Fishing Line /By Will Elliott
Lake Erie
The walleye night bite is just about right but the dayside hit is still amiss.
Night trollers can connect along the Hamburg shoreline, over the Evans-Angola Bar west of Sturgeon Point and around Van Buren Bay Point west of Dunkirk Harbor.
But daytime walleye reports are lean or none. Perhaps it could be tight-lipped anticipation of the Southtowns Walleye Association (SWA) Tourney, which begins on Saturday.
Bass anglers, especially around Van Buren Point, have been hitting into a few, scattered ’eyes while working the shallows for smallmouths. The day bite has come at depths of 15-40 feet. For trollers, the green minnow-type baits (Rapala, Thunderstick, etc.) have worked best.
Surface temperatures of 54-57 degrees, about 4-5 degrees below normal, may account for the lack of walleye action, but it has not slowed the bass bite and perch will hit, if you can find them.
Last-minute Southtowns tourney entrants have until 9 p. m. Friday to sign up. Register in person at the Armor Fire Hall in Hamburg. For complete details, call the office (649-8202).
No complaints about the bass bite. Any rocky shoal or ledge about 15 feet deep holds at least a few smallies right now.
Perch schools continue to hold deep. Best area has been 57-foot depths west of Sturgeon Point. Perchers have to dip emerald shiners on site before fishing with them. Warming temperatures have these shiners moving away from shore. A few nice — not always limit — catches have come in with the small golden shiners available at many area bait shops.
Lake Ontario
Lake trollers can still hold fairly close to shore, working lines 40-60 feet down over 60-to 100-foot depths for a good run of kings. “Most of the Chinook are smaller, but we had one 26-pounder come in this past week,” said Wes Walker at Olcott Bait & Tackle.
The coho salmon run has been good also in the same areas and depths as the kings in waters averaging 50 degrees off Olcott.
In the harbor, rock bass and smallmouth dominate the shore, but a few pike and assorted pan-fish hold upstream and below Burt Dam. “They have been catching rockies, bluegills and some crappie along with the pike,“ Walker added.
Honeoye Lake
“The weekenders try for walleyes, but boaters are catching bluegills any time out,” said Dan Sharp at Honeoye Bait & Tackle. Honeoye Lake, slightly cool for the first week of June, has the ’gills, and a few respectable crappies, holding in the shallows in and along weed edges. The north shore, either east or west side, has been more productive for crappie.
