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Results for annual NCCC fishing contest announced

OBSERVER Photo by Gene Pauszek A wide variety of species were entered in the 2016 annual Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club fishing contest.

It’s that time of year where the results of the annual Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club membership fishing contest are announced.

Those of you have read this column for awhile know that the contest was started years ago to take the place of the now-defunct Genesee Beer Fishing Contest. The contest had a $10 entry fee and allowed members to enter a large variety of species caught from Lake Erie and it’s tributaries. No frozen fish were allowed and all entries were weighed at the club, documented in a book and witnessed. Prizes were small, because they are designed for a fun event. A party was held in January where the prizes were awarded.

The winners were: Yellow perch: There was a tie with Steve Pomietlasz and Hannah Rosing entering fish weighing 1.8 pounds. Note: Most of the yellow perch entries occurred in May. After the month of June, yellow perch catches declined substantially.

White perch: Paul Pomietlasz caught the largest one, with the biggest weighing 1.6 pounds while second place went to Gene Pauszek with an .8 ounce entry. Walleye entries were below 10 pounds for the first time in along time, with Dan Sobczak taking both places with 9.6 and 9.51-pound entries.

Silver bass were plentiful last year, even annoying, when you were targeting walleye, but they pay as much as the game fish and Sobczak and myself remembered to weigh-in those fish with Sobczak’s 2-pound and my 1.8-pound entry taking prizes.

Pink salmon seem to show up every two years and 2016 saw numerous entries with Jack Forbes weighing a 4.0 entry and Jim Shutt posting a 3.4 entry. There was only one entry in the Lake Trout Division, with Ron Szwejbka taking the prize with a 12-pound entry.

Rainbow trout catches were sparse with Forbes and Jim Shutt posting entries of 5.6- and 4.2-pounds, respectively. Note that there were no brown trout entries last year. Forbes, one of our junior members, remembered the Rock Bass Division and took both places, with entries of .8 and .6 ounces. One catfish weighing 10 pounds was entered by myself and bullheads weighing 2.4 pounds and 1.6 pounds, were entered by Forbes and myself, respectively.

Sheephead are also usually considered a nuisance fish, and tossed back, which probably helps them to grow big. Catching sheep of the deep weighing 10 and 9.2-pounds by Rich Lazarczyk and myself, was a challenge when caught on long lines in deep water. They do fight hard when they are big. No entries were submitted for carp, sunfish, burbot, salmon, or bass this year. Half the battle is remembering to weigh-in your entry. I’m looking forward to 2017!

Calendar:

His Way Archers, located at 34 Ohio Street, in 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 Bear lake Rod & gun Club will host their monthly meeting on Sunday, March 5, starting at 4 p.m. The March meeting will include a review of the Club Constitution and an update on coming activities. Dues are due and members new and old are invited to attend. A quick preview of coming activities include: April 8: Rimfire spinner Target shoot. May 3: 3-D archery. May 7: 3-D archery shoot. May 20: Rimfire spinner target shoot. Registration for archery events is from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. and gun events is from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. All events are open to the public. For more information, contact Rod Becker at 485- 2773. The Bear lake Rod & Gun Club is located at 4391 Cassadaga-Stockton Road, Stockton.

The Northern Chautauqua 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 Street, in 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 via email at 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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