Fishing Line
Lake Erie
Perch still outplay walleye during dayside open-water runs on Lake Erie. Night trollers see things ’eye to ’eye out of Buffalo Harbor and along the Lackawanna-Hamburg shoreline shallows. Daytime walleye have just begun to show over 50-foot depths between Cattaraugus Creek and Evangola State Park, but the take has been sparse, with no reports of supersized fish that might qualify for the Southtowns Walleye Association tourney that starts at midnight Friday.
Perch numbers have been best directly off Cattaraugus Creek at 50-foot depths. Wind whacks and cold fronts slowed catch numbers last week, but warming trends and moderate winds have put packs of ringback runners at anchor directly off the Catt this week.
Smallmouth bass have entered a major spawning cycle, following last weekend’s full moon and water temperatures in the high 50s. Catch-and-release bass seekers can do well along rocky shallows around Seneca Shoals, Myers Reef, Evans-Angola Bar, Eagle Bay, Van Buren Point and Brockton Shoals with anything that resembles an invading round goby-green-brown tube jig, twister tails, buck tails and assorted jigging spoons. Carefully release all bass caught during this spawning period and even those not trophies after the statewide season opens June 20. A notable number of catfish have shown well in lower Cattaraugus Creek waters. Clarity has slowed the ’cat bite, but another round of rain could up whisk up the whisker-lip count.
Lake Ontario
Tournament anglers did well this past weekend and stiff north winds turned over the entire Ontario shoreline Monday. But normal (southwest) winds restored stability for trout and salmon runs from Fort Niagara east to Point Breeze.
DEC boat-trip reports show good numbers of boat trips and catch rates for salmon in May. Numbers look good for the coming weekend and trollers have set up over depths anywhere from 80 to 360 feet for king salmon feeding close to the surface and close to shore. Rigs set close to bottom get looks from lake trout as well as kings, but suspended spoons and fly-and- flasher rigs at varying depths have taken many Chinook at and above the 20-pound mark.
Wilson Harbor and Olcott Harbor have a good assortment of perch and panfish, with bluegill being the best bite at Olcott.
Seneca Lake
Lake trout trollers and drifters head out to 100-foot depths for the best bite day or night.
For panfishermen, perch numbers have tapered off but the sunfish bite is bright. Big sunnies have moved in for their spawn and post-spawn run into shoreline shallows. Best numbers show in 3-to 4-foot depths along weed edges in Glass Factory Bay, either side of Kashong Point, in Dresden Bay or any warming inlet or cove-like shore area.
Fish for photos
Anglers with good photos of great catches can have their trophy shots displayed on the Fishing Page of the News’ Web site (buffalonews.com/fishing).
To get your photo published, e-mail it along with a brief description of the catch, including the name and home (city, town or village) of the angler, the location of the catch and how the fish was caught to the e-mail address below.
e-mail willodrs@gmail.com
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