OBSERVER Photo by Gene Pauszek Monday night FREE fly tying has resumed at the Northern Chautauqua Conservation club with, from left to right, Levi and Jan Kindermann, Dominic Begier, Charlie Coppola and Eric Overmyer participating.

Hold onto your hats! Cold, blustery winds have been the order lately preventing offshore activities. There have been no offshore walleye or yellow perch reports lately, but if the wind lays down for a few days, the walleye should still be out in deep water (75 to 95 feet).

Yellow perch have been moving in pods, it would appear, with anglers (when they are able to get out) reporting the action can be erratic. I spoke with Jason Robinson at the Department of Environmental Conservation fisheries station, and commented that a few local anglers had reported their perch stomachs contained crawfish.

Robinson commented that their netting surveys revealed that the perch they caught had an orange substance in their stomachs that they surmised to also be crawfish residue.

On the plus side, during their netting (seining near shore) they picked up decent amounts of emerald shiners, near Woodlawn Beach, which is encouraging.

Rick Miller in Irving reported that as of Wednesday morning, Cattaraugus Creek was fishable, but that could change depending on the amount of precipitation we receive. The smaller local hard bottom creeks have been running clear lately, but there has not been a lot of creekside effort locally.

Skip Bianco from Hogan’s Hut/Stow reports that his customers say that the creeks in Pennsylvania were loaded with trout after the weekend. Bianco also reports that on Chautauqua Lake, the yellow perch fishing has been improving with the cooler weather.

The fish are moving closer to the shore line with Bemus Point and the Stow Ferry being hot spots lately. Walleye are moving out towards deeper water. The musky fishing has improved lately also showing a preference for spinner baits, presented in the shallows and along the weedline.

Calendar: The Southtowns Walleye Association will be having their monthly meeting today starting at 7:30 p.m. Guest speakers will be Outdoor columnist Bill Hilt’s Jr., Joe Yaeger and Milissa Gearhart talking about the Greater Niagara Outdoor Expo. The club is located at 5895 Southwestern Blvd., Hamburg, N.Y. The meetings are open to the public, and they have kitchen and bar facilities. Stop in. Just a reminder that I am always looking for a good hunting, fishing or trapping story, to share with our readers. I am usually available for photos too by calling 366-1772 or 467-2079. Good luck and enjoy your next outing. Conservation Club members are asked to bring a non-perishable food item to the club on Tuesdays during hunting season for the Hunters Helping the Hungry program. All canned food items will be donated to charity during the Christmas holidays. Thanks!

The Lakeshore Longbeards our local chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will be having a meeting on Wednesday Oct. 24, at Liberty Vineyards Winery located on Route 20 in Sheridan, meeting time is 7 p.m. The agenda will include the introduction of the new Regional Director, as well as the first look at what will be available for the 2019 membership drive/fundraiser. The meetings are always open to the public.

Free Monday night fly tying instruction has resumed on Monday nights at the Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club, located at Mullet Street in Dunkirk. Classes are for all levels of fly tying, but especially for beginners. No equipment is necessary. All participants get to keep their productions. Classes are from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. The classes are open to the public. Sometimes they even have homemade cookies!

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. Note that classes will switch from Wednesday evenings from 7 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. to Tuesday evenings 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.

There will be a gun show at the Ashtabula County Fairgrounds located at the County Expo Center Building, 127 North Elm Street, Jefferson, OH, 44047. Show is on Oct. 27-28, 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. and 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Next show is on Nov. 17 and 18 at the Hickory Post VFW located at 5550 East state Street. Us Route 62 East of PA. — West of Mercer on 62, Hermitage, PA, 16148. Same show times.

On Dec. 8 and 9, a gun show at Harbor Creek Fire Dept. Social Hall, located at 7275 Buffalo Road, US Route 20 (located between North East, PA and Harbor Creek, PA. For details or information, contact Larry Spicer at 716-792-9972 or go to LRgunshows@gmail.com.

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