Local Sports

Southtowns Walleye Association looks ahead

Thursday evening, the Southtowns Walleye Association held its monthly meeting at the clubhouse located on Southwestern Boulevard, Hamburg. This organization continues to maintain an impressive membership, with an attitude that there is always room for more. Membership is an affordable $35 per year, and is mandatory if you care to engage in any of their fishing tournaments. There is one in mid-May for yellow perch and their major walleye tournament in June. More information on these topics later.

At the Thursday meeting, it was announced that Cabela's will become a major sponsor for the 2018 walleye tournament. Anyone who entered the clubhouse could not help but notice the large pool set up on the east side of the building, complete with water, live trout and an aeration system. The SWA had been hosting a Special People fishing event all week which was attended by literally hundreds of anglers with special needs. A tip of the hat to SWA and their volunteers.

SWA will also host other events in the near future, including a boat inspection by the Coast Guard Auxiliary, a State of the Lake event on April 21 composed of people knowledgeable in their field of expertise that pertains to fish and conservation, and an announcement of a free fishing flea market at the Bison City Rod & Gun Club on April 21.

Later in the meeting, there were two guest speakers. The first was Department of Environmental Conservation Biologist Don Einhouse. Einhouse is the head of our DEC fisheries station in Dunkirk. Einhouse commented that commercial fishermen reported taking two silver carp in Chicago that got past the electric barrier, and three big head carp were also caught in Lake Erie. These fish are all invasive species, and are currently being monitored.

Einhouse also displayed a slide presentation on a Sustainable Walleye Fishery in Lake Erie. The Lake Erie fishery is complicated concerning the walleye population, which is popular, migratory, and has five jurisdictions of management authority. Areas of concern that can impact this fishery include overfishing, habitat loss, industrial pollution, species invasion and nutrient overload.

The walleye population in Lake Erie took a drastic drop after 1955. Something had to be done so a Lake Erie Committee was formed that was made up of Michigan DNR, New York DEC, Ohio DNR, Ontario MNRF and Pennsylvania FBC. In 2010 this panel made the recommendation to increase the harvest of yellow perch and decrease the harvest of walleye.

To make a long story short, this group was accurate in their findings. Yellow perch fishing was super for several years, and eventually declined, while the walleye population continued to grow to the point where the creel limit was increased from four a day to six on Lake Erie. More information will be expressed at the State of the Lake meeting as well as in this column.

Calendar: The Department of Environmental Conservation reminds anglers that walleye season closed statewide on March 15 and will re-open on May 5. In addition, all ice shanties must be removed from the ice to ensure they do not fall through the ice and become potential navigation hazards. Owners who failed to remove their shanties by March 15 can be fined up to $100.

The next gun show is today at the Harborcreek Fire Department Social Hall, located at 7275 Buffalo Road, U.S. Route 20 (located between North East, Pa. and Harborcreek, Pa.)

The Eastern Lake Erie Charter Association will be having a meeting on March 23 starting at 7 p.m. at the Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club. Topics covered will include: Volunteers needed June 29 for the WNY Heroes Fishing (disabled veterans), The Innovative Fishing Tournament at Chadwick Bay Marina on Aug. 24-25. VIP day fishing on Aug. 8 and more.

There will be a free hunter safety training course at the Bear Lake Rod & Gun Club on March 28- 29 from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. Two day attendance mandatory. Call Vince Luce at 753-6347 for registration information, or go to the DEC email address.

There will be a free hunter safety course at the Con Club on April 18-19 from 5 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. Two day attendance. Call Gary at 366-3397 for information.

On April 14-15, there will be a gun show at Ashtabula County Fair Grounds at the Expo Center Building, located at 127 North Elm St., Jefferson, Ohio. For more information, contact Larry Spicer at 792-9972 or email LRgunshows@gmail.com.

Billed as New York's longest running tackle show, The Lockport NY 2018 Icebreakers will be held at the Elks Lodge, located at 6791 Canal Road, Lockport, on Saturday, March 24 from 9:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. This is a great place to see old tackle, and connect with people involved with buying and selling antique fishing gear. For more info call Dan Bedford at 713-9410 or email wdanfran@aol.com.

The first annual Lake Erie Outdoor & Fishing Show is scheduled for April 21 at the Clarion Hotel Marina & Conference Center from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. They are still looking for vendors. Call 366-3000 ext. 420 or email mpatton@observertoday.com.

Monday night free fly tying courses at the Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club are from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Tying vises, instruction and materials are all provided free. No registration is necessary. The Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club is located on Mullet Street in Dunkirk. Turn towards the lake at the Country Fair store located on Lakeshore Drive West (Route 5).

The Children of the Stream Youth Fly Fishing Program will be starting its 18th year of providing weekly free fly tying and fly fishing classes to both youths and adults in our area. Classes are Wednesday evenings from 7 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. at the Costello Community Room (P84) in the new addition to the Rockefeller Arts Center at SUNY Fredonia. You do not need any prior experience to attend these classes, and the course is geared towards ages 10 and older. For more information contact Alberto Rey at 410-7003 or alberto@albertorey.com.

The Great Lakes experience Festival in Dunkirk will return this year on June 9 from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. The event will once again be held in Memorial Park. More details at a later date.

If your club or organization is holding a hunter safety training/trapping course or a turkey shoot or any other outdoors event, and would like to see it posted in the calendar, send information to the OBSERVER, 10 East Second Street, Dunkirk, NY 14048, or call the sports department 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, ext. 5, after 6 p.m. or email Sports@observertoday.com.