Lake Ontario
is on fire off the shores of Niagara County! No, it’s not in a
literal sense that would cause concern from local firefighters and
environmental groups. The fantastic fishing that’s taking place
beneath the waters of this popular Great Lake is generating the
“heat”. Smoke is coming off the reels, thanks to some energetic
spring king salmon. It’s not the whole lake, either, as evidence
revealed by the recently completed Lake Ontario Counties (LOC)
Trout and
Salmon Derby April 25 to May 4. The derby, with more than 3,000
competitors, saw Niagara dominate the leader board once again. Not
only did the Grand Prize catch come from the waters of Niagara - a
23 pound, 14 ounce king taken from the Niagara Bar near the red
can - but 56 of the top 81 fish came from these very waters. In
the salmon division, 20 of 21 fish were Niagara-based kings. In
the lake trout division, 19 to 20 fish came from Niagara,
including the top fish, a 21 pound, seven ounce laker hauled in by
Tony Gould of Rochester while fishing west of Wilson. Ten of the
top 20 steelhead came from here, along with seven of the top 20
brown trout. That alone should prove the fish are here. This
translates into 61 percent of the derby-winning fish. There’s
more, too. There were countless fish caught that were good enough
to make the derby board but anglers failed to get into the
competition. One in particular reeled in a 26 and a half-pound
lake trout while drifting the Niagara Bar with Capt. Jeff Draper.
It had Grand Prize written all over it and it would have been the
second time ever that a Niagara Bar laker bested a Niagara Bar
king for the spring kick-off. It wasn’t meant to be. Capt. Frank
Campbell had at least three steelhead that would have made the
board, if customers participated in the derby. We hear those
types of stories every single derby. You’d think they would learn.
As a result, other people went home with the money, including the
$10,000 Grand Prize check.
The best part
is that, while the derby does provide a vehicle to help get the
word out about the fishing, fishing for salmon and trout is
continuing at an impressive pace even after the derby. The fish
have hung around (at least up until this writing) these same
waters, leading to some great catches and short days for charter
captains. Some captains have been off the water by 8 or 9 a.m.
with limits of silver fish. Imagine being 15 for 19 on boating
salmon in an hour and a half? That happened just last Friday by
Capt. Bruce Blakelock of Lewiston. The funny thing was that he had
the same clients aboard the day before and it was decent fishing.
They caught their limit by 10 a.m., which would have been 12
silver fish. It would have been sooner had it not been a case of
the dropsies. The next day, they would have ended before 8 a.m.
but when they were reeling in their 12th silver fish
and their limit, three rods went off simultaneously. The three
fish were reeled in and released, but that’s the kind of fishing
and those are the kinds of stories that we’ve been listening to
since the LOC Derby ended. It doesn’t get much better than that.
A quick plug on the LOC Derby: this 10-day fun contest has a huge
economic impact on the lakeshore communities. In a study conducted
by LOC through a private survey consultant, results of the 2002
event were very important for Niagara County businesses. Of the
$2.5 million generated along the lakeshore by the derby, more than
a third of that total figure came from Niagara County, which is
very impressive to say the least. A majority of that money was
tourist revenue, meaning it came from outside the county - new
dollars that wouldn’t have been realized.
Sportfishing
is big business in Niagara. People have questioned the estimated
$20 million this popular pastime generates annually in this
lakeshore county alone. I question it too. I think it’s too low!
If a 10 day derby can generate nearly a million dollars, what do
you think the LOC 18 day derby generates in the fall with twice as
many participants? Lewiston charter captains have estimated their
worth at over $2 million and that’s not even counting the average
angler coming in with their own boat, staying in the local motels
and bed and breakfast operations, eating meals and buying gas as
they pursue these feisty fish. Impacts from those people are just
as great if not greater. In the new Greater Niagara fish map,
there are 38 charter captains listed for Niagara, 18 listed for
Erie. Of those 18, at least 12 of those work their trade in
Niagara County waters. There’s a reason for that. The best fishing
is here. Between the mighty Niagara River and the Western Basin of
Lake Ontario, we have the best of both worlds.
In the
meantime, fishing season is here, with the Spring LOC Derby
sounding the starting gun. There’s been talk of reviving the old
Sportfishing Promotion position to help get the word out about the
fishing, especially after a poor summer/fall effort in 2002. The
derby proves that those fish are out there waiting to be caught,
and people need to know that. I picked up the phone and called the
old Niagara County fishing hotline number. It’s the same number
that appears in every state fishing regulations guide and on the
DEC website for fishing information. There was no answer. You can
only guess what kind of an impression that leaves, but it’s not
good. In the meantime, get out there on the water and take
advantage of some of the best fishing on the planet. NorthCountry
Whitetails Offer Tours NorthCountry Whitetail, a company dedicated
to assisting landowners in reaching their habitat development and
quality deer hunting goals, have announced tour dates for their
Habitat Development Demo Center and BioLogic’s Research Facility.
The demo center is located in Steuben County, about a two and a
half hour drive from Western New York.
Attendees
will be taken on a tractor-pulled tram through the 500 acre site,
allowing people to see first hand how to develop quality habitat
for whitetail deer. If you’re thinking about some sort of Quality
Deer Management program, or would like to learn more about habitat
and/or food for attracting whitetails, this is the program you’ll
want to check out. Four-hour tours will be run on Saturdays
starting May 24 and running through mid-September. For more
information, contact NorthCountry Whitetails at (585) 388-6990 or
visit their website at
www.NorthCountryWhitetails.com.
New Fishing
Regulations Changes Proposed; Comments Sought By June At the May
meeting of the Niagara River Anglers Association, DEC Region 9
Fisheries Biologist Mike Wilkinson passed out a list of
pre-proposals for fishing regulations changes that would
considered for the next regulations guide printing for the season
starting October 1, 2004. That’s how far in advance the state is
working now, printing the regulations guide in two-year cycles.
Some of the new proposals were a bit controversial so the state
wants to hear from you by June 5th, so that your
comments can be considered. Here are those proposals in a
nutshell:
One statewide
regulation (SW-1) involves a change in the wording of inland trout
fishing. Instead of the previous wording, they want to restrict
the numbers of fish over 12 inches long. Five trout of any size
can still be creeled, but this proposal adds that no more than two
can be over 12 inches long.
Reasoning
behind this proposal is to better distribute harvest opportunity
for brown trout, thereby emphasizing the value of these larger
browns. The state’s two-year-old brown trout program has been
highly successful for those who take advantage of it and they’d
like to distribute the wealth to more anglers. The proposal
(GL-1) to shorten the walleye season in the lower Niagara River
finally made it to the table. The Niagara River Anglers
Association brought this new proposal to the table to help protect
the ripe females that are extremely susceptible to angling
pressure from January 1 to March 15th, when the season
officially closes statewide. This is only for the lower Niagara
River and nowhere else. After what’s been going on with the Bay of
Quinte restrictions-wise, it’s better to address the problem now
before it becomes one. The St. Lawrence River people put forth
their own proposal (GL-2), this one to move the black bass season
from the third Saturday in June to the fourth Saturday in June.
The primary reason was to conform more closely to the Canadian
regulations on the other side of the river and make it less
confusing for fishermen. It’s also in line with Fish Community
Objectives for the river. Con forming to Canadian regulations
hasn’t been easy. It’s as different as night and day for the same
body of water when it comes to angling on the Niagara River.
While the season is a start, you still have daily limits and size
limits that need to be addressed as well. With bass, Canadians can
take six fish with no minimum size. New York anglers can take five
with a minimum size of 12 inches.
Look at the
big discrepancies between the salmon and trout regulations, too.
The most controversial proposal (GL-3) involves reducing the
steelhead/rainbow trout creel in all tributaries of lakes Erie and
Ontario from three to one from the lower-most bridge to the first
impassible barrier. Declines in recent years of Lake Ontario
steelhead in the tributaries was the rationale for the proposal,
along with another attempt to increase the status level of these
fish within the angling community. A survey was done of stream
anglers along the Lake Ontario shoreline and more than 90 percent
of steelhead anglers were in favor of this proposal, enjoying more
the thrill of catching the fish than keeping it for the frying
pan. Some feel that this should be applied to brown trout as well,
making it one fish of either species. At the NRAA meeting, several
people felt that reducing it so drastically from three to one
would keep people away and affect the overall impact economically
to the lakeshore communities. This would not impact the lower
Niagara River in any way because it’s not a tributary.
Proposal GL-4
would call for an extension of the muskie season in the Lower
Niagara River, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River from
November 30th to December 15th, again to
conform to the Province of Ontario and their current season.
Proposal
R9-10 would call for a change in Chautauqua Lake walleye
regulations. The recommended wording would alter the current five
fish per day with a minimum size of 15 inches to a more
restrictive three fish per day and a minimum size of 18 inches.
The intent of the regulation is to increase the abundance of the
walleye spawning stock. There has been low recruitment on the lake
since 1996.
There are
numerous other proposals for Region 9 in Western New York
pertaining to corrections in the regulations guide and year-round
trout options in specific waters offering no kill restrictions.
Visit the DEC website at
www.dec.state.ny.us
for a complete rundown on all the pre-proposals being put forth on
the table. DEC wants to hear from you on these pre-proposals.
Send your comments by June 5 to Region 9 DEC Fisheries Manager
Paul McKeown at 182 East Union Street, Allegany, NY 14706.
Henderson
Harbor Spring Walleye Fishing Great
As we motored
out of Henchen Marina and Fishing Camp, located in Henderson
Harbor in Lake Ontario’s Eastern Basin, we really didn’t know what
to expect.
Capt. Mitch
Franz of Henderson Harbor, who owns and operates Mit-She Fishing
Charters this harbor, has been a friend for over 15 years. He said
he was “on” walleye, but still didn’t tell us what to expect. We
would soon find out. The invite to fish the Thousand Islands
Region came a couple months ago when the local tourism agency, the
1000 Islands International Tourism Council, pitched the New York
State Outdoor Writers Association for a weekend Safari in May. We
all operated out of Clayton, staying in two different motels in
this quaint fishing village. We opted to stay in the Thousand
Islands Inn. My choice of fishing was what they called lake
fishing out of Henderson Harbor and to participate in the
Henderson Harbor Classic Spring Derby, a short four day event to
kick off their local season. They had four divisions, including
brown trout, lake trout, walleye and northern pike. When we headed
out, our choice for the day was walleye, although there was
already two eleven pound fish on the board for the derby. Driving
the boat, a 28 foot Bayliner, was Leo Trombley of Vermont, who
moved to the area for the fishing. Also on board was Kathy
Balbierer of Fairport, a public relations person who concentrates
on the outdoor industry. This was her first fishing trip in over
30 years. After she said that, I know it would be a good trip.
Franz
immediately motored over to the area that produced for him the day
before, heading to Sackets Harbor and the Black River Bay
shoreline. The point that produced all his fish the previous
outing was covered with boats - word travels fast in a small
community. I counted over 30 boats on that point. Franz opted to
stay away from the other boats and concentrate along the shoreline
and some smaller points in 35 to 40 feet of water.
The program
was relatively simple. He used stickbaits behind in-line planer
boards 180 to 220 feet back at a speed of 2.0 to 2.5 miles per
hour. With 25 years experience taking people fishing out of this
popular Eastern Basin port, it all came natural to him. The
artificial lure of choice was shallow-diving stickbaits such as
Thundersticks, Renoskys and Rattlin’ Rogues, to name but a few. He
ran St. Croix rods that were made specifically for in-line
planers, with 10 pound test Ande or Berkley XT line. Line counter
reels helped him nail the exact distances for putting the lures
out.
As soon as we
set up, we hit our first fish, a nice six pound walleye that took
a blue and silver Thunderstick 200 feet back behind the Offshore
inline planer board, which was another 135 feet from the boat. It
would be our smallest fish of the day and a good one for Kathy to
get her feet wet. We slowly worked up the ladder. Next was a seven
pounder, followed by a seven-and-a-half pound walleye. Eight
pounds was next, followed by a fish eight ounces bigger than that.
Then it was a nine pounder on the board, followed by a fish that
was both longer and heavier by a half of a pound. The final
walleye of the day, reeled in by the “rookie” angler, was a 10
pound, two ounce fish that slammed a black and silver Renosky
bait. The fish was over 31 inches long. I mention the length
because the derby also had a special award for the longest walleye
caught during the competition, in honor of Marty Edmonds. The
longest fish received a check for $500. Leading the way was a 33
inch fish. Close, but no cigar.
The amazing
thing to me was the fact that most of our fish were caught during
late morning and mid-day. Mitch started out fishing for walleye
several years ago, specifically targeting this time of day to
catch fish. His mentality was that if he could learn to catch fish
during the day - a fish that is extremely sensitive to light - he
could catch them anytime. He certainly had confidence in his
program and he did well for us in promoting his area. The walleye
fishing should continue into mid-June in this area.
For more
information on Mit-She Charters and Capt. Mitch Franz, give him a
call at (315) 938-5865. For more information on the Henderson
Harbor Classic Derby, check out the Henderson Harbor Area Chamber
of Commerce website at
www.hendersonharborny.com
or call them toll-free at (888) 938-5568. For information on the
1000 Islands, call (800) 847-5263 or visit
www.visit1000islands.com.
Be sure to ask for their excellent fishing guide, along with their
international travel guide.
Oh, yea. That
10 pound two ounce walleye didn’t even come close to making it on
the board. Here’s the results of the 2003 Henderson Harbor
Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Spring Classic Derby that we fished
in.
Walleye-
Danny Kilbert’s 13 pound, 10 ounce fish won the top prize for the
division, the Cash Bash and the longest walleye (32-3/4 inches).
Northern Pike - John Kopy’s 15 pound, 8 ounce fish took top
honors. Lake trout - Paul Mancari’s 20 pound 4 ounce fish was the
four day winner. Brown trout - Dawn Dick was top angler with a 12
pound 10 ounce brownie.
For more
information on the derby, contact the Henderson Chamber at:
www.hendersonharborny.com
or call (888) 938-5568.