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Ice fishing days are numbered

OBSERVER Photo by Gene Pauszek Pictured are members of the Con Club Chicken BBQ crew. They are, from left, Gene Wlodarek, Milt Quandt, Sue Buck, Ron Szwejbka, Bob Gloff, Jim Jaffray and David Swift.

Ice cover on local inland lakes and ponds could disappear by this weekend if the warmer temperatures prevail.

As of Wednesday, Chautauqua Lake was still coated with a thin crust of ice and slush. A few channels at the southern end were starting to open up, but no crappie were encountered yet. Several of my contacts on the lake indicated that the crappie tend to show up about a week after ice out. A strong wind could break up any existing ice cover and speed up the process.

Offshore yellow perch fishing expeditions have started out of Cattaraugus Creek recently with anglers marking fish, but few hits. Look for action to improve with the weather.

Trout encounters are becoming more frequent for streamside anglers. Again, the hard bottom creeks are showing better fishing conditions while Cattaraugus Creek continues to be on the murky side. Chautauqua Creek and 18-Mile Creek, as well as creeks located closer toward Buffalo, have been yielding a few trout.

Look for fishing to pick up off the City of Dunkirk Pier and possibly off the mouths of area streams as minnows have been sighted hanging around these areas lately. The fish follow the bait. Consider looking for a shallow, muck bottom, bullhead bite after our first warm rainfall.

Thanks goes out to all the people who helped make the annual February Con Club Chicken Barbecue another success. Proceeds from this event help finance the annual Con Club Take-A-Kid- Fishing Day, which is slated for June 3.

Calendar:

The Friends of the NRA will host its annual banquet/fundraiser on Saturday, Feb. 25 at the American Legion Samuel Derby Post 556 located at 9 Meadow Lane, Frewsburg, N.Y. 14738. Reservation should be made by Friday, Feb. 17. For information, contact Jennifer Schmitt at jschmitt452@yahoo.com or call 487-2487.

His Way Archers, located at 34 Ohio St., Jamestown, started its youth archery program on Saturday, Jan. 14. The program runs the second and fourth Saturday mornings of the month. They will have archery instruction for youths ages 6 to 18, starting at 10 a.m. and ending at noon. Equipment will be provided for those that need it. The cost is $5 per child. The range will be open to the public on these days starting at 12:30 p.m. For more information, call 484-7046 or 485-3598.

The Northern Chautauqua Ducks Unlimited Chapter of Ducks Unlimited announced its annual banquet/live auction will take place on March 11 at the Fredonia Beaver Club, located at 64 Prospect St., Fredonia. The group moved its program to the Beaver Club location last year, and had a filled-to-capacity turnout. This year, the event will be limited to 120 seats ONLY! You can make reservations by calling 969-5166 or email BEANMACHINETWO@gmail.com. You can also call 785-4165 (Ron), 785-3741 (Will) or 679-8454 (Stacy). For more information on DU, or to buy tickets online, visit NY.ducks.org.

There will be gun shows coming up at the following areas:

Harborcreek, Pennsylvania, at the Harbor Creek Fire Dept. Social Hall, located at 7275 Buffalo Road, US Route 20 (located between North East Pa., and Harborcreek). Dates are March 18-19 from 9 a.m. until 4p.m. and 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., respectively.

Ashtabula County Sportsmen’s Gun Show at Saybrook Banquet Centre, located at 3116 North Bend Road (off Route 20) Ashtabula, Ohio, 44004. Dates are Saturday, April 22, and Sunday, April 23, from 9 a.m. until 4.m. and 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., respectively. For more information on any of the shows, contact Larry Spicer at 792-9972, visit LRgunshows@gmail.com, or write to Larry Spicer at P.O. Box 294, North East, Pa. 16428.

It is not too early to start making plans for this summer. The Con Club Annual Take-A- Kid- Fishing event is planned for the first Saturday in June, which is June 3. Sign up will be at the club.

The 24th annual Lew Mead Memorial Youth Fishing event is slated for Saturday, June 24 from 7 a.m. until 11 a.m. No registration fee and the sign up will be held the day of the event , with prizes for youth aged 7 and under on up to 16 years of age. For information, contact Ron Gross at 595-3950.

The Southtowns Walleye tournament is Scheduled for June 10-18. A members only membership is $35, tournament fee is $35 with options. The Southtowns yellow perch tournament is for members only and is scheduled for Saturday, May 20.

If your club or organization is holding a hunter safety training/trapping course or a turkey shoot or other outdoors event and would like to see it posted in the calendar, send information to the OBSERVER, 10 East Second St., Dunkirk, N.Y. 14048 or call the Sports Dept. at 366-3000 ext. 5 after 6 p.m.

Note: If you have a big-game fishing or trapping success story you would like to share, call 366-1772, or 467-2079 and leave a name, phone number and a time you can be reached. You can also call 366-3000 after 5 p.m. at ext. 5.

Gene Pauszek is an OBSERVER outdoors columnist. Send comments to sports@observertoday.com

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