Great Lakes and Tributaries Special Regulations

Stream reaches where seasonal regulations apply:

• Cattaraugus Creek: From the Aldrich Street Extension Bridge in Gowanda upstream to the Springville Dam
• Buffalo River and Tributaries: From the I-90 (NYS Thruway) bridge upstream to the first barrier impassable by fish
• All other Lake Erie Tributaries: From bridge closest to the mouth upstream to the first barrier impassable by fish

• The distance between a hook's shaft and point cannot exceed 1/2 inch
• Hooks attached to any lure must be free-swinging, except on an artificial fly (see Definitions) or jigs

Stream reaches where Catch and Release Regulations apply:

• Chautauqua Creek: From the bridge on South Gale Street upstream 1.3 miles to the upper Village of Westfield water intake dam
• Eighteenmile Creek (Erie County): Main branch of the creek (excluding South Branch) contained within Eighteenmile Creek County Park

• Catch and Release only for trout and salmon
• Only artificial lures can be used in Catch and Release sections
• Seasonal regulations regarding hooks apply (see table above)

EXCEPTIONS:

• The above seasons and limits do not apply to St. Lawrence River tributaries in Clinton and Franklin counties - see Region 5 Special Regulations and Statewide Species Regulations for these tributaries.
• Oswegatchie and Grasse rivers - see Region 6 Special Regulations (St. Lawrence County) for seasonal closures.

Hooks:

• Only one hook with a single hook point is permitted, except as outlined below for floating lures and artificial flies.
• Hooks attached to any lure must be free-swinging, except on an artificial fly or jigs.
• An artificial fly can only have a single hook with no more than two hook points. Tandem artificial flies are not permitted.
• The gap between a hook's shaft and point cannot exceed 1/2 inch.
• Use of hooks with added weight is prohibited, except artificial flies and jigs weighing no more than 1/8 oz.

Floating lures:

• A floating lure is a lure that floats at rest in water with or without any weight attached to the lure, leader, or line.
• Can have multiple treble hooks.
• Any hooks on a floating lure must be attached to the lure by a ring or swivel, except for artificial flies.
• The distance between the body of a floating lure and the points of any attached hooks shall not exceed 1 1/2 inches.

Leaders and weights:

• The distance between the hook, artificial fly or lure, and any weight attached to the line or leader, whether fixed or sliding, shall not exceed four feet.
• Any weight added to the line, leader, swivels, artificial fly, or lure shall not hang lower than the hook when the line or leader is held vertically.

View an example of legal fishing rigs

• Fishing is prohibited at night from ½ hour after sunset to ½ hour before sunrise, except as permitted below.
• Only one hook with a single hook point and a gap not exceeding ½ inch is permitted, except on floating lures as noted below.
• Hooks attached to any lure, except an artificial fly, must be free swinging and unweighted. Artificial flies with no more than 1/8 oz. of added weight may be used. The method by which weight is added to a hook does not affect classification as an "artificial fly" provided the conditions of the definition of an artificial fly are met.
• The distance between the hook, artificial fly, or lure, and any weight attached to the line or leader, whether fixed or sliding, shall not exceed 4 feet.
• Weight shall not be added to the line, leader, swivels, artificial fly, or lure in any manner that the weight hangs lower than the attached hook when the line is suspended vertically from the rod.

Additional Regulations for Floating Lures Apply

• A bead chain may be attached to the floating lure with a ring.
• The bead chain may not exceed a distance of 3-1/2 inches between the body of the floating lure and the hook point.
• 1 hook with a single hook point and a gap of no more than 5/8 inches may be attached to the bead chain or directly to the lure.

View an example of legal fishing rigs

• Fishing is prohibited outside the open season
• All fish must be immediately released without unnecessary injury
• Tackle is restricted to a traditional fly rod, fly reel, fly line, and artificial fly. Restrictions on fly lines, flies, attractors, leaders, and supplemental weight can be found below.

Tackle Restrictions:

Fly Lines

• Use of less than 20 feet of a floating, sinking, or combination floating/ sinking fly line or shooting head immediately behind the leader and in front of any running line or other backing is prohibited.
• From May 1 - August 31: Floating fly lines only.
• From September 1 - April 30: Floating, sinking, and sink tip fly lines are permitted. Flies
• From May 1 - August 31: a single unweighted artificial fly having one hook point with a 1/2 inch maximum gap only is permitted.
• From September 1 - April 30: a single unweighted or weighted artificial fly with no more than 1/8 oz. added weight, having one hook point with a 1/2 inch maximum gap only, is permitted.

Attractors

• The use of added baits or attractors such as, but not limited to, fish eggs, insects, beads, spoons, spinners, plugs, or similar devices on the line above the artificial fly is prohibited.

Leaders

• The total length of the leader, including the tippet, shall not exceed 15 feet.
• From May 1 - August 31: Sinking and metal leaders are prohibited.

Additional Weight

• From May 1 - August 31: The use of supplemental weight, such as split shot, sinkers, metal leaders, twist-ons, or swivels attached to the leader, tippet, fly line or fly, is prohibited.
• From September 1 - April 30: The use of supplemental weight is permitted with the following restrictions:
  • The combined weight of any supplemental weight and fly may not exceed 1/8 of an ounce.
  • The maximum distance between the artificial fly and any added weight to the line, leader, or tippet shall not exceed four feet.
  • Weight added to the line, leader, swivels, or artificial fly in any manner such that the weight hangs lower than the attached fly is prohibited.