Fishing Line /By Will Elliott
Lake Erie
Bass season opened statewide with a blast, especially on rock reefs along the Erie shoreline. Post-spawn females cruise edges and ledges from Buffalo to Barcelona, hitting tasty or teaser tackle at 20-to 35-foot depths throughout the day. Live minnows, crayfish, and even a leech put in reach will annoy and/or become forage for these big mamas. A brown/green tub jig or a darker blue or green jigging spoon serves well as artificial artillery. Western New York waters of Lake Erie may be restored as a perch anglers paradise. Best bucket fills come from deep waters off Cattaraugus Creek, but look to deeper sides of drop-offs off Dunkirk Harbor or Sturgeon Point for a ringback revival. A more detailed summation of Lake Erie perch prospects will appear on the Sunday Outdoors Page. Niagara Musky Association ’lunge lovers started slowly opening evening but have seen fair numbers of catch-and-release critters this past week. Casting larger plugs and jigs has been the best call. Musky casters also report fair numbers of good-sized ’eyes hitting their larger lures. Walleye trollers would like to see larger ’eye catches during daylight hours on open-water outings. A few boaters have hit into a nice catch here and there, but so far, no solid signs of major school movement from Barcelona to Buffalo. A few good boxes came from 60-to 80-foot depths off Dunkirk Harbor and catches have been hit-or-miss, but the numbers have improved since the Southtowns Walleye Association tourney.
Lake Ontario
Turnovers and cool slots in the water column have held salmonids closer to shore than usual for late June. “They were even catching browns off the pier last Friday,” Wes Walker at Slippery Sinker Bait & Tackle in Olcott said of cool waters that keep brown trout cruising Ontario’s shallows. Trollers find 58-degree water at 50 feet along bottom off Olcott Harbor, with coho salmon and steelhead trout working bait schools in the top 50 feet of areas out to 150-foot depths. Olcott Harbor panfish is fair, but northern pike numbers and sizes keep shore casters busy with bruiser-sized “water wolves.”
Chautauqua Lake
Walleye catches, improved over last year at this time, hold well in relatively cool shallows. Crappie schools have moved out, but the bluegill bite remains solid in and along weed edges. South Basin bays offer openings in weed mats that could be good for ’gills. Perch numbers have been good in the North Basin around Mayville. But the better news has been increased sizes. Look for a detailed account on the Outdoors Page on Sunday.
Fish photo op
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). New photos will be added as they are received. 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 listed below.
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