder streams flushed most ice cover and smaller streams opened to steelhead trout activity, with Cattaraugus Creek offering the most access.

Waders and shore casters do better with bait than hardware offerings. Salted minnows, egg sacks and skein all do well.

The breakwall walkway at the access slowed, but most pools and riffle edges from the Route 5 and 20 bridge up to Gowanda and Springville showed good numbers of both resident and “green” arrivals from Lake Erie.

Anglers fishing Seneca Nation of Indians (SNI) waters of the Catt will need to renew that SNI fishing license before heading to Cattaraugus fishing sites on and after Tuesday.